Women’s increased labor force participation represents a significant change in the U.S. economy since 1950. As of 2014, nearly six in ten women aged 16 and older (57.0 percent) worked outside the home (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015a), compared with 33.9 percent in 1950 and 43.3 percent in 1970 (Fullerton 1999). Women now comprise nearly half of the U.S. labor force at 46.8 percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015a). In each state, however, women are still less likely to be in the workforce than men (Table B2.1). Show
Among the largest racial and ethnic groups, black women aged 16 and older had the highest national workforce participation rate in 2014 at 59.2 percent. White women had the second highest labor force participation rate at 56.7 percent, followed by Hispanic women (56.0 percent) and Asian women (55.8). Data are not available for Native American women (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015c). Among the detailed racial and ethnic groups shown in Table B2.3, Bolivian and Peruvian women have the highest labor force participation rates among Hispanic women at 70.1 and 66.0 percent, respectively, and Cuban women have the lowest rate at 55.9 percent (Table B2.3). Filipino and Laotian women have the highest workforce participation rates among Asian/Pacific Islander women (68.2 and 64.8 percent), and Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have the lowest rates (41.8 and 44.3 percent). Among Native American women, the Chippewa and the Pueblo have the highest workforce participation rates at 59.4 percent and 59.0 percent, respectively, and the Navajo and the Cherokee have the lowest rates (52.2 and 53.9 percent; Table B2.3). Labor force participation rates also vary by age. Among women, rates are highest for those in their prime working years (aged 25–54); after increasing between 1960 and 1999, however, the labor force participation rate of women in this age group decreased nearly three percentage points between 2000 and 2014 (the labor force participation rate of men aged 25–54 declined by more than three percentage points during this time; Figure 2.6). The labor force participation rate for young women (16–24) reached its high point in 1987 and declined more than nine percentage points between 2000 and 2014, while young men’s labor force participation rate declined by more than twelve percentage points, reflecting the longer time this generation now spends in education and also a weak labor market during the Great Recession and in the slow recovery for many young adults. Among women aged 55 years and older—who are much less likely to be in the workforce than younger women—labor force participation has increased over the last three decades, especially so in the 2000s, having remained fairly constant from 1960 until the mid-1980s, when the labor force participation rate of young women was growing rapidly. In 2014, 34.9 percent of older women were in the workforce, compared with 26.1 percent in 2000. Older men, in contrast, experienced a steady decline in their workforce participation rates between 1960 and the mid-1990s, before their labor force participation rate increased between the mid-1990s and 2014, reaching its high point in 2012 (Figure 2.6). Figure 2.6. Labor Force Participation Rates by Gender and Age, 1960–2014Insert Figure 2.6 Source: IWPR compilation of Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015c). Part-Time WorkAlthough the majority of employed women and men in the United States work full-time, women are nearly twice as likely as men to work part-time (29.4 percent compared with 15.8 percent; Table B2.6). Working part-time makes it less likely that a worker will receive employment benefits such as paid vacation days, paid family or medical leave, paid sick days, health care insurance, or employer contributions to retirement saving funds (Society for Human Resource Management 2011; Van Giezen 2012).
Women work part-time for various reasons. The majority who work part-time do so by choice (although these choices may be constrained by factors such as their children’s school hours and the high costs of child care). For some women, however, part-time work is involuntary; approximately one in five women who usually worked part-time in 2013 said they worked part-time because they could not find full-time work or had their hours at work temporarily reduced (IWPR 2014b). Whether part-time work is voluntary or not, an increasing number of workers report not knowing from one week to the next how many hours and at what times they are expected to work. They may be expected to be available for full-time work, but without any guarantee of how many hours they actually will be scheduled to work. A recent national survey of younger workers between the ages of 26 and 32 found that approximately 70 percent of hourly and non-hourly women workers experience fluctuations in their hours worked per week. Such fluctuations are particularly common for workers classified as part-time (Lambert, Fugiel, and Henly 2014). In addition to potentially creating havoc with workers’ family lives, and their own and children’s school schedules, these unpredictable schedules can make it hard to secure a steady income that enables them to meet their financial needs. Unpredictable scheduling also can make it difficult for workers to combine two or more part-time jobs to increase earnings or combine part-time work with their own schooling. UnemploymentPreliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that in 2014, 6.1 percent of women aged 16 and older in the nation’s civilian, noninstitutionalized population were unemployed, compared with 6.3 percent of men (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015d). These unemployment rates were the lowest for women and men since 2008, when 5.4 percent of women and 6.1 percent of men were unemployed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014b). This decrease in unemployment reflects improvement in the nation’s economy following the Great Recession that officially lasted from 2007 to 2009. The lower rates, however, may also reflect the decision of some workers to give up their active search for a job in the face of dim employment prospects (Davis 2014). As noted above, labor force participation rates have fallen, and some adults may have left the labor market out of discouragement. In the United States, women’s unemployment rates vary considerably by race and ethnicity. According to preliminary data, black women in 2014 had the highest unemployment rate among women at 10.5 percent, followed by Hispanic women (8.2 percent), white women (5.2 percent), and Asian women (4.6 percent; data are not available for Native American women). For each racial and ethnic group except Hispanics, women’s unemployment rates were lower than men’s (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015e). Single mothers and young women also have high levels of unemployment. In 2013, single mothers with children under 18 were more than twice as likely to be unemployed as married mothers with a spouse present (12.0 percent compared with 4.8 percent; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014c). According to preliminary data for 2014, the nation’s youngest female workers (aged 16–19) had an unemployment rate of 17.7 percent; those aged 20–24 fared better but still had a relatively high unemployment rate (10.1 percent; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015d). Many young women face the dual disadvantage of having limited or no prior work experience and a lack of higher educational credentials. The Employment and Earnings of Immigrant WomenApproximately 21 million female immigrants live in the United States, making up just over 13 percent of the nation’s female population. Immigrant women come from all over the world, with the largest shares from Mexico (25.6 percent), the Philippines (5.3 percent), China (4.7 percent), and India (4.6 percent). In their multiple roles as students, professionals and other workers, spouses, parents, and caregivers, immigrant women make important contributions to local communities, the economy, and society.
IWPR calculations based on 2013 American Community Survey microdata. The Employment and Earnings of Women with DisabilitiesApproximately 2.6 million women aged 16 and older in the labor force have disabilities, including cognitive, ambulatory, sight, hearing, and self-care or independent living difficulties. They are 3.6 percent of all women in the labor force.
Earnings data and data on part-time work are based on IWPR analysis of 2013 American Community Survey microdata; all other data are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014d). How has women's labor force participation changed over time?Gradually, beginning after 1890 and very much into the 20th century, women had a growing place in the workforce. This path—declining from a high point in previous centuries, prior to the manufacturing economy, and then rising as the economy and society change over time—graphs as a U-shaped curve.
How did women's participation in the workforce change from 1930 to 1950?From 1930 to 1950 the labor force participation rate for married women 35 to 44 years old in- creased by 15.5 percentage points, or from about 10 percent to 25 percent (Figure 1). Whereas just 8 percent of employed women were married in 1890, the number rose to 26 percent in 1930 and 47 percent in 1950.
What was the trend in women's employment during the 1950s?The share of women in the labor force grew from 30 percent in 1950 to almost 47 percent in 2000, and the number of working women is projected to reach 92 million by 2050—on the basis of an annual growth rate of 0.7 percent.
Has female labor force participation increased or decreased in recent decades?Women's increased labor force participation represents a significant change in the U.S. economy since 1950. As of 2014, nearly six in ten women aged 16 and older (57.0 percent) worked outside the home (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015a), compared with 33.9 percent in 1950 and 43.3 percent in 1970 (Fullerton 1999).
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