Young Women Increasingly Turn To ADHD Drugs

Use of ADHD drugs continues to rise in the United States, but the group whose use is increasing the most may come as a surprise: young women. An analysis of prescriptions filled from 2008 to 2012 through Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit management company, found that use of ADHD medications rose 35.5 percent overall. The company's database includes 15 million people with private insurance.

Top 20 Best-Paying Jobs For Women 2014

Careers in business, tech, and healthcare continue to dominate Forbes’ annual ranking of the 20 Best-Paying Jobs For Women —but even roles in these powerhouse industries haven’t overcome the gender wage gap. To find out which professions are paying women the most, Forbes analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracking the median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in 2012, broken down by gender and occupation. Each of these jobs pays median weekly wages of $1,161 or greater, resulting in median yearly earnings of $60,372 and above.

Lunch on the Barricades

Let’s consider school lunches. Always an important topic. But to be honest, it’s only coming up right now thanks to Representative Paul Ryan, who took a strong, principled stand against school lunches in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. (“What they’re offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul.”)

Women can get HIV from other women during sex, CDC reports

The first confirmed case of a woman contracting HIV from another woman during sex was reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week. Although there have been reports of women transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus to other women via sexual activity in the past, they have been difficult to prove. For nearly all the cases, other risk factors were present -- including recent sexual contact with a man, intravenous drug use, tattooing, piercing or other potentially risky behaviors.

Women’s Lives and Challenges: Equality and Empowerment since 2000

In honor of Women's History Month, To the Contrary is accepting blog posts from individuals and organizations we have been working with over the past 23 years.  Here's the first in our series.

By Katie Taylor, USAID’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health

Every year, International Women’s Day on March 8^th, provides a global platform to focus attention on the continued need to improve women’s status and opportunities all over the world. We know that when women are healthy and educated they trigger progress for themselves, their communities and countries.  Women are able to participate in the work force, and are more likely to have healthy, educated children - issuing in a cycle of opportunity rather than perpetuating a cycle of poverty.   

A new USAID report, produced by The DHS Program, Women’s Lives and Challenges: Equality and Empowerment since 2000, assesses progress toward gender equality over the past decade.  This report, among the most extensive recent assessments of women’s status, looks at women’s progress in four continents and more than 45 countries.  Based on almost 100 national surveys, Women’s Lives and Challenges evaluates levels and trends in women’s access to education and health care, employment, domestic decision-making, and experience of violence. 

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month! Stick with To The Contrary as we look at important moments in history that shape our present. Below, you'll find segments about inspiring women and important issues. Keep watching To The Contrary!