Vol. 3 • Deck 10 • Peace & War on The American People
The Persistent Weight: War on Women
Wage gaps, maternal mortality, post-Dobbs health outcomes, and intimate partner violence — a data-first portrait of structural harm to American women across all races.
70%
of all female homicides in 25 high-income nations happen in the United States — CDC / WHO
The Wage Gap: Worse Than You Think
In 2024, women working full-time year-round earned 80.9 cents per dollar earned by men — down from 82.7 cents in 2023 and 84 cents in 2022. This is the largest two-year decline since the 1960s. Over a 40-year career, this gap costs approximately $542,800 per woman in lost earnings.
Wage Gap by Race — Cents Earned Per Dollar Earned by White Men (2024)
Source: IWPR / U.S. Census Bureau 2024; AAUW pay equity analysis. At current rates, Black women's pay will not reach parity with white men's until 2227. The "motherhood penalty" costs mothers ~26 cents on the dollar vs. fathers, who receive a ~15% wage bonus over childless men.
80.9¢
Women Earn Per Male Dollar (2024)
Down from 84 cents in 2022 — largest 2yr decline since 1960s — IWPR
58¢
Latina Women Earn Per White Male Dollar
The widest documented pay gap in the U.S. workforce — AAUW 2024
$542K
Lifetime Earnings Lost Per Woman
Over a 40-year full-time career at current gap rates — AAUW
2227
Year Black Women Reach Pay Parity
At the current rate of progress — Institute for Women's Policy Research
Maternal Mortality: America's Singular Shame
The U.S. maternal mortality rate in 2023 was 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births — comparable to Palestine and Chile, not peer nations. Most comparable countries have rates below 5 per 100,000. America is one of only 7 countries worldwide where maternal mortality has significantly increased since 2000.
Maternal Mortality Rate — U.S. vs. Peer Nations (Deaths per 100,000 Live Births, 2023)
Source: CDC/NCHS 2023; WHO Global Health Observatory. U.S. remains the only high-income country without universal healthcare, leaving 8 million women of reproductive age uninsured. Approximately 50% of U.S. maternal deaths are considered preventable.
Black women die from maternal causes at 3.5 times the rate of white women — 50.3 per 100,000 compared to 14.5. This disparity persists even after controlling for income and education. This is not explained by individual behavior. It is systemic.
Triple the rate of Sweden, Japan, Germany, and France — CDC/NCHS
50.3
Black Maternal Death Rate per 100K
3.5x the white rate of 14.5 — gap persists across all income levels
50%
U.S. Maternal Deaths That Are Preventable
CDC Maternal Mortality Review Committee findings
8M
Women of Reproductive Age Without Insurance
Only high-income country without universal coverage — KFF 2024
Post-Dobbs: Measurable Health Consequences
Since the June 2022 Dobbs decision, 14 states enacted total abortion bans and 18 states ban or severely restrict abortion, affecting approximately 62.7 million women and girls. The data on downstream health outcomes is now coming in — and it is not ambiguous.
Post-Dobbs Health Outcomes — Ban States vs. Access States (2022-2024)
Source: Milbank Memorial Fund 2025; Guttmacher Institute; CDC WONDER maternal mortality data by state. Texas maternal mortality rose 56% in the first full year of the state's ban. California, which expanded access, saw maternal mortality fall 21% over the same period.
62.7M
Women & Girls Affected by Bans
Living in states with total or near-total abortion bans — GEPI Jan. 2025
59
Estimated Excess Maternal Deaths Since Dobbs
Combined with 478 excess infant deaths — Milbank Memorial Fund 2025
55%
OB/GYNs in Ban States Compromised
Report inability to follow standard medical practice — ACOG survey 2024
1 in 5
Patients Now Travel Out of State for Care
Up from 1 in 10 before Dobbs — Guttmacher Institute 2024
Violence Against Women: An American Epidemic
The United States is an extreme outlier among wealthy democracies on every measure of violence against women. This is not a matter of reporting differences or cultural definition. The U.S. homicide rate for women by intimate partners alone exceeds the total female homicide rates of most peer nations.
Female Homicide Rate by Intimate Partners — U.S. vs. Peer Nations (Per 100,000 Women, 2022)
Source: CDC National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS); WHO Violence Against Women data. 70% of all female homicides in 25 high-income nations occur in the United States. Nearly 3 women are killed by an intimate partner every day in the U.S. Domestic violence hotlines receive over 20,000 calls per day.
1 in 3
Women Experienced IPV
Rape, physical violence, or stalking by intimate partner — CDC NISVS
3/day
Women Killed by Intimate Partners
CDC NVDRS national average — rate higher for Black and Native women
20K
Daily Calls to DV Hotlines
National Domestic Violence Hotline daily call volume
2.5%
Domestic Violence Conviction Rate
Effective conviction rate accounting for underreporting and case attrition
Poverty, Childcare & The Single-Mother Trap
Single-mother families face a poverty rate of 31.3% — nearly six times the rate for married-couple families. The U.S. is the only wealthy nation without paid federal family leave or universal childcare. The childcare cost alone can consume more than the entire income of a minimum-wage single mother.
Poverty Rates by Family Structure & Race (U.S. Census 2024)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey 2024; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities childcare cost analysis. 7.3 million single mothers in the U.S. earn a median income of approximately $39,120 compared to $125,980 for married couples. Center-based infant care costs average over 40% of state median income for single mothers.
The Childcare Math
Average annual cost of center-based infant care: $15,000-$22,000
Exceeds 40% of median single-mother income in most states
Only 1 in 7 eligible families receives childcare subsidies
U.S. is only wealthy nation with no federal paid family leave policy
Food & Housing Insecurity
36.8% of single-mother households experience food insecurity
Single mothers are 2x more likely to experience housing instability
28% of single mothers have no health insurance
Child poverty rate in single-mother households: 39.6%
Progress Is Real — And So Are the Gaps
The data on women's progress over the last 60 years is real. So is the data on what remains. Both are true simultaneously. This deck is not an argument that nothing has changed — it is an argument that progress has been uneven, that rollback is measurable, and that structural causes require structural solutions.
U.S. Women's Progress Indicators Over Time (1960-2024, Selected Measures)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau historical data; Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Center for Education Statistics. College completion rates for women surpassed men in 1981 and the gap has widened since. Workforce participation rose steadily until COVID, which disproportionately pushed women out of the labor force. The wage gap has narrowed but progress has stalled and reversed slightly since 2022.
Men's wages stagnant. Women's pay gap widening. Childcare unaffordable for both. The War on Men and War on Women share the same structural root: productivity soared 59.7% since 1979 while typical worker pay barely moved 15.8%. The question is not who has it worse. The question is who benefits when men and women fight each other instead of the system.
Economic Policy Institute; Bureau of Labor Statistics productivity and compensation data
Sources & Citations
IWPR / U.S. Census Bureau — Women's Earnings and the Wage Gap 2024 — iwpr.org
AAUW — The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap 2024 — aauw.org
CDC/NCHS — Maternal Mortality in the United States 2023 — cdc.gov
WHO — Global Health Observatory: Maternal Mortality — who.int
Milbank Memorial Fund — Effects of State Abortion Bans on Maternal and Infant Mortality (2025) — milbank.org
Guttmacher Institute — State Abortion Policy Landscape Post-Dobbs — guttmacher.org
CDC NISVS — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey — cdc.gov
CDC NVDRS — National Violent Death Reporting System — cdc.gov
U.S. Census Bureau — Current Population Survey: Poverty by Family Type 2024 — census.gov
KFF — Women's Health Insurance Coverage 2024 — kff.org
Economic Policy Institute — Productivity and Pay Gap Since 1979 — epi.org
GEPI — Abortion Access After Dobbs: State Policy Tracker (January 2025) — gepi.org