A Day Without Women: What Would It Actually Be Like?

Written by: Kanita Tariq 

On March 8, International Women’s Day, a strike known as “A Day Without A Woman” was organized. Women were encouraged to take the day off from paid or unpaid labor, shop from only small minority-owned businesses, and wear the color red to show their support. The purpose was to highlight the economic importance of women in the fight for equality.

While we probably won’t ever be able to understand what a day without women would actually be like on a large scale, we can assume how different our lives would be. So what would a day without women entail?

• First of all, women make up about 47% of workforce in the United States. Nearly half of all workers would no longer do their jobs.

• More than 75% of public school teachers are females. I’d take the day off, if I were you.

• College classes would be considerably empty. 55% of undergraduates are women.

• Despite progress in male participation of household chores, it’s no secret that most women take care of the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. A day without women? You might want to order take out.

• Got to do your taxes? Better wait. 65% of tax preparers are women.

• That doctor’s appointment? Too bad, 78% of physicians and surgeons are women, and so are 55% of pharmacists.

• What better way to engage in the slow day than to watch the news? Oh wait, that might be a little hard. Women make up 58% of journalists and media workers.

A day without women, huh? Seems pretty lousy to me.

Stats were collected from Census data and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.