Released last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS), "Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2000," also uses data from the CPS. The report finds that, in 2000, median weekly earnings for women were 76 percent of those for their male counterparts, a gap that varies considerably by demographic group and state.

A significant collection of data documenting the status of women at the turn of the new millennium has appeared on the Web. The online digest of the United Nation's The World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics, was posted in late May and provides data and analysis on the worldwide status of women. It highlights statistics "on women's situation as compared to men's in a broad range of fields --...