International Women's Day facts for kids

Quick facts for kids International Women's Day
German poster for International Women's Day, March 8, 1914 This poster was banned in Germany.
Observed by	Worldwide
Type	International
Significance	Civil awareness day Women and girls day Anti-sexism day Anti-Discrimination Day
Date	March 8
Next time	March 8, 2026 (2026-03-08)
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Russian Revolution Children's Day International Men's Day International Workers' Day

International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8. International Women's Day has been observed since 1909 in the United States. After a while the people of United States stopped celebrating this holiday. In the 1920s Soviet Union, and then some other Communist countries like China and Cuba, started celebrating this day as a holiday for women and world peace. Since then the holiday has become more and more popular around the world.

In many places, the day does not have a political aspect, and is simply a time for men to express their love for women. It is similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. Men present their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. with flowers and small gifts. In some countries International Women's Day is observed like Mother's Day, where children give small gifts to their mothers and grandmothers. In some countries, women get a half day off work. Often, schools will have a celebration where students will honor their teachers.

In 1975, the United Nations also started to recognize this holiday. The UN chooses a political or social theme for the holiday each year. For example, the 2011 theme was ""Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women." In this way, the holiday is a time to look at the social and economic problems women have around the world.

International Women's Day is now an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Images for kids

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  Clara Zetkin (left) and Rosa Luxemburg (right) in January 1910

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  Women's demonstration for bread and peace, Petrograd, Russia

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  Poster for Women's Day March in London, 1975

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  British poster for Women's Day March 1974

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  8M 2018 in Pamplona

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  8M 2020 in Spain

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  Women on the street celebrating International Women's Day in Cameroon

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  Yellow mimosa is the symbol of IWD in Ukraine and Italy

See also

In Spanish: Día Internacional de la Mujer para niños