Visual Essay: Labor Force Status of Families
Labor force status of families:
a visual essay
Stella Potter Cromartie
T
his visual essay presents highlights of data on employment and unemployment within families. Over time,
work patterns within families have changed dramatically, particularly as women—notably married women
and mothers—have entered the labor force. Labor force patterns vary by family type and by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.
The estimates in this visual essay are based on data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of about 60,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau. For
more information about the employment characteristics of families, see www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm.
• The number of families main-
tained by women has grown
substantially as a proportion of
all families over time. In March
2006, almost 2 in 10 families
were maintained by women. That
was nearly twice the proportion
in March 1970.
• The share of families maintained
by men grew from 2 to 7 percent
over the same period.
1. The proportion of all families maintained by men or by women
with no spouse present has grown substantially
Families
maintained
by men
(2 percent)
Families
maintained
by women
(11 percent)
Families
maintained
by men
(7 percent)
Families
maintained
by women
(19 percent)
• A family is a group of two or
more persons residing together
who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption; children need
not be members of the group.
• Families are classified either as
married-couple families or as
families maintained by men or
by women without spouses.
• Data on children refer to the
family’s own children and include
sons, daughters, stepchildren, and
adopted children. Not included
are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, other children related to the
family, and all unrelated children
living in the household.
Married-couple families
(87 percent)
March 1970
Married-couple families
(75 percent)
March 2006
Percent distribution of families by family type
Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007 35
Visual Essay: Labor Force Status of Families
• The composition of black fami-
lies is quite different from that
of white, Asian, and Hispanic or
Latino families. In March 2006,
46 percent of black families were
maintained by women, compared
with 14 and 12 percent, respectively, for their white and Asian
counterparts. About 23 percent of
Hispanic or Latino families were
maintained by women.
• Black families are the least likely
to be married-couple families. In
March 2006, nearly half of black
families were married couples,
compared with about 80 percent
of both white and Asian families,
and nearly 70 percent of Hispanic
or Latino families.
• Data are not shown for all race
groups. Hispanics or Latinos may
be of any race and, therefore, are
classified by ethnicity as well as by
race.
• In March 2006, about 7 out of
10 mothers of children under 18
years were labor force participants.
Mothers with younger children
were less likely to be in the labor
force than were mothers of older
children. For example, participation rates in March 2006 ranged
from 60 percent for mothers
whose youngest child was under 3
years to 77 percent for those whose
youngest child was 6 to 17 years.
• Labor force participation rates
for mothers have changed little in
recent years, following several decades of growth.
• Among mothers with children
under 3 years, the labor force participation rate edged down from
62 percent in March 1998 to 60
percent in March 2006.
36 Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007
2. Nearly half of black families are maintained by women
Percent
Percent
Married-couple families
Families maintained by men
Families maintained by women
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic or
Latino
Percent distribution of families by family type,
March 2006
0
3. After rising dramatically for decades, labor force participation
rates for mothers have changed little in recent years
Percent
90
Percent
90
6 to17 years
80
70
60
Total, under
18 years
3 to 5 years
Under 3 years
80
70
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999
2002 2005
Labor force participation rates of mothers by age of youngest child,
March 1975 to March 2006
4. Work patterns in families have changed remarkably over time
Percent
50
Percent
50
Married-couple families with both husband and wife in the labor force
40
40
30
30
All other families
Married-couple families with husband, but
not wife, in the labor force
20
10
Families maintained by women in the labor force
20
10
Families maintained by men in the labor force
0
1975
1977
1979
1981 1983 1985 1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997 1999
2001
2003 2005
0
Percent distribution of families by family type and labor force status of family members, March 1975–2006
• Family work patterns reflect both changes in family
• The proportion of all families that were married-
• The share of all families that had a husband and
• The share of all families that were maintained by
structure and changes in women’s labor force participation.
wife in the labor force increased from 34 percent in
March 1975 to 42 percent by the mid-1990s. Since
then, the proportion has changed little (41 percent
in March 2006), reflecting the leveling-off of wives’
labor force participation growth.
couple families in which only the husband was a labor force participant fell from 35 percent in March
1975 to 17 percent in March 2006.
women in the labor force grew from 7 percent in
March 1975 to about 13 percent by March 1997;
their proportion has remained essentially the same
since then. The share of all families that were maintained by men in the labor force went from 2 percent
to 5 percent between March 1975 and March 2006.
Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007 37
Visual Essay: Labor Force Status of Families
• The labor force participation rate
of married women rose by about
30 percentage points from 1960 to
the mid-1990s. Since then, however, there has been little further
change.
• The rate for married men, which
had trended downward, also has
been essentially flat over the past
several years.
5. Following decades of growth, the labor force participation
rate of married women has changed little since the mid-1990s
Percent
100
Percent
100
90
90
Married men
80
80
70
70
60
60
50
50
Married women
40
30
1960
40
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
30
Labor force participation rates of married men and women,
annual averages, 1960–2006
• Overall, about 4 in 5 families had
an employed member in 2006.
Families maintained by women
were somewhat less likely than
other families to have an employed
member.
• In about 62 percent of marriedcouple families with employed
members, both spouses were employed. In 24 percent of marriedcouple families with employed
members, only the husband was
employed.
• The householder was the only
worker in about 57 percent of
families maintained by women
that have at least one employed
member, compared with about
46 percent of such families maintained by men. A householder is
the person (or one of the persons)
in whose name the housing unit is
owned or rented.
38 Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007
6. Most families have an employed member
Total families
Marriedcouple
families
Families
maintained
by women
Families
maintained
by men
0
20
40
60
80
Percent of families with an employed member,
annual averages, 2006
100
• Asian families were most likely
to have at least one employed
member (90 percent), followed
by Hispanic or Latino families
(87 percent), white families (83
percent), and black families (78
percent).
• Part of the reason for the difference by race and ethnicity is that
a smaller percentage of Asian (13
percent) or white (15 percent)
families are maintained by women than are Hispanic or Latino
(24 percent) or black (45 percent)
families. Families maintained by
women are less likely to have an
employed member than are other
families.
7. Asian families are most likely to have an employed member
Total
families
White
families
Black
families
Asian
families
Hispanic
or Latino
families
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent of families with an employed member,
annual averages, 2006
• Children
in married-couple
families are more likely to live
with at least one employed parent (97 percent) than are children
in families maintained by women
(69 percent) or in families maintained by men (84 percent).
8. Nine out of 10 children live with an employed parent
Percent
Percent
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
• More than 90 percent of both
white children and Asian children lived with an employed
parent, compared with about 88
percent of Hispanic or Latino
children and 78 percent of black
children.
0
0
All children
In marriedcouple families
In families
maintained
by women
In families
maintained
by men
Percent of children with an employed parent,
annual averages, 2006
Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007 39
Visual Essay: Labor Force Status of Families
• In 2006, 4.9 million families had
at least one member who was unemployed, down from 5.3 million
in 2005.
• Typically, families maintained by
women or by men are more likely
than married-couple families to
contain an unemployed member. About 10 percent of families
maintained by women or by men
had an unemployed member in
2006, compared with 5 percent of
married-couple families.
9. Fewer than 1 in 10 families has an unemployed member
Total
families
Marriedcouple
families
Families
maintained
by women
Families
maintained
by men
0
5
10
15
20
Percent of families with an unemployed member,
annual averages, 2006
• The proportion of black families
with an unemployed member
(about 11 percent) continued to be
about twice that for white families
(6 percent) and Asian families (5
percent).
• Among Hispanic or Latino families, 8 percent had an unemployed
member.
10. Black families are those most likely to have at least one
unemployed member
Total
families
White
families
Black
families
Asian
families
Hispanic
or Latino
families
0
5
10
15
Percent of families with an unemployed member,
annual averages, 2006
40 Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007
20
• Of the 4.9 million families with
an unemployed member in 2006,
about 70 percent also had at least
one worker.
• Families maintained by women or
by men that have an unemployed
member are less likely to have at
least one member employed (47
percent and 58 percent, respectively) than are married-couple
families with an unemployed
member (82 percent).
11. Most families with an unemployed member also
have someone who is employed
Total
families
Marriedcouple
families
Families
maintained
by women
Families
maintained
by men
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent of families with an unemployed member that also have an
employed member, annual averages, 2006
• Black families with an unem-
ployed member were less likely
than other families to also have at
least one employed member (58
percent).
• Asian families with an unemployed
member were considerably more
likely to have one or more persons
employed (80 percent) than were
white (73 percent) or Hispanic or
Latino (69 percent) families with
an unemployed member.
12. The proportion of families with an unemployed member that
also had at least one employed member was lowest for blacks
Total
families
White
families
Black
families
Asian
families
Hispanic
or Latino
families
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent of families with an unemployed member that also have an
employed member, annual averages, 2006
Monthly Labor Review • July/August 2007 41