--- description: When will Congress reach gender parity? title: IV. Questions We Should Be Asking image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [The Answers Issue](/tag/the-answers-issue/) ## The Answers Issue Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # IV. Questions We Should Be Asking by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 28, 2014 11:08 AM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 28, 2014 11:08 AM CUT 50% MEN 2045 Congress is currently 81.5% male. Based on the accelerating rate of growth since 1917, when Montana’s Jeannette Rankin became the first elected female Representative, women are projected to hold half of Congress in 31 years. SOURCES: CENTER FOR AMERICAN WOMEN AND POLITICS AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY; INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S POLICY RESEARCH 50% WOMEN WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET A JOB? Competition. The average number of résumés received for a corporate job opening is 250. HOW MANY GUNS ARE THERE IN THE U.S.? As many as 310 million, according to one estimate. SHOULD WE LEARN SPANISH? ¡Sí! The U.S. will have up to 41 million Spanish speakers by 2020. IS THE GLASS CEILING GONE? No. This year, only 24 of the Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO. HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO FIND FLIGHT MH 370? Very. Maps of Mars are about 250 times as accurate as maps of the search area. WHEN WILL WE GO TO MARS? The Dutch non-profit Mars One is planning to send people to Mars in 2024. IS ADDERALL A GATEWAY DRUG? Yes. A college student abusing Adderall is eight times as likely to do cocaine. SOURCES: ERE.NET; CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE; CENSUS.GOV; FORTUNE; WALL STREET JOURNAL; MARS ONE; SAMHSA IV. Questions We Should Be Asking ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3204290/iv-questions-we-should-be-asking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3204290/iv-questions-we-should-be-asking/"},"headline":"IV. Questions We Should Be Asking","datePublished":"2014-08-28T11:08:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:54:10.491Z","description":"When will Congress reach gender parity?","url":"https://time.com/3204290/iv-questions-we-should-be-asking/","keywords":["The Answers Issue"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/the-answers-issue/","name":"The Answers Issue"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3204290/iv-questions-we-should-be-asking/","name":"IV. Questions We Should Be Asking"}}]}] ```