This trend is changing the world, and I'm thrilled. At first, it tiptoes in quietly. On stilettos. Then suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, comes its deafening blast.
Women are rising. Never before have we so aggressively, efficiently, fearlessly and successfully pursued our goals.
The future is now, and females are leading.
She's surging ahead in school.
This revolution is starting in the classroom. Women are earning 10 million more college degrees than men. Globally, 60 percent of the world's university graduates are female. She's well-trained and ready for next.
She's redefining family.
With more opportunities in education and careers, women are eschewing traditional family structures. The old "college, marriage, home-ownership, then parenthood" sequence has been shaken up, turned upside-down, and transformed. We are customizing our own life timelines to do what satisfies us at a particular moment.
Women are opting to have kids later: The number of children born to women 35+ has increased 150 percent, and egg-freezing is up 28 percent. Soon, egg-freezing will be a commonplace graduation gift for young women starting their careers.
Many of us are choosing not to have kids at all. The number of women between age 40 and 44 who remain childless has doubled in a generation. In 1976, it was one out of 10; by 2006, it was one in five. More and more women will decide that children are not for them. We call this group Childfree by Choice or CxC. These females shatter the stereotype that not having kids is sad, shameful or pitiable. Because they are free to spend more time focusing on their own goals, CxC women will be at the forefront of a cultural creative renaissance, starting more companies, leading more social initiatives, creating newer and better solutions. They are becoming the envied class.
She's working hard and making serious money.
We are an economic powerhouse, earning a collective $18 trillion per year. Globally, we control $20 billion in spending, rising to $28 trillion in the next four years. In China, half of senior management positions are held by women. That's over twice the worldwide average.
Women now own 30 percent of businesses in the U.S., and climbing. Females are starting twice the number of businesses as men, and they are thriving with $10 million annual revenue, up 57 percent over the last decade. In an atmosphere that can be as unwelcoming as the business world (almost 50 percent of mothers in the U.S. workforce don't receive any paid maternity leave) it makes sense that women choose to be mistresses of their own destinies, both personal and professional.
Cultural norms and assumptions are turning inside-out: In the U.S., women under 30 out-earn their male peers, and today 40 percent of American households have females as the main breadwinner. This year, women made up a record-breaking 10 percent of Forbes annual Billionaires List. And female-led hedge funds returned six percent compared to men's loss of 1.1 percent.
We are on the cusp of a tsunami of change. No matter how much women continue to Ellevate (yes, spelled that way, as a small bow to Sallie Krawcheck's inspiring new enterprise), there's one thing that will never change -- her innate desire to support friends, family and the planet. We're not modeling our behavior on men, but creating an entirely new paradigm of compassion, not competition; innovation, not invasion.
I've been a proud supporter of women my entire life and have made it my mission to lift them into their Best Futures. That's why I'm thrilled to be attending the BlogHer conference this week in San Jose. With Arianna Huffington leading the charge with her keynote and Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins, who created BlogHer, how can we fail?
BlogHer is the amplifier of women's voices, individually and holistically. Their community of 100 million will join together to listen, learn and connect, forging new paths, leaping over and crashing through any roadblocks along the way. With my colleagues, networks, friends, and hopefully with President Hillary in place, I'll be helping women plan and realize their goals for today, next week, next year, the next decades.
Come visit me at Booth #301. Let's talk about giving women more power and control over their lives and their choices. We've earned it. We deserve it. It's time to lift our sisters and allow them to rise and realize their most amazing Tomorrow.
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