Women at Work
ƒ
ƒ
The labor force participation
rate for adult women rose dramatically during the 1970s and
1980s. Since then, growth in
participation has slowed substantially.
The participation rate for adult
men has waned over time,
though the decline appears to
have leveled off in recent
years. The long-term decline
largely reflects the trend toward earlier retirement.
1. The rate of growth in women's labor force participation has slowed
Percent
Percent
90
90
85
85
80
80
75
75
Adult men
70
70
65
65
Adult women
60
60
55
55
50
50
45
45
40
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
40
Shaded areas represent recessions.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
ƒ
ƒ
The unemployment rates for
adult men and adult women
have tracked quite closely
since the early 1980s. Prior to
that time, the jobless rate for
adult women tended to stay
above that for men.
The jobless rate for teenagers
is much higher than that for
adults, largely because they
have less education and training, less experience, and tend
to move in and out of the job
market more frequently.
2. The unemployment rates for adult men and women have stayed quite close
since the early 1980s
Percent
25
Percent
25
Teenagers
20
20
15
15
Adult women
10
10
5
5
Adult men
0
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
Shaded areas represent recessions.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
46
Monthly Labor Review
October 2003
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
0
ƒ
ƒ
Women are more than twice as
likely as men to work part
time—that is, fewer than 35
hours per week. In 2002, about
25 percent of employed
women were part-time workers, compared with 11 percent
of employed men.
The proportion working part
time changed relatively little
for either women or men in
the 1970s and 1980s. (The
bump in 1994 reflects definitional and methodological
revisions to the Current
Population Survey.)
3. Women are more likely than men to work part time
Percent
Percent
30
30
25
25
Women
20
20
Men
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
0
2000
Shaded areas represent recessions. Beginning in 1994, data reflect the introduction of a major
redesign of the Current Population Survey.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
ƒ
ƒ
Among women who work at
some time during the year, the
proportion working year round
(50–52 weeks) and full time (35
hours or more per week) has increased over the past several
decades. Women have increasingly opted to work these
schedules, partly due to economic necessity, but also due
to movement into occupations
that are typified by year-round,
full-time work.
The proportion for men—
which is considerably higher
than that for women—showed
little definitive movement until
the early 1980s. Since then, it
too has trended upward.
4. Year-round, full-time work has risen rather steadily among women
Percent
Percent
80
80
Men
70
70
60
60
Women
50
50
40
40
30
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
30
Data are collected in March and refer to the preceding calendar year.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Monthly Labor Review
October 2003
47
Women at Work
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
48
In 1970, the impact of marriage and motherhood on
women’s labor force participation rates was strikingly
evident. At that time, their
participation reached its initial peak at ages 20–24,
dropped at ages 25–34, and
then gradually rose to a second peak at ages 45–54, before tapering off. When
these points are plotted, the
peaks and valleys resemble
the letter “M.”
By 2002, this pattern of peaks
and valleys was no longer
evident, as women had increasingly added the role of
worker to their more traditional family responsibilities.
Indeed, women’s labor force
participation pattern by age
now resembles that of men.
Women have made significant
inroads into managerial occupations. Between 1972 and 2002,
the proportion of managerial
jobs held by women more than
doubled, increasing from 20 to
46 percent.
Women still are underrepresented
in many specific professions
and overrepresented in others.
For example, they comprise just
11 percent of engineers but 93
percent of registered nurses.
Despite the movement of many
women into managerial and
professional jobs, they still are
concentrated in clerical and service jobs. Nearly one-half of
women workers are employed in
three occupational groups—
sales (retail and personal services), services, and administrative support—compared with
about one-fifth of male workers.
Monthly Labor Review
5. Women's labor force participation patterns are now more like those of men
Percent
Percent
100
100
Men, 1970
Men, 2002
80
80
Women, 2002
60
60
40
40
Women, 1970
20
20
0
16 to 19
20 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
0
65 and older
Age
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. The proportion of managers who are women has grown markedly
Percent
Percent
100
100
1972
2002
80
75.0
78.5
80
61.1 59.9
60
60
54.7
50.1
45.9
44.0
40.1
40
20
0
40
19.7
Executive,
administrative,
and managerial
16.9 16.1
Professional
specialty
Technical
and sales
Administrative
support,
including
clerical
Service
Women as a percent of total employment in major occupations.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
October 2003
Precision
production,
and operators,
fabricators,
and laborers
20
0
ƒ
ƒ
The ratio of women’s to men’s
earnings (78 percent in 2002)
has risen sharply since 1979
(63 percent).
The women’s-to-men’s earnings
ratio for minority workers is
higher than for whites. In 2002,
black women earned 91 percent
of what black men did; among
Hispanics, the earnings ratio
was 88 percent. In contrast,
white women’s earnings were 78
percent of white men’s.
7.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, women's earnings increased substantially
as a percent of men's
Percent
Percent
80
80
75
75
70
70
65
65
60
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
60
Earnings are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
ƒ
The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio has increased in every major age group over the
1979–2002 period. The ratio is
highest in the youngest age
categories.
8. Women continue to earn less than men in every major age group
Women's earnings as
a percent of men's
100
Care should be taken in interpreting these data, however, as
they provide only a snapshot
of earnings patterns in 2002.
Older women faced a different
social and economic climate at
the start of their work lives
than that which exists for
young women today. Consequently, the lifetime earnings
pattern of today’s older
women may not be a reliable
guide to the lifetime earnings
pattern of today’s younger
women.
93.4
1979
2002
84.7
77.9
80
ƒ
Women's earnings as
a percent of men's
100
78.6
75.5
80
74.6
72.2
67.5
62.5
58.2
60
61.3
57.0
60
40
40
20
20
0
0
16 years
and older
16 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 years
and older
Age
Earnings are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Monthly Labor Review
October 2003
49
Women at Work
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
50
Overall, real earnings for women
25 years and older increased by
28 percent from 1979–2002, while
men’s real earnings were little
changed.
9. The trend in real earnings since 1979 was more favorable for women
than for men at all levels of education
Percent change in real earnings, 1979–2002
-40
Monthly Labor Review
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
28
Women with a high school diploma or more education experienced an increase in real earnings.
For men, only college graduates
saw an increase; all other education groups experienced a decline
in real earnings.
While women fared better than
men over this time period, in part
they were playing “catch up” to
men. The growth in women’s
earnings reflects in large part the
fact that the proportion of working women with a college education grew, more women moved
into higher-paying managerial
and professional jobs, and
women began working year round
in increasing numbers.
-30
33
13
Some college or
associate's degree
–3
8
High school graduates,
no college
–13
–7
Less than a high
school diploma
–27
-30
-20
-10
70
Bachelor's degree
and higher
20
-40
60
Total, 25 years
and older
2
Women
Men
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Percent change in real earnings, 1979–2002
Change in median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and
older, adjusted using the CPI–U–RS.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
October 2003