Perspectives on Working Women:

A Databook

U.S. Department of Labor 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

October 1980

Bulletin 2080

•AUTHWEar Missouri STATE

W v^VERSITY LIBRARY

g£C 1 21960

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Perspectives on Working Women:

A Databook

U.S. Department of Labor 

Ray Marshall, Secretary

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Janet L. Norwood, Commissioner 

October 1980

Bulletin 2080

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Foreword

Today, more than at any time in this 

century, women are firmly established 

members of our Nation’s work force. 

Many of their concerns are the same 

as those faced by working men, such 

as equitable wages, occupational 

choice, adequate retirement benefits, 

and the maintenance of a safe and 

healthy workplace. Nevertheless, the 

world of work remains inhospitable for 

large groups of women, including those 

who have children that they must raise 

and support on their own, and others 

who are held back by bias against 

women.

During the 1970’s, the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics continued to be a 

primary source of information on the 

phenomenal upsurge in women’s labor 

market participation. The Bureau 

published many new reports and introduced several new data series that 

improved the country’s ability to understand and measure the dramatic 

changes. The new information is

included in this databook, along with 

other subjects ranging from historical 

labor force and earnings trends to job 

safety. As the 1980’s progress, we shall 

continue to concentrate our efforts on 

monitoring trends and developments 

and producing statistics on women 

which are timely and informative.

Janet L. Norwood 

Commissioner of Labor Statistics

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Preface

This databook presents a wide array 

of information on the characteristics of 

working women in the United States 

and their changing socioeconomic 

status, especially during the 1970’s. An 

earlier version entitled U.S. Working

Women: A Databook was published by 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1977. 

The present databook is a major 

expansion of the earlier publication and 

contains new and more detailed 

statistics on women’s labor force 

participation. The great majority of the 

data are from the Current Population 

Survey, a household sample survey 

conducted monthly for the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the 

Census. Most of this information is 

published by the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics in a series of Special Labor 

Force Reports and in the monthly 

periodicals Employment and Earnings

and the Monthly Labor Review.

Part I provides information on the 

extraordinary increase in the labor 

force participation of women between 

1950 and 1979, with special emphasis 

on trends during the 1970’s and some 

data from the first half of 1980. Part II 

looks at the strength of women’s 

attachment to the labor force by 

showing the number of weeks they 

worked or looked for work during an 

entire year. Part III focuses on working 

women’s marital, family, and child 

status, and Part IV reviews changes in 

women’s school enrollment and 

education. Part V examines the 

earnings and incomes of women and 

families. Part VI looks at data by race 

and Hispanic origin, and Part VII has 

additional information including data on 

such subjects as job tenure and 

moonlighting. Part VIII concludes with a 

glimpse of labor force and employment 

patterns at the outset of the 1980’s. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all data 

refer to the civilian noninstitutional

population 16 years and over. Because 

of rounding, sums of individual items in 

the tables may not equal totals. 

Sampling variability may be relatively 

large in cases where numbers are 

small. Small differences between 

estimates or percentages should be 

interpreted with caution.

This databook was prepared in the 

Division of Labor Force Studies, Office 

of Current Employment Analysis. It was 

prepared by Howard Hayghe and 

Beverly L. Johnson under the general 

direction of Elizabeth Waldman. Loretta 

Profater, Barbara Nussear and Annie 

Wilder provided valuable support.

Unless specifically identified as 

copyright, material in this publication is 

in the public domain and may, with 

appropriate credit, be reproduced 

without permission.

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Contents

Part 1.

Labor Force,

Employment,and

Unemployment

Charts:

1. Labor force participation rates of women and men,

annual averages, 1950-80 .................................................................

2. Unemployment rates of women and men, annual averages, 

1950-80 ...............................................................................................

Tables:

Page

2

2

1. Women in the labor force, annual averages, selected years,

1950-79, and January-June 1980 ....................................................... 3

2. Labor force participation rates of women and men, annual

averages, 1950-79,and January-June 1980 ........................................ 3

3. Women in the labor force by age, annual averages, selected 

years, 1950-79,and January-June 1980.............................................. 4

4. Labor force participation rates of women by age, annual

averages, selected years, 1950-79,and January-June 1980 ............... 4

5. Labor force participation rates of women 20 years and over by 

year of birth and age, annual averages, selected years, 1955-79 ... 5

6. Employed and unemployed women, annual averages,

1950-79,and January-June 1980 ......................................................... 6

7. Unemployment rates of women and men, annual averages,

1950-79,and January-June 1980 ......................................................... 7

8. Unemployment rates of women and men by age, annual

averages, 1970 and 1979 .................................................................... 8

9. Unemployed women and men by reason for unemployment, 

annual averages, 1970 and 1979 ....................................................... 8

10. Occupational distribution of employed women, annual

averages, selected years, 1950-79 ..................................................... 9

11. Employment of women in selected occupations, 1950,. 1960,

1970, and 1979 .................................................................................. 10

12. Women employees on nonagricultural payrolls, selected

industries, October, 1970 and 1979 ..................................................... 12

13. Self-employed women in nonagricultural industries by age,

annual averages, 1970 and 1979 ....................................................... 13

14. Women and men not in the labor force by desire for job and

reason for nonparticipation, annual averages, 1970 and 1979 .......... 13

15. Women not in the labor force by age, annual averages,

selected years, 1950-79 ...................................................................... 14

Part il.

Extent of

Work Experience

Tables:

16. Work experience of women and men, 1960,1970, and 1978 ............

17. Work experience of women and men by age, 1970 and 1978 ..........

16

17

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18. Women with unemployment in 1978 by number 

of weeks unemployed........................................

Page

19

Part III.

Marital and

Family Status

Part IV.

School Enrollment

and Education

19. Percent of women employed year round full time in each

occupation, 1960, 1970, and 1978........................................................... 19

20. Women by work experience and reason for less than fullyear work, 1960,1970, and 1978 ............................................................. 20

Tables:

21. Women by labor force and marital status, selected years, 1950-79 ........ 22

22. Labor force participation rates of women by age and

marital status, March 1979 ........................................................................ 23

23. Occupations of employed women by marital status, March,

1970 and 1979 ........................................................................................... 24

24. Work experience of married women, husband present, and

never-married women, 1960,1970, and 1978 .......................................... 25

25. Birth rates and fertility rates by race, selected years, 1920-79 ................. 26

26. Labor force participation rates of married women, husband

present, by presence and age of own children, 1950-79 ......................... 27

27. Women by marital and labor force status and presence and

age of own children, March 1979 ............................................................. 28

28. Employed women by full- or part-time status, marital status,

and presence and age of own children, March 1979 ................................ 29

29. Families by type, selected years, 1940-79 ................................................. 30

30. Number of own children by age of children, type of family, and

labor force status of mother, March, 1970,1975, and 1979 ..................... 31

31. Number of own children by age of children, type of family,

and employment status of parents, March 1979 ...................................... 32

32. Women maintaining families by age and marital status,

March, 1960,1970, and 1979 .................................................................... 33

33. Labor force participation rates and unemployment rates of

women maintaining families by age, March, 1970 and 1979 ................... 34

34. Labor force status of women and men maintaining families by

presence and age of children under 18, March, 1970, and 1979............... 34

35. Labor force status of women maintaining families by marital

status and presence of children, March 1979 .......................................... 35

36. Occupations of employed women maintaining families by

marital status, March 1979 ........................................................................ 36

Tables:

37. School enrollment status of women and men 16 to 24 years old

in the labor force, selected years, October, 1960-79 ................................ 38

38. School enrollment status of women and men 16 to 34 years old

in the labor force by age, October, 1970 and 1979.................................... 39

39. Percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college by

sex, selected years, October, 1960-79 ..................................................... 39

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40. Employment status of women and men 16 to 34 years old Page

enrolled in school by age and type of school, October 1979 ..................... 40

41. Employment status of women and men 16 to 24 years old, not 

enrolled in college, who were high school graduates or school

dropouts in 1979, October 1979 ............................................................... 41

42. Employment status of women and men 16 to 24 years old, not

enrolled in school, by years of school completed, October 1979 ............ 42

43. Educational attainment of women and men in the labor

force, March, 1965-79 .............................................................................. 43

44. Labor force and marital status of women by years of school

completed, March 1979 ............................................................................ 44

45. Occupational distribution of employed women by years of

school completed, March 1979 ............................................................... 45

46. Women and men 25 years and over in the labor force by

age and years of school completed, March 1979 .................................... 46

47. Percent of workers 25 years old and over with 12 years of education

or more by sex and occupation group, March, 1970 and 1979 ................. 47

Part V. Tables:

Earnings and Income 48. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary

workers by sex, May, 1967-78 and second quarter, 1979-80 ................... 49

49. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary

workers by sex and occupation, annual averages, 1979 ......................... 49

50. Distribution of full-time wage and salary workers by usual weekly

earnings and selected characteristics, annual averages, 1979 .............. 50

51. Distribution of families by usual weekly wage and salary earnings,

type of family, and number of earners, annual averages, 1979................. 51

52. Median annual earnings of year-round full-time workers 14

years and over by sex, 1955-78................................................................. 52

53. Median annual earnings of women 14 years and over by

weeks worked, 1978 ................................................................................ 52

54. Sources of income of women 14 years and over, 1978 ........................... 53

55. Married-couple families by number of earners and size of family,

March 1979, and median family income in 1978 ...................................... 53

56. Married-couple families by number of earners in previous year 

and presence and number of own children under 18,

March 1979 ............................................................................................... 54

57. Families maintained by women and men by number of earners 

and size of family, March 1979, and median family income

in 1978........................................................................................................ 55

58. Families maintained by women and men by number of earners 

in previous year and presence and number of own children

under 18, March 1979 .............................................................................. 56

59. Earnings of married women, husband present, as percent of 

family income in 1978, by selected characteristics of marriedcouple families, March 1979...................................................................... 57

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Part VI.

Race and

Hispanic Origin

60. Earnings of women maintaining families as percent of family

income in 1978 by selected characteristics, March 1979 ....................... 57

61. Women who work full time year round by median earnings in

1978, marital status, and educational attainment, March 1979 .............. 58

62. Median annual earnings of year-round full-time workers in 1978

by occupation of longest job, March 1979 ................................................. 59

63. Women 16 years old and over by poverty status, 1966-78 ....................... 59

64. Poverty status in 1978 of women and men by age and years

of school completed, March 1979............................................................. 60

Tables:

65. Labor force status of women and men by race, annual

averages, 1955-79 ..................................................................................... 62

66. Labor force status of persons of Hispanic origin by sex,

annual averages, 1973-79 ........................................................................ 64

67. Women and men in the population and labor force by age,

race, and Hispanic origin, annual averages, 1979 .................................... 65

68. Employment status of white, black, and Hispanic persons by

sex and marital status, March 1979 ......................................................... 66

69. Labor force status of women by race, Hispanic origin, marital

status, and presence and age of children under 18, March 1979 ............ 68

70. Employment status of women and men of Hispanic origin,

March, 1975 and 1979 .............................................................................. 70

71. Labor force status of women and men by educational attainment,

race, and Hispanic origin, March 1979 ..................................................... 71

72. Labor force participation rates and unemployment rates of women 

and men by educational attainment, race, and Hispanic

origin, March 1979 ..................................................................................... 72

73. Work experience of women and men by race and Hispanic origin, 1978 73

74. Occupational distribution of employed white, black, and Hispanic

women and men, March, 1970 and 1979 ................................................ 74

75. Median annual earnings of women and men who worked year round,

full time, by race and Hispanic origin, 1978 .............................................. 75

76. Median annual earnings of year-round full-time workers 14 years

and over by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 1975-78 ............................... 75

77. Earnings of married women, husband present, as percent of

family income in 1978 by selected characteristics of married-couple 

familes, race,and Hispanic origin, March 1979 ........................................ 76

78. Number of women and men 16 years and over below poverty level

and poverty rate by age, race, and Hispanic origin, 1975-78 ................... 77

79. White, black, and Hispanic families by type, March, 1975-79 ................... 78

80. Labor force status of women and men maintaining families by

race and Hispanic origin, and presence and age of children under 18, 

March, 1975 and 1979 ............................................................................

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Part VII.

Additional

Characteristics

Part VIII.

The 1980’s

81. Labor force status of women maintaining families by race and 

Hispanic origin, marital status, and presence and age of children

under 18, March 1979 80

82. Families by type and race, March 1979, and median family

income in 1978 ......................................................................................... 82

83. Number of own children by age of children, race and Hispanic 

origin, type of family, and labor force status of mother, March 1979,

and median family income in 1978 83

Tables:

84. Average hours worked by nonfarm wage and salary workers by sex

and occupation, May 1979 ........................................................................ 87

85. Days usually worked by nonfarm wage and salary workers by sex

and full- or part-time status, May 1979....................................................... 87

86. Shift worked by nonfarm wage and salary workers who usually work

full time by sex and marital status, May 1979 88

87. Absence rates for full-time nonfarm wage and salary workers by sex

and age, May 1978.................................................................................... 89

88. Overtime workers by usual hours, premium pay, sex, and marital

status, May 1979 ....................................................................................... 90

89. Number and percent of full-time wage and salary workers who

worked long weeks and received premium pay by selected 

characteristics, May 1979 ........................................................................ 91

90. Length of time on current job by sex, January 1978 .................................. 92

91. Occupational mobility of employed persons between January 1977

and January 1978 by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, January 1978 93

92. Multiple jobholding rates of employed women and men and main

reason for working at more than one job, May 1979 ............................... 94

93. Membership of women in national unions and employee associations,

selected years, 1960-78 ............................................................................ 94

94. Employment status of women by State, annual averages, 1978 ............... 95

95. Occupational distribution of employed women by State, annual

averages, 1978 ......................................................................................... 96

96. Percent of employment and occupational injuries and illnesses

among women workers by selected occupations, 1977 ........................... 98

97. Percent of employment and occupational injuries and illnesses

among women workers, selected States, 1977 99

Tables:

98. Summary indicators on working women by selected characteristics,

January-June 1980..................................................................................... 101

99. Family status of women by selected characteristics, January-June 1980 102

100. Employed women by occupation, race, and Hispanic origin,

6-month average, January-June 1980 ....................................................... 102

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Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment

The extraordinary increase in 

women’s labor force activity that 

characterized the 1970’s continued 

unabated through practically all of 

1979. Nearly 12 million more women 

were in the labor force in 1979 than in 

1970; these women accounted for 

about 60 percent of the gain in the 

labor force. Areas of considerable 

change in the 1970’s which are bound 

to affect women’s labor force 

participation in the 1980’s include:

• Age. Women 25 to 34 years old 

accounted for nearly half the increase 

in the number of female workers during 

the 1970’s. A remarkable 64 percent of 

all women 25 to 34 were working or 

looking for work in 1979, and the first 

half of 1980, including 54 percent of 

the mothers in this age group who had 

to juggle the responsibilities of home 

and child care with those of a job. The 

pattern of a more continuous work 

history for women in these ages may 

widen their career and advancement 

opportunities in the 1980’s.

• Changing job mix. Although the 

majority (55 percent) of employed 

women began the 1980’s in traditional 

clerical and service occupations, a 

substantial number had made inroads 

into professional-technical jobs with 

higher status and earnings, e.g., 

doctors, lawyers and accountants. In 

1970, 60 percent of all female professional-technical workers were in the 

more traditional areas of nursing and 

pre-college teaching; by 1979, this 

proportion had dropped to about 52 

percent.

• Unemployment. About 2.9 million 

women were unemployed in 1979, an 

increase of around a million since 

1970. The unemployment rate for 

women, which had climbed from 5.9 

percent in 1970 to a record high 9.3 

percent at mid-decade, had dropped to 

6.8 percent in 1979. As in past 

decades, unemployment rates generally

remained higher for women than men, 

with the gap widening when business 

was buoyant and declining during 

sluggish periods, such as the first half 

of 1980.

• Women not in the labor force.

Women constitute about 7 of 10 

persons outside the work force. For the 

most part, these women state that they 

do not want a job, reporting household 

responsibilities as the main reason they 

neither work nor look for work. However, as greater proportions of younger 

women enter the labor market, the 

women who do not work for pay 

outside their homes are increasingly 

older; in 1979, the median age of 

women not in the labor force was 

about 51 years, compared with a little 

more than 45 years at the beginning of 

the 1970’s.

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Chart 1.

Labor force

participation rates of

women and men,

annual averages,

1950-80

100-

6 0-

Percent of

2 0 -

0I__________I__________I__________I__________I__________I__________I

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980

1January-June 1980

Chart 2.

Unemployment rates of

women and men,

annual averages,

1950-80

1 0 -

2 -

0l_________ I_________ I_________ I_________ I_________ I_________ I

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980

'January-June 1980

2

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Table 1. (Numbers in thousands)

Women in the labor

force, annual averages,

selected years,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

Labor force

Year

Total, both sexes

Women

Number Percent of total

1950 62,208 18,389 29.6

1955 65,023 20,548 31.6

1960 69,628 23,240 33.4

1965 74,455 26,200 35.2

1970 82,715 31,520 38.1

1975 92,613 36,998 39.9

1979 102,908 43,391 42.1

January-June 1980 103,884 44,126 42.5

Table 2.

Labor force

participation rates of

women and men,

annual averages,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

Year

Participation rate

(Percent of population in labor force)

Women Men

1950 33.9 86.4

1951 34.6 86.5

1952 34.7 86.3

1953 34.4 86.0

1954 34.6 85.5

1955 35.7 85.3

1956 36.9 85.5

1957 36.9 84.8

1958 37.1 84.2

1959 37.1 83.7

1960 37.7 83.3

1961 38.1 82.9

1962 37.9 82.0

1963 38.3 81.4

1964 38.7 81.0

1965 39.3 80.7

1966 40.3 80.4

1967 41.1 80.4

1968 41.6 80.1

1969 42.7 79.8

1970 43.3 79.7

1971 43.3 79.1

1972 43.9 79.0

1973 44.7 78.8

1974 45.6 78.7

1975 46.3 77.9

1976 47.3 77.5

1977 48.4 77.7

1978 50.0 77.9

1979 51.0 77.9

January-June 1980 51.2 77.2

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Table 3.

Women in the labor

force by age, annual

averages, selected

years,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

Age 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1979

JanuaryJune

1980

Total: Number (in thousands) 18,389 20,548 23,240 26,200 31,520 36,998 43,391 44,126

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

16 and 17 3.3 3.1 3.5 3.6 4.2 4.5 4.3 3.8

18 and 19 6.0 5.3 5.4 6.0 6.1 6.5 6.1 5.7

20 to 24 14.5 11.9 11.1 12.8 15.5 16.4 16.2 15.7

25 to 34 -22.3 20.7 17.8 16.5 18.1 22.9 25.7 26.6

35 to 44 22.6 23.4 22.8 21.8 18.9 17.5 18.7 19.4

45 to 54 18.1 20.2 22.7 21.8 20.7 18.0 15.8 15.8

55 to 64 10.0 11.6 12.8 13.7 13.2 11.5 10.6 10.4

65 and over 3.2 3.8 3.9 3.7 3.4 2.8 2.6 2.6

Median age 36.7 38.9 40.4 40.1 37.8 34.9 34.1 34.3

Table 4.

Labor force

participation rates of

women by age, annual

averages, selected

years,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

Age

Participation rate

(Percent of population in labor force)

1950 1960 1970 1979

JanuaryJune

1980

Total, 16 years and over 33.9 37.7 43.3 51.0 51.2

16 and 17 30.1 29.1 34.9 45.8 41.6

18 and 19 51.3 50.9 53.6 62.9 60.5

20 to 24 46.0 46.1 57.7 69.1 67.7

25 to 34 34.0 36.0 45.0 63.8 65.4

35 to 44 39.1 43.4 51.1 63.6 65.5

45 to 54 37.9 49.8 54.4 58.4 59.6

55 to 64 27.0 37.2 43.0 41.9 41.7

65 and over 9.0 10.8 9.7 8.3 8.3

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Table 5.

Labor force

participation rates of

women 20 years and

over by year of birth

and age, annual

averages, selected

years,

1955-79

Year of birth

1955 1960 1965

Age Rate Age Rate Age Rate

1956-60

1951-55

1946-50

1941-45 20-24 50.0

1936-40 20-24 46.2 25-29 38.9

1931-35 20-24 46.0 25-29 35.7 30-34 38.2

1926-30 25-29 35.3 30-34 36.3 35-39 43.6

1921-25 30-34 34.7 35-39 40.8 40-44 48.5

1916-20 35-39 39.2 40-44 46.8 45-49 51.7

1911-15 40-44 44.1 45-49 50.7 50-54 50.1

1906-10 45-49 45.9 50-54 48.8 55-59 47.1

1901-05 50-54 41.5 55-59 42.2 60-64 34.0

1896-1901 55-59 35.6 60-64 31.4 65-69 17.4

1895 or before 60-64 29.0 65-69 17.6 70 and over 6.1

65-69 17.8 70 and over 6.8

70 and over 6.4

Year of birth

1970 1975 1979

Age Rate Age Rate Age Rate

1956-60 20-24 69.1

1951-55 20-24 64.1 25-29 65.7

1946-50 20-24 57.8 25-29 57.0 30-34 61.8

1941-45 25-29 45.2 30-34 51.7 35-39 63.4

1936-40 30-34 44.7 35-39 54.9 40-44 63.9

1931-35 35-39 49.2 40-44 56.8 45-49 60.4

1926-30 40-44 52.9 45-49 55.9 50-54 56.5

1921-25 45-49 55.0 50-54 53.3 55-59 48.7

1916-20 50-54 53.8 55-59 47.9 60-64 33.9

1911-15 55-59 49.0 60-64 33.3 65-69 15.3

1906-10 60-64 36.1 65-69 14.5 70 and over 4.7

1901-05 65-69 17.3 70 and over 4.8

1896-1901 70 and over 5.7

1895 or before

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Table 6.

Employed and

unemployed women,

annual averages,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

(Numbers in thousands)

Employed Unemployed

Women < Women

Year Total, Total, — '— — 1 —

both

sexes Number

Percent

of total

employed

both

sexes Number

Percent

of total

unemployed

1950 58,918 17,340 29.4 3,288 1,049 31.9

1951 59,961 18,181 30.3 2,055 834 40.6

1952 60,250 18,568 30.8 1,883 698 37.1

1953 61,179 18,749 30.6 1,834 632 34.5

1954 60,109 18,490 30.8 3,532 1,188 33.6

1955 62,170 19,551 31.4 2,852 998 35.0

1956 63,799 20,419 32.0 2,750 1,039 37.8

1957 64,071 20,714 32.3 2,859 1,018 35.6

1958 63,036 20,613 32.7 4,602 1,504 32.7

1959 64,630 21,164 32.7 3,740 1,320 35.3

1960 65,778 21,874 33.3 3,852 1,366 35.5

1961 65,746 22,090 33.6 4,714 1,717 36.4

1962 66,702 22,525 33.8 3,911 1,488 38.0

1963 67,762 23,105 34.1 4,070 1,598 39.3

1964 69,305 23,831 34.4 3,786 1,581 41.8

1965 71,088 24,748 34.8 3,366 1,452 43.1

1966 72,895 25,976 35.6 2,875 1,324 46.1

1967 74,372 26,892 36.2 2,975 1,468 49.3

1968 75,920 27,807 36.6 2,817 1,397 49.6

1969 77,902 29,084 37.3 2,831 1,428 50.4

1970 78,627 29,667 37.7 4,088 1,853 45.3

1971 79,120 29,875 37.8 4,993 2,217 44.4

1972 81,702 31,072 38.0 4,840 2,205 45.6

1973 84,409 32,446 38.4 4,304 2,064 48.0

1974 85,936 33,417 38.9 5,076 2,408 47.4

1975 84,783 33,553 39.6 7,830 3,445 44.0

1976 87,485 35,095 40.1 7,288 3,320 45.6

1977 90,546 36,685 40.5 6,855 3,267 47.7

1978 94,373 38,882 41.2 6,047 2,996 49.5

1979 96,945 40,446 41.7 5,963 2,945 49.4

January-June 1980 96,668 40,990 42.4 7,216 3,136 43.5

6

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 7.

Unemployment rates of

women and men,

annual averages,

1950-79, and JanuaryJune 1980

Year

Unemployment rate

(Percent of labor force

unemployed)

Ratio of women’s

unemployment

rates to men’s

Both sexes Women Men

1950 5.3 5.7 5.1 1.1

1951 3.3 4.4 2.8 1.6

1952 3.0 3.6 2.8 1.3

1953 2.9 3.3 2.8 1.2

1954 5.5 6.0 5.3 1.1

1955 4.4 4.9 4.2 1.2

1956 4.1 4.8 3.8 1.3

1957 4.3 4.7 4.1 1.1

1958 6.8 6.8 6.8 1.0

1959 5.5 5.9 5.3 1.1

1960 5.5 5.9 5.4 1.1

1961 6.7 7.2 6.4 1.1

1962 5.5 6.2 5.2 1.2

1963 5.7 6.5 5.2 1.3

1964 5.2 6.2 4.6 1.3

1965 4.5 5.5 4.0 1.4

1966 3.8 4.8 3.2 1.5

1967 3.8 5.2 3.1 1.7

1968 3.6 4.8 2.9 1.7

1969 3.5 4.7 2.8 1.7

1970 4.9 5.9 4.4 1.3

1971 5.9 6.9 5.3 1.3

1972 5.6 6.6 4.9 1.3

1973 4.9 6.0 4.1 1.5

1974 5.6 6.7 4.8 1.4

1975 8.5 9.3 7.9 1.2

1976 7.7 8.6 7.0 1.2

1977 7.0 8.2 6.2 1.3

1978 6.0 7.2 5.2 1.4

1979 5.8 6.8 5.1 1.3

January-June 1980 6.9 7.1 6.8 1.0

7

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 8.

Unemployment rates of

women and men by

age, annual averages,

1970 and 1979

Age

Women Men

1970 1979 1970 1979

16 and 17 17.4 18.3 16.9 17.9

18 and 19 14.4 15.0 13.4 14.2

20 to 24 7.9 9.6 8.4 8.6

25 to 34 5.7 6.4 3.4 4.2

35 to 44 4.4 4.6 2.4 2.9

45 to 54 3.5 3.9 2.4 2.7

55 to 64 2.7 3.2 2.8 2.7

65 and over 3.1 3.3 3.3 2.8

Table 9.

Unemployed women

and men by reason for

unemployment,

annual averages,

Women Men

Reason

1970 1979 1970 1979

Total: Number (in thousands) 1,853 2,945 2,235 3,018

1970 and 1979 Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Lost last job 33.0 32.0 53.0 53.4

Left last job 14.4 15.0 12.6 13.7

Reentered labor force 37.5 37.6 23.8 21.6

Looking for first job 15.0 15.4 10.0 11.4

8

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 10.

Occupational

distribution of

employed women,

annual averages,

selected years,

1950-79

Occupation 19501 1960 1970 1979

Women as

percent of all

workers in

occupation,

1979

Total: Number (in thousands) 17,340 21,874 29,667 40,446 41.7

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 —

Professional-technical 12.5 12.4 14.5 16.1 43.3

Managerial-administrative, 

except farm 4.4 5.0 4.5 6.4 24.6

Sales 8.7 7.7 7.0 6.9 45.1

Clerical 27.8 30.3 34.5 35.0 80.3

Craft 1.5 1.0 1.1 1.8 5.7

Operatives, including 

transport 19.6 15.2 14.5 11.5 32.0

Nonfarm laborers 0.8 0.4 0.5 1.3 11.3

Service, except private 

household 12.4 14.8 16.5 17.2 59.1

Private household 8.7 8.9 5.1 2.6 97.6

Farm 3.6 4.4 1.8 1.2 18.0

'Data include 14- and 15-year olds.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 11.

Employment of women

in selected

occupations,

1950,1960,1970, and

1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Number Women as percent of all

Occupation _________________________________ workers inoccupation

1950 1960 1970 1979 1950 1960 1970 1979

Professional-technical 1,946 2,746 4,576 6,519 40.1 38.0 40.0 43.3

Accountants 56 77 180 344 14.9 16.4 25.3 32.9

Engineers 6 8 20 40 1.2 0.9 1.6 2.9

Lawyers-judges 7 7 13 62 4.1 3.3 4.7 12.4

Physicians-osteopaths 12 16 25 46 6.5 6.8 8.9 10.7

Registered nurses 394 567 814 1,184 97.8 97.6 97.4 96.8

Teachers, except college and 

university 837 1,196 1,937 2,207 74.5 71.6 70.4 70.8

Teachers, college and university1 28 36 139 172 22.8 21.3 28.3 31.6

Technicians, excluding medical-dental 21 44 49 199 20.6 12.8 14.5 16.1

Writers-artists-entertainers 50 82 229 470 40.3 34.2 30.1 37.8

Managerial-administrative, except farm 672 780 1,061 2,586 13.8 14.4 16.6 24.6

Bank officials-financial managers 13 28 55 196 11.7 12.2 17.6 31.6

Buyers-purchasing agents 6 61 75 136 9.4 17.7 20.8 30.2

Food service workers 93 141 109 224 27.1 24.0 33.7 35.4

Sales managers-department heads; 

retail trade 35 68 51 135 24.6 28.2 24.1 39.8

Sales 1,314 1,646 2,143 2,779 34.5 36.6 39.4 45.1

Sales representatives (including 

wholesale) 37 70 76 162 5.2 7.3 7.2 12.4

Sales clerks, retail 1,175 1,384 1,465 1,671 48.9 53.7 64.8 70.7

Clerical 4,273 6,263 10,150 14,152 62.3 67.5 73.6 80.3

Bank tellers 28 88 216 458 45.2 69.3 86.1 92.9

Bookkeepers 556 764 1,274 1,740 77.7 83.4 82.1 91.1

Cashiers 187 367 692 1,298 81.7 78.4 84.0 87.9

Office machine operators 116 225 414 677 81.1 73.8 73.5 74.9

Secretaries-typists 1,494 1,917 3,686 4,681 94.6 96.7 96.6 98.6

Shipping-receiving clerks 19 24 59 103 14.3 8.6 14.3 21.3

Craft 236 252 518 737 3.1 2.9 4.9 5.7

Carpenters 4 3 11 16 0.4 0.4 1.3 1.3

Mechanics, including automotive 21 25 49 49 1.2 1.1 2.0 1.4

Printing 35 35 58 101 11.8 11.0 14.8 22.2

Bakers 14 17 32 61 12.2 15.9 29.4 43.6

Decorators and window dressers 14 24 42 94 32.6 46.2 58.3 72.9

Tailors 16 8 22 12 19.8 20.0 31.4 34.3

Upholsterers 5 6 10 12 8.3 10.0 16.4 21.4

See footnote at end of table.

10

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 11. Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Women as percent of all

^ Number workers In occupation

Occupation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

1950 1960 1970 1979 1950 1960 1970 1979

Operatives, except transport 2,995 3,252 4,036 4,353 33.5 34.3 38.4 39.9

Assemblers N.A. 267 459 688 N.A. 43.7 48.7 53.4

Bottling and canning operatives N.A. N.A. 16 17 N.A. N.A. 34.0 37.8

Clothing ironers and pressers N.A. N.A. 137 89 N.A. N.A. 74.9 76.7

Dressmakers 135 116 92 104 97.1 96.7 94.8 95.4

Laundry and dry cleaning operatives 288 273 105 122 67.7 71.3 62.9 65.9

Sewers and stitchers N.A. 532 816 772 N.A. 94.0 93.8 95.3

Transport equipment operatives 22 41 134 294 1.0 1.7 4.5 8.1

Bus drivers 4 18 68 163 2.6 9.8 28.5 45.5

Service 3,228 4,418 5,944 8,011 57.3 62.8 60.5 62.4

Private household 1,321 1,586 1,132 1,062 94.9 96.6 96.9 97.6

Food service 839 1,379 1,913 2,943 61.6 70.0 68.8 68.4

Health service 249 488 1,047 1,643 74.6 81.5 88.0 90.4

Personal service 221 326 778 1,369 49.7 57.9 66.5 77.3

Protective service 11 28 59 124 2.0 4.1 6.2 8.8

’Includes college and university presidents N.A. = not available, 

in 1950.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 12.

Women employees on

nonagricultural payrolls,

selected industries,

October, 1970 and 1979

Industry

Number of women

(thousands)

Women as percent

of total employed

1970 1979 1970 1979

Total nonagricultural industries 26,370 37,629 37.2 41.5

Private 20,866 30,143 35.9 40.2

Mining 37 94 5.9 9.6

Construction 189 388 5.0 7.8

Manufacturing 5,392 6,576 28.7 31.2

Durable goods 2,209 3,137 20.7 24.6

Nondurable goods 3,183 3,439 39.0 41.2

Food and kindred products 496 536 26.9 30.3

Apparel and other textile products 1,095 1,068 80.9 81.1

Transportation and public utilities 962 1,260 21.2 24.0

Communications 560 619 49.2 46.9

Telephone communications 514 540 54.2 51.2

Radio and television broadcasting 32 61 22.7 31.1

Trucking and warehousing 98 160 8.9 11.4

School buses N.A. 38 N.A. 46.3

Wholesale and retail trade 6,062 8,798 40.1 43.3

Wholesale trade 937 1,339 23.3 25.6

Retail trade 5,125 7,459 46.1 49.5

Food stores 618 970 35.4 42.0

Eating and drinking places 1,462 2,932 55.8 56.8

Finance insurance and real estate 1,921 2,932 52.5 58.5

Banking 666 1,058 63.5 70.7

Insurance carriers 551 739 53.1 60.5

Real estate 234 343 35.0 36.0

Services 6,303 10,094 54.2 58.4

Personal services 643 608 65.7 67.9

Business services 615 1,267 36.2 43.2

Educational services 458 576 46.9 51.1

Flotels, motels, and tourist courts 357 551 50.3 55.0

Health services 2,521 4,163 81.0 81.5

Other services 1,709 2,929 41.1 47.1

Government 5,504 7,486 43.2 47.5

Federal 700 871 26.3 31.6

State 1,149 1,610 41.8 45.5

State hospitals N.A. 335 N.A. 60.2

State education 471 703 39.8 47.6

Other State government 678 572 43.3 38.0

Local 3,656 5,005 49.9 52.9

Local government hospitals N.A. 425 N.A. 79.7

Local education 2,586 3,383 61.9 64.2

Other local government 1,070 1,197 34.0 32.6

N.A. = not available.

12

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 13.

Self-employed women

in nonagricultural

industries by age,

annual averages,

1970 and 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

1970 1979

Item Number

of

women

Percent

distribution

Number

of

women

Percent

distribution

Total employed women 29,067 — 39,793 —

Self-employed as percent

of total employed 4.4 — 4.9 —

Total self-employed 1,288 100.0 1,939 100.0

16 to 19 22 1.7 34 1.8

20 to 24 69 5.4 103 5.3

25 to 34 215 16.7 484 25.0

35 to 44 248 19.3 452 23.3

45 to 54 322 25.0 415 21.4

55 to 64 273 21.2 299 15.4

65 years and over 138 10.7 152 7.8

Median age (years) 47.8 — 42.7 —

Table 14.

Women and men not in

the labor force by

desire for job and

reason for

nonparticipation, annual

averages,

1970 and 1979

Item

1970 1979

Women Men Women Men

Total not in labor force (thousands) 41,210 13,065 41,692 16,931

Do not want a job now (thousands) 38,535 11,863 38,079 15,248

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

III or disabled 4.7 17.2 5.5 16.1

Home responsibilities 82.9 1.7 75.4 1.9

Going to school 7.8 25.8 7.8 19.5

Retired 1.8 44.0 6.4 49.0

Other reasons 2.7 11.3 4.9 13.5

Want a job now (thousands) 2,675 1,200 3,613 1,682

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

III or disabled 10.5 17.3 11.4 19.7

Home responsibilities 33.9 — 34.3 —

Going to school 19.1 46.9 19.7 42.6

Think cannot find job 15.6 18.4 13.1 16.6

Other reasons 20.9 17.3 21.6 21.0

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 15.

Women not in the labor

force by age, annual

averages, selected

years,

1950-79

(Numbers in thousands)

Age

Year

1950 1960 1970 1979

Total, 16 years and over:

Number (in thousands) 35,881 38,343 41,214 41,692

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

16 to 24 15.6 16.2 18.7 16.5

16 to 19 6.9 8.3 10.0 9.0

20 to 24 8.7 7.9 8.7 7.5

25 to 34 22.2 19.2 16.9 15.2

35 to 44 18.1 18.0 13.9 11.2

45 to 54 15.2 13.9 13.3 11.7

55 to 64 13.8 13.2 13.3 15.2

65 and over 15.1 19.6 23.9 30.2

Median age (years) 41.7 43.1 45.4 51.1

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part II

Extent of Work Experience

Today’s working women are not 

casual labor market participants.

Considering the fact that the majority 

have household and child care 

responsibilities, their job continuity 

during a year — or work experience — 

is impressive. About 2 out of 3 working 

women were employed at least 40 

weeks in 1978, and the majority of 

these women worked full time, or 35 

hours or more per week.

Of the nearly 8.2 million women who 

experienced unemployment during 

1978, about 27 percent found jobs after 

a month or less. Only 6 percent 

remained jobless the entire year.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 16.

Work experience of

women and men,

1960, 1970, and 1978

Work experience

Women Men

I9601 1970 1978 I9601 1970 1978

Total: Number (in thousands) 65,176 73,657 84,686 59,208 65,296 76,070

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked during the year 46.9 52.5 57.1 84.5 84.1 81.4

Did not work during the year 53.1 47.5 42.9 15.5 15.9 18.6

Worked during the year: Number 30,585 38,704 48,373 50,033 54,919 61,917

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs2 67.6 67.8 67.8 86.9 87.6 87.9

40 to 52 weeks 44.6 47.3 50.2 73.5 74.0 74.0

50 to 52 weeks 36.9 40.7 43.7 63.9 66.1 66.3

27 to 39 weeks 6.9 6.2 5.7 5.6 5.2 5.0

1 to 26 weeks 16.0 14.3 12.0 7.7 8.4 9.0

Worked at part-time jobs3 32.4 32.1 32.2 13.1 12.4 12.1

40 to 52 weeks 13.2 13.5 14.9 5.7 5.6 5.5

50 to 52 weeks 10.0 10.0 10.9 4.5 4.4 4.0

27 to 39 weeks 3.4 4.0 4.5 1.3 1.4 1.5

1 to 26 weeks 15.8 14.6 12.7 6.1 5.3 5.1

'Data include 14- and 15-year olds. 3Usually worked less than 35 hours a week

2Usually worked 35 hours or more a week in a majority of weeks worked, 

in a majority of weeks worked.

16

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 17.

Work experience of

women and men by

age,

1970 and 1978

1970

Sex and work experience Total, 16 16 to 25 to 35 to 45 to 55 years

and over years and 24 34 44 54

over years years years years

WOMEN

Total: Number (in thousands) 73,657 16,242 12,894 11,583 12,080 20,858

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.00

Worked during the year 52.5 66.0 56.5 58.5 60.4 31.7

Did not work during the year 47.5 34.0 43.5 41.5 39.6 68.3

Worked during the year: Number 38,704 10,723 7,289 6,772 7,302 6,619

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs1 67.8 61.3 71.4 69.4 74.2 66.0

40 to 52 weeks 47.3 29.4 48.0 53.3 61.3 53.7

50 to 52 weeks 40.7 23.8 40.1 46.0 54.4 47.9

27 to 39 weeks 6.2 7.5 7.7 5.7 4.9 4.5

1 to 26 weeks 14.3 24.4 15.8 10.4 8.3 7.8

Worked at part-time jobs2 32.1 38.6 28.6 30.6 25.8 34.1

40 to 52 weeks 13.5 11.2 10.2 15.4 13.7 18.6

50 to 52 weeks 10.0 7.5 7.6 11.6 11.0 13.9

27 to 39 weeks 4.0 4.8 4.0 4.2 3.3 3.4

1 to 26 weeks 14.6 22.6 14.4 11.2 8.7 12.1

1978

Total: Number (in thousands) 84,686 18,377 17,334 12,671 11,790 24,514

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked during the year 57.1 71.8 70.5 68.5 62.9 27.9

Did not work during the year 42.9 28.2 29.5 31.5 37.1 72.1

Worked during the year: Number 48,373 13,210 12,220 8,684 7,420 6,839

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs1 67.8 59.6 74.5 70.4 72.5 63.4

40 to 52 weeks 50.2 33.5 55.9 56.4 61.2 52.0

50 to 52 weeks 43.7 27.1 47.9 49.4 55.7 47.7

27 to 39 weeks 5.7 7.0 6.5 5.0 4.4 4.1

1 to 26 weeks 12.0 19.1 12.1 9.0 6.8 7.3

Worked at part-time jobs2 32.2 40.3 25.5 29.6 27.5 36.6

40 to 52 weeks 14.9 13.5 10.8 16.0 16.5 21.7

50 to 52 weeks 10.9 9.4 7.4 12.0 13.1 16.3

27 to 39 weeks 4.5 6.0 3.7 4.5 3.5 4.6

1 to 26 weeks 12.7 20.8 11.1 9.2 7.5 10.3

See footnotes at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 17. Continued

Sex and work experience

1970

Total, 16

years and

over

16 to

24

years

25 to

34

years

35 to

44

years

45 to

54

years

55 years

and over

MEN

Total: Number (in thousands) 65,296 14,662 11,982 10,713 11,113 16,827

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.00

Worked during the year 84.1 79.9 97.0 97.5 95.6 62.6

Did not work during the year 15.9 20.1 3.0 2.5 4.4 37.4

Worked during the year: Number 54,919 11,702 11,624 10,441 10,621 10,532

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs1 87.6 63.8 96.8 98.1 97.6 83.0

40 to 52 weeks 74.0 33.7 86.4 90.5 90.1 72.0

50 to 52 weeks 66.1 27.1 76.1 83.0 82.5 65.1

27 to 39 weeks 5.2 6.7 5.5 4.4 4.2 4.8

1 to 26 weeks 8.4 23.4 5.0 3.1 3.1 6.2

Worked at part-time jobs2 12.4 36.1 3.2 1.9 2.4 17.0

40 to 52 weeks 5.6 14.6 1.7 1.0 1.2 9.1

50 to 52 weeks 4.4 11.3 1.3 0.9 1.0 7.2

27 to 39 weeks 1.4 4.0 0.5 0.2 0.3 1.8

1 to 26 weeks 5.3 17.5 1.0 0.6 0.8 6.1

1978

Total: Number (in thousands) 76,070 17,636 16,391 11,734 11,017 19,292

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked during the year 81.4 82.2 96.2 96.1 92.7 52.7

Did not work during the year 18.6 17.8 3.8 3.9 7.3 47.3

Worked during the year: Number 61,917 14,501 15,767 11,274 10,215 10,159

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs1 87.9 69.6 95.3 97.1 97.1 83.3

40 to 52 weeks 74.0 41.0 84.4 90.2 89.3 71.6

50 to 52 weeks 66.3 32.7 74.9 82.5 83.1 66.0

27 to 39 weeks 5.0 7.1 5.1 3.8 3.9 4.2

1 to 26 weeks 9.0 21.5 5.7 3.1 3.9 7.5

Worked at part-time jobs2 12.1 30.5 4.7 2.9 2.9 16.7

40 to 52 weeks 5.5 11.7 2.7 1.7 1.6 9.4

50 to 52 weeks 4.0 8.5 1.9 1.1 1.2 6.9

27 to 39 weeks 1.5 3.7 0.7 0.6 0.3 1.8

1 to 26 weeks 5.1 15.1 1.3 0.6 1.0 5.5

'Usually worked 35 hours or more in a 

majority of weeks worked.

2Usually worked less than 35 hours in a 

majority of weeks worked.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 18.

Women with

unemployment in 1978

by number of weeks

unemployed

Table 19.

Percent of women

employed year round

full time in each

occupation,

1960, 1970, and 1978

Duration of unemployment

Number

(thousands)

Percent

distribution

Total working or looking for work 49,683 100.0

With no unemployment during year 41,517 83.6

With unemployment during year 8,166 16.4

Total unemployed 8,166 100.0

Year-round workers unemployed

1 or 2 weeks 233 2.9

Part-year workers unemployed:

1 to 4 weeks 2,219 27.2

5 to 14 weeks 2,269 27.8

15 to 26 weeks 1,285 15.7

27 weeks or longer 851 10.4

Did not work but looked for work:

1 to 4 weeks 515 6.3

5 to 14 weeks 352 4.3

15 to 26 weeks 188 2.3

27 weeks or longer 254 3.1

Occupation group

Percent who worked

year round full time

I9601 1970 1978

All occupations 36.9 40.7 43.7

Professional-technical 42.1 54.1 53.6

Managerial-administrative, except farm 62.5 64.8 65.6

Sales 26.3 24.4 25.9

Clerical 50.7 48.4 51.1

Craft 57.2 44.5 49.1

Operatives, including transport 37.6 41.2 44.4

Nonfarm laborers 32.0 33.2 31.1

Service, except private household 30.1 29.5 28.4

Private household 18.6 14.8 11.6

Farm 9.4 13.6 22.4

’Data include 14- and 15-year olds.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 20.

Women by work

experience and reason

for less than full-year

work,

1960, 1970, and 1978

Item I9601 1970 1978

Total: Number (thousands) 65,186 73,657 84,686

Worked all year (50 to 52 weeks) 14,344 19,611 26,387

Worked part year (1 to 49 weeks) 16,241 19,093 21,986

Did not work at all 34,591 34,953 36,313

Looked for work during year 933 1,049 1,310

Did not look for work during year 33,658 33,904 35,003

Worked part year (percent) 100.0 100.0 100.0

III or disabled 12.5 8.1 6.2

Home responsibilities 55.2 48.6 44.7

Going to school 17.9 21.1 21.3

Unemployed2 22.3 15.2 17.7

Other reasons 8.9 6.9 10.0

Retired N.A. 1.3 1.1

Did not work:

Looked for work (percent) 100.0 100.0 100.0

III or disabled 3.0 5.8 4.3

Home responsibilities 19.7 33.6 36.0

Going to school 11.5 21.1 14.7

Unable to find work 62.1 34.7 42.2

Other reasons 3.8 4.8 2.8

Did not look for work (percent) 100.0 100.0 100.0

III or disabled 5.2 10.3 11.8

Home responsibilities 80.1 73.8 64.3

Going to school 12.0 8.5 9.0

Think cannot find a job .1 .1 .3

Other reasons 2.7 7.3 14.6

Retired N.A. 6.2 4.8

'Data include 14- and 15-year olds.

2A total of 6,623,000 women working part 

year experienced some unemployment 

during 1978, of whom 3,899,000 reported

unemployment as the major reason for 

part-year work.

N.A. = not available.

Digitized for FRASER 

20

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part III

Marital and Family Status

Responding to both the economy’s 

demand for additional workers and the 

sweeping social and demographic 

changes over the past several 

decades, the number of wives in the 

labor force has more than tripled. By 

March 1979, practically 50 percent of 

all wives were working or looking for 

work compared with 41 percent in 

1970 and just 22 percent in 1950. 

Contributing strongly to this trend 

during the 1970’s was the growth in 

labor force participation of mothers 

with preschool children. The 

participation rate for wives with children 

under 6 increased from 30 percent in 

1970 to 43 percent in 1979. As a result, 

the proportion of children with working 

mothers also rose, from 39 percent to 

more than 50 percent.

The great majority of employed 

women— 75 percent— usually work full 

time (35 hours or more a week).

Though the proportion working full time 

in 1979 varied by marital and family 

status, 63 percent of employed married 

women with children under age 3 

worked full time.

In recent years more and more 

women have been postponing 

marriage, and marital break-up has 

become more widespread. Consequently, the number of never-married 

and divorced women in the labor force 

has risen rapidly. In 1979, about 1 of 

every 9 women in the work force— 5 

million in all— was either a divorced, 

separated, widowed, or never-married 

woman maintaining her own family.

21

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 21.

Women by labor force

and marital status,

selected years,

1950-79

Item April

1950

March

1960

March

1970

March

1979

POPULATION

Number (thousands)

Total, 16 years and over 54,988 61,911 73,261 84,686

Never married 9,305 9,603 13,141 17,564

Married, husband present 35,574 40,176 45,055 48,239

Married, husband absent 2,001 2,362 2,730 3,075

Divorced 1,373 1,707 2,695 5,359

Widowed 6,735 8,063 9,640 10,450

Percent distribution

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Never married 16.9 15.5 17.9 20.7

Married, husband present 64.7 64.9 61.5 57.0

Married, husband absent 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.6

Divorced 2.5 2.8 3.7 6.3

Widowed 12.2 13.0 13.2 12.3

LABOR FORCE

Number (thousands)

Total 15,560 21,329 31,233 42,971

Never married 4,304 4,233 6,965 11,006

Married, husband present 7,682 12,244 18,377 23,832

Married, husband absent 933 1,224 1,422 1,808

Divorced 1,222 1,927 3,967

Widowed *2,641 2,406 2,542 2,358

Percent distribution

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Never married 27.7 19.8 22.3 25.6

Married, husband present 49.4 57.4 58.8 55.5

Married, husband absent 6.0 5.7 4.6 4.2

Divorced 5.7 6.2 9.2

Widowed *17.0 11.3 8.1 5.5

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE

Total 28.3 34.5 42.6 50.7

Never married 46.3 44.1 53.0 62.7

Married, husband present 21.6 30.5 40.8 49.4

Married, husband absent 46.6 51.8 52.1 58.8

Divorced 71.6 71.5 74.0

Widowed *32.6 29.8 26.4 22.6

*Data for divorced and widowed not 

available separately.

22

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 22.

Labor force

participation rates of

women by age and

marital status,

March 1979

Age

Participation rate

(Percent of population in labor force)

All

women

Never

married

Married,

husband

present

Married,

husband

absent

Divorced Widowed

Total, 16 years and over 50.7 62.7 49.4 58.8 74.0 22.6

16 to 19 50.9 50.7 51.2 54.1 (D (D

20 to 24 68.7 74.6 61.2 64.3 85.8 (D

25 to 34 63.5 83.2 57.0 65.5 81.7 54.4

35 to 44 63.6 77.1 60.3 63.2 82.7 52.9

45 to 54 58.6 74.0 54.5 62.1 78.8 66.0

55 to 64 42.7 61.1 37.4 48.3 64.9 49.0

65 and over 8.7 14.9 7.9 16.0 17.1 7.8

’Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 23.

Occupations of

employed women by

marital status,

March, 1970 and 1979

Occupation

Never married Married, husband

present

Married, husband

absent

1970 1979 1970 1979 1970 1979

Total, all occupations:

Number (in thousands) 6,490 9,940 17,665 22,620 1,339 1,631

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 17.6 16.5 15.5 17.7 8.6 13.6

Managerial-administrative, except farm 2.5 4.3 4.6 6.7 2.0 4.4

Sales 6.6 7.8 7.1 6.5 3.9 4.8

Clerical 41.2 36.3 33.6 35.8 26.7 30.9

Craft 0.6 1.5 1.3 1.8 1.0 2.2

Operatives, including transport 8.5 8.3 16.4 11.8 20.1 14.2

Nonfarm laborers 0.5 1.4 0.3 1.1 0.7 1.3

Service 21.8 23.0 19.4 17.5 36.2 28.4

Private household 7.3 3.3 3.5 2.0 10.1 5.3

All other service 14.7 19.7 15.9 15.5 26.1 23.1

Farm 0.4 0.8 1.8 1.2 0.7 0.2

Divorced Widowed

1970 1979 1970 1979

Total, all occupations:

Number (in thousands) 1,825 3,723 2,475 2,235

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 12.7 14.9 9.9 9.2

Managerial-administrative, except farm 5.5 8.4 7.4 8.3

Sales 4.5 5.0 7.7 7.5

Clerical 34.7 36.5 23.2 27.7

Craft 0.9 1.9 1.1 1.9

Operatives, including transport 15.8 12.6 15.4 14.1

Nonfarm laborers 0.5 1.2 0.6 0.4

Service 25.2 19.2 32.8 29.8

Private household 5.5 1.9 12.7 7.0

All other service 19.7 17.3 20.1 22.8

Farm 0.2 0.3 1.9 1.2

24

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 24.

Work experience of

married women,

husband present, and

never-married women,

1960, 1970, and 1978

(Numbers in thousands)

Marital status and work experience I9601 1970 1978

Married women, husband present, total 40,652 45,560 48,239

Worked during year: Number 17,625 23,052 27,242

Percent 43.4 50.6 56.5

Worked during year 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 65.7 68.4 67.5

40 to 52 weeks N.A. 47.3 50.5

50 to 52 weeks 33.0 40.3 43.4

27 to 39 weeks N.A. 6.9 6.0

1 to 26 weeks 16.9 14.2 11.0

Part time3 34.3 31.6 32.5

40 to 52 weeks N.A. 14.5 16.1

1 to 39 weeks N.A. 17.1 16.4

Never-married women, total 12,522 13,350 17,564

Worked during year: Number 7,225 8,910 12,429

Percent 57.7 66.7 70.8

Worked during year 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 65.5 60.3 61.6

40 to 52 weeks N.A. 38.4 41.1

50 to 52 weeks 38.6 33.6 36.2

27 to 39 weeks N.A. 4.5 5.4

1 to 26 weeks 16.7 17.5 15.2

Part time3 34.5 39.7 38.4

40 to 52 weeks N.A. 12.6 14.1

1 to 39 weeks N.A. 27.0 24.2

'Data include 14- and 15-year olds. 

2Usually worked 35 hours or more in a 

majority of weeks worked.

3Usually worked less than 35 hours in a 

majority of weeks worked.

N.A. = not available.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 25.

Birth rates and fertility

rates by race, selected

years,

1920-79

Year

Birth rate1 Fertility rate2

Total White

Black and

other races Total White

Black and

other races

1920 27.7 26.9 35.0 117.9 115.4 137.5

1925 25.1 24.1 34.2 106.6 103.3 134.0

1930 21.3 20.6 27.5 89.2 87.1 105.9

1935 18.7 17.9 25.8 77.2 74.5 98.4

1940 19.4 18.6 26.7 72.9 77.1 102.4

1945 20.4 19.7 26.5 85.9 83.4 106.0

1950 24.1 23.0 33.3 106.2 102.3 137.3

1955 25.0 23.8 34.7 118.5 113.8 155.3

1957 25.3 24.0 35.3 122.9 117.7 163.0

1960 23.7 22.7 32.1 118.0 113.2 153.6

1965 19.4 18.3 27.6 96.6 91.4 133.9

1970 18.4 17.4 25.1 87.9 84.1 113.0

1971 17.2 16.2 24.7 81.8 77.5 109.5

1972 15.6 14.6 22.9 73.4 69.2 100.3

1973 14.9 13.9 21.9 69.2 65.3 94.3

1974 14.9 14.0 21.4 68.4 64.7 91.0

1975 14.8 13.8 21.2 66.7 63.0 89.3

1976 14.8 13.8 21.1 65.8 62.2 87.6

1977 15.4 14.4 21.9 67.8 64.0 89.9

1978p 15.3 N.A. N.A. 66.4 N.A. N.A.

19793 15.8 N.A. N.A. 66.4 N.A. N.A.

p = provisional N.A. = not available.

’Births per 1,000 population.

2Births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 

years.

3Twelve months ending with December 

1979.

Digitized 

26

for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 26.

Labor force

participation rates of

married women,

husband present, by

presence and age of

own children,

1950-79

Year1

Participation rate

(Percent of population in labor force)

Total

With no

children

under 18

years

With children under 18 years

„ , 6 to 17 years,

Total „ „ „

none younger

Under

6 years

1950 23.8 30.3 18.4 28.3 11.9

1951 25.2 31.0 20.5 30.3 14.0

1952 25.3 30.9 20.7 31.1 13.9

1953 26.3 31.2 22.4 32.2 15.5

1954 26.6 31.6 22.7 33.2 14.9

1955 27.7 32.7 24.0 34.7 16.2

1956 29.0 35.3 24.5 36.4 15.9

1957 29.6 35.6 25.3 36.6 17.0

1958 30.2 35.4 26.5 37.6 18.2

1959 30.9 35.2 27.9 39.8 18.7

1960 30.5 34.7 27.6 39.0 18.6

1961 32.7 37.3 29.6 41.7 20.0

1962 32.7 36.1 30.3 41.8 21.3

1963 33.7 37.4 31.2 41.5 22.5

1964 34.4 37.8 32.0 43.0 22.7

1965 34.7 38.3 32.2 42.7 23.3

1966 35.4 38.4 33.2 43.7 24.2

1967 36.8 38.9 35.3 45.0 26.5

1968 38.3 40.1 36.9 46.9 27.6

1969 39.6 41.0 38.6 48.6 28.5

1970 40.8 42.2 39.7 49.2 30.3

1971 40.8 42.1 39.7 49.4 29.6

1972 41.5 42.7 40.5 50.2 30.1

1973 42.2 42.8 41.7 50.1 32.7

1974 43.0 43.0 43.1 51.2 34.4

1975 44.4 43.9 44.9 52.3 36.6

1976 45.0 43.8 46.1 53.7 37.4

1977 46.6 44.9 48.2 55.6 39.3

1978 47.6 44.7 50.2 57.2 41.6

1979 49.4 46.7 51.9 59.1 43.2

'Data were collected in April of 1951-55 

and March of all other years.

NOTE: Children are defined as "own" 

children of the women and include nevermarried sons and daughters, stepchildren, 

and adopted children. Excluded are other

related children such as grandchildren, 

nieces, nephews, and cousins, and 

unrelated children.

27

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 27.

Women by marital and

labor force status and

presence and age of

own children,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Marital and labor force status Total

With no

children

under 18

years

With children under 18 years

Total

6 to 17 years only Under 6 years

14 to 17

years, none

younger

6 to 13

years

3 to 5

years, none

younger

Under

3 years

Worqen, total 84,686 54,204 30,482 5,392 11,772 5,312 8,006

In labor force 42,971 26,355 16,616 3,288 7,281 2,775 3,272

Labor force participation rate 50.7 48.6 54.5 61.0 61.9 52.2 40.9

Unemployment rate 6.6 6.1 7.3 4.7 6.1 8.2 11.6

Never married 17,564 16,651 913 21 279 228 385

In labor force 11,006 10,513 493 10 180 121 182

Labor force participation rate 62.7 63.1 54.0 0) 64.5 53.0 47.2

Unemployment rate 9.7 9.2 20.7 — 20.0 17.2 25.0

Married, husband present 48,239 23,474 24,765 4,333 9,323 4,227 6,883

In labor force 23,832 10,974 12,858 2,534 5,529 2,089 2,706

Labor force participation rate 49.4 46.7 51.9 58.5 59.3 49.4 39.3

Unemployment rate 5.1 3.7 6.2 3.9 5.3 7.2 9.5

Married, husband absent 3,075 1,396 1,679 235 674 355 414

In labor force 1,808 807 1,001 145 447 212 197

Labor force participation rate 58.8 57.8 59.6 61.7 66.3 59.5 47.5

Unemployment rate 9.8 6.3 12.6 5.7 9.8 12.1 24.7

Widowed 10,450 9,756 694 305 300 66 23

In labor force 2,358 2,015 344 164 148 27 6

Labor force participation rate 22.6 20.7 49.5 53.6 49.3 0) 0)

Unemployment rate 5.2 4.6 9.0 10.9 5.2 (D (D

Divorced 5,359 2,928 2,431 498 1,196 436 300

In labor force 3,967 2,047 1,920 435 977 327 181

Labor force participation rate 74.0 69.9 79.0 87.4 81.7 74.9 60.3

Unemployment rate 6.1 4.8 7.6 6.4 6.6 8.4 14.0

’Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

See note on table 26.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 28.

Employed women by

full- or part-time status,

marital status, and

presence and age of

own children,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Item Total

With no

children

under 18

years

Total

With children under 18 years

6 to 17 years only Under 6 years

14 to 17

years, none

younger

6 to 13

years

3 to 5

years, none

younger

Under

3 years

Total, employed women 40,150 24,741 15,409 3,135 6,834 2,548 2,892

Worked full time 28,805 17,994 10,810 2,339 4,793 1,786 1,891

Worked part time 11,346 6,746 4,599 796 2,041 762 1,001

Never married, total 9,940 9,549 391 10 144 100 136

Worked full time 6,562 6,252 309 9 120 87 94

Worked part time 3,379 3,297 82 1 24 13 43

Married, husband present, total 22,620 10,564 12,056 2,435 5,234 1,939 2,448

Worked full time 16,066 8,070 7,995 1,743 3,441 1,275 1,536

Worked part time 6,555 2,494 4,061 692 1,793 664 913

Married, husband absent, total 1,631 757 875 137 404 186 148

Worked full time 1,361 638 723 114 330 153 125

Worked part time 270 119 151 22 73 33 23

Divorced, total 3,723 1,949 1,775 407 913 299 156

Worked full time 3,292 1,734 1,557 367 801 256 133

Worked part time 432 214 217 40 112 43 23

Widowed, total 2,235 1,922 313 146 140 24 3

Worked full time 1,525 1,299 225 106 101 15 3

Worked part time 710 623 88 40 39 9 —

NOTE: Full-time workers are those who 

usually work 35 or more hours per week; 

part-time workers are those who usually 

work 1 to 34 hours per week.

See note on table 26.

Digitized 

29

for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 29. (Numbers in thousands)

Families by type,

selected years,

1940-79 Year1 All

families

Marriedcouple

families2

Other families3

Maintained

by men2

Maintained by women

Total As percent

of all families

1940 32,166 26,971 1,579 3,616 11.2

1947 35,794 31,211 1,186 3,397 9.5

1950 39,303 34,440 1,184 3,679 9.4

1955 41,951 36,378 1,339 4,234 10.1

1960 45,062 39,293 1,275 4,494 10.0

1965 47,836 41,649 1,181 5,006 10.5

1970 51,227 44,415 1,239 5,573 10.9

1971 51,947 44,735 1,262 5,950 11.5

1972 53,280 45,743 1,353 6,184 11.6

1973 54,361 46,308 1,453 6,600 12.1

1974 55,041 46,810 1,433 6,798 12.4

1975 55,699 47,069 1,400 7,230 13.0

1976 56,244 47,318 1,444 7,482 13.3

1977 56,709 47,497 1,499 7,713 13.6

1978 57,215 47,385 1,594 8,236 14.4

1979 57,804 47,692 1,654 8,458 14.6

'Data were collected in April of 1940, 1947, 3Never-married, widowed, divorced or 

and 1955 and March of all other years. separated persons,

includes men in Armed Forces living off 

post or with their families on post.

30

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 30.

Number of own children

by age of children, type

of family, and labor

force status of mother,

March, 1970, 1975, and

1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Item

Children under 18 years Children 6 to 17 years Children under 6 years

1970 1975 1979 1970 1975 1979 1970 1975 1979

Total children 65,755 62,770 58,537 46,149 44,636 41,556 19,606 18,134 16,981

Mother in labor force 25,554 27,650 30,105 19,954 21,138 22,940 5,590 6,512 7,166

Mother not in labor force 39,550 34,332 27,503 25,627 22,800 17,849 13,923 11,532 9,654

Children in married-couple families 58,399 52,813 47,786 40,479 37,081 33,347 17,920 15,732 14,439

Mother in labor force 21,982 22,637 24,063 17,035 17,206 18,161 4,947 5,431 5,902

Mother not in labor force 36,417 30,176 23,724 23,444 19,875 15,186 12,973 10,302 8,538

Children in families maintained

by women1 6,695 9,168 9,822 5,102 6,856 7,442 1,593 2,312 2,380

Mother in labor force 3,562 5,013 6,043 2,919 3,931 4,779 643 1,081 1,264

Mother not in labor force 3,133 4,155 3,779 2,183 2,925 2,663 950 1,230 1,116

Children in families maintained

by men1 661 788 929 568 699 768 93 90 161

’Widowed; divorced; married, spouse 

absent; and never-married persons.

NOTE: Children are defined as “ own” 

children of the family and include nevermarried sons and daughters, stepchildren, 

and adopted children. Excluded are other

related children such as grandchildren, 

nieces, nephews, and cousins, and 

unrelated children.

Digitized for FRASER 

31

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 31.

Number of own

children by age of

children, type of family,

and employment status

of parents, March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Children under 18 years

Item

Total

Total

Children 6 to 17 years

14 to 17

years

6 to 13

years

Under

6 years

ALL CHILDREN

Total 58,537 41,556 15,188 26,368 16,981

Mother in labor force 30,105 22,940 8,738 14,201 7,166

Employed 27,875 21,457 8,246 13,210 6,419

Unemployed 2,230 1,483 492 991 747

Mother not in labor force 27,503 17,849 6,083 11,766 9,654

CHILDREN IN MARRIEDCOUPLE FAMILIES

Total 47,786 33,347 12,009 21,338 14,439

Mother in labor force 24,063 18,161 6,892 11,269 5,902

Employed 22,533 17,166 6,569 10,597 5,367

Unemployed 1,530 995 323 672 535

Mother not in labor force 23,724 15,186 5,117 10,069 8,538

Father in civilian labor force 44,926 31,256 11,106 20,150 13,670

Mother in labor force 22,851 17,238 6,499 10,739 5,614

Employed 21,445 16,313 6,201 10,112 5,132

Unemployed 1,406 925 298 626 482

Mother not in labor force 22,075 14,018 4,607 9,411 8,057

Father employed 43,389 30,275 10,776 19,500 13,114

Mother in labor force 22,083 16,691 6,286 10,405 5,392

Employed 20,809 15,841 6,016 9,825 4,968

Unemployed 1,274 850 269 581 424

Mother not in labor force 21,306 13,584 4,490 9,094 7,722

Father unemployed 1,537 981 330 651 556

Mother in labor force 768 547 213 333 222

Employed 636 472 184 287 164

Unemployed 132 75 29 46 57

Mother not in labor force 769 434 117 317 335

Father not in labor force 1,944 1,563 771 791 381

Mother in labor force 769 633 314 319 136

Employed 698 586 299 287 112

Unemployed 71 47 15 32 24

Mother not in labor force 1,175 930 457 472 245

Father in Armed Forces 916 528 131 396 388

Mother in labor force 442 290 79 211 152

Employed 390 267 69 198 123

Unemployed 52 23 10 13 29

Mother not in labor force 474 238 53 185 236

See footnote at end of table.

Digitized for FRASER 

32

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 31. Continued.

(Numbers in thousands)

Children under 18 years

Item

Total

Total

Children 6 to 17 years

14 to 17

years

6 to 13

years

Under

6 years

CHILDREN IN OTHER FAMILIES

In families maintained by women1 9,822 7,442 2,812 4,629 2,380

Mother in labor force 6,043 4,779 1,846 2,932 1,264

Employed 5,343 4,291 1,677 2,613 1,052

Unemployed 700 488 169 319 212

Mother not in labor force 3,779 2,663 966 1,697 1,116

In families maintained by men1 929 768 366 401 161

'Widowed; divorced; married, spouse 

absent; and never-married persons.

See note on table 30.

Table 32.

Women maintaining

families by age and

marital status, March,

1960, 1970, and 1979

Age and marital status

Number (thousands) Percent distribution

I9601 1970 1979 I9601 1970 1979

AGE

Total, 16 years and over 4,494 5,573 8,458 100.0 100.0 100.0

Under 25 180 437 795 4.0 7.8 9.4

25 to 34 620 919 2,131 13.8 16.5 25.2

35 to 44 921 1,075 1,852 20.5 19.3 21.9

45 to 54 948 1,115 1,522 21.1 20.0 18.0

55 to 64 782 917 964 17.4 16.4 11.4

65 and over 1,043 1,115 1,193 23.2 20.0 14.1

Median age 50.5 48.2 42.0 — — —

MARITAL STATUS

Total, women maintaining families 4,494 5,573 8,458 100.0 100.0 100.0

Never married 521 610 1,412 11.6 10.9 16.7

Married, husband absent 980 1,324 1,768 21.8 23.7 20.9

Divorced 750 1,258 2,808 16.7 22.5 33.2

Widowed 2,243 2,389 2,470 49.9 42.8 29.2

'Data include 14- and 15-year olds.

33

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 33.

Labor force

participation rates and

unemployment rates of

women maintaining

families by age,

March, 1970 and 1979

Age

1970 1979

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment

rate

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment

rate

Total, 16 years and over 52.9 5.6 59.5 8.4

16 to 24 51.6 10.8 60.4 21.6

25 to 34 60.9 6.6 70.0 9.5

35 to 44 67.1 6.7 71.8 7.5

45 to 54 70.4 4.6 70.9 4.2

55 to 64 58.5 3.2 54.1 5.4

65 and over 11.1 2.4 11.5 4.3

Table 34.

Labor force status of

women and men

maintaining families, by

presence and age of

children under 18,

March, 1970 and 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Presence and age of children

March 1970 March 1979

Population Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Population Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Women maintaining families 5,573 2,950 52.9 8,456 5,033 59.5

With children under 18 years 2,924 1,736 59.4 5,288 3,486 65.9

With children 6-17 years only 1,813 1,215 67.0 3,362 2,406 71.6

With children under 6 years 1,111 521 46.9 1,926 1,080 56.1

With no children under 18 2,649 1,214 45.8 3,168 1,547 48.8

Men1 maintaining families 1,239 893 72.1 1,654 1,218 74.2

With children under 18 years 333 304 91.3 569 496 87.1

With children 6-17 years only 262 237 90.5 435 375 86.2

With children 6 years 71 67 (2) 134 121 90.3

With no children under 18 906 589 65.0 1,085 722 66.5

'Population includes a few male members 

of the Armed Forces living off post or with 

their families on post.

2Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

See note on table 30.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 35.

Labor force status of

women maintaining

families by marital

status and presence of

children,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Labor force status

Women

maintaining

families,

total

Never

married

Married,

husband

absent

Divorced Widowed

Total

Population 8,458 1,412 1,768 2,808 2,470

Labor force 5,033 827 1,071 2,202 934

Labor force participation rate 59.5 58.6 60.6 78.4 37.8

Unemployment rate 8.4 13.8 10.6 6.7 5.5

With no children under 18

Population 3,170 514 296 573 1,786

Labor force 1,547 342 182 428 595

Labor force participation rate 48.8 66.5 61.5 74.7 33.3

Unemployment rate 3.7 3.5 4.4 3.5 3.9

With children under 18

Population 5,288 902 1,473 2,234 679

Labor force 3,486 485 889 1,773 338

Labor force participation rate 65.9 53.8 60.4 79.4 49.8

Unemployment rate 10.5 21.0 11.9 7.4 8.0

See note on table 30.

35

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 36.

Occupations of

employed women

maintaining families by

marital status,

March 1979

Occupation Total Never

married

Married,

husband

absent

Divorced Widowed

Total employed: Number (in thousands) 4,608 713 958 2,055 883

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 13.1 11.8 13.3 14.6 10.3

Managerial-administrative, except farm 6.6 5.8 4.3 7.6 7.3

Sales 4.6 2.6 5.3 5.0 4.7

Clerical 34.1 35.4 29.4 37.2 30.7

Craft 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.2 1.3

Operatives, except transport 14.3 15.5 14.0 13.0 16.7

Transport equipment operatives 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.2

Nonfarm laborers 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.6 0.1

Service, total 23.3 24.1 29.6 18.1 28.0

Private household 2.9 3.5 5.0 0.8 5.2

All other service 20.4 20.6 24.6 17.3 22.8

Farm 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.6

36

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part IV

School Enrollment and Education

School enrollment status and years 

of school completed by women are 

directly related to labor force activity. 

That is, on average, the more years of 

school completed, the higher the labor 

force participation rate. In 1979, for 

example, labor force rates were higher 

for young women who recently 

completed high school than for those 

who had dropped out of school — 79 

percent and 55 percent, respectively. 

Also, the unemployment rate of school 

dropouts, at 31 percent, was about 

double the rate for high school 

graduates.

In 1979, about 40 percent of the 

women and 45 percent of the men 16 

to 24 years old were enrolled in school. 

Moreover, of women and men who had 

graduated from high school in the 

previous year, similar proportions were 

enrolled in college. Also, on average, 

working women had completed about 

the same number of years of school as 

men — 12.6 years in 1979.

The proportion of working women 25 

years old and over with a college 

education was 17 percent in 1979 

compared with 23 percent for the men. 

This difference is partly due to the fact 

that women were somewhat less likely 

to continue on to college; the education 

of 45 percent of working women in this 

age group stopped with high school 

graduation compared with 35 percent 

for the men.

37

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 37.

School enrollment

status of women and

men 16 to 24 years old

in the labor force,

selected years,

October, 1960-79

(Numbers in thousands)

Year

Women Men

Enrolled in school Not enrolled in school Enrolled in school Not enrolled in school

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

October of:

1960 883 26.0 3,765 50.2 1,591 36.4 5,097 95.0

1965 1,452 28.9 4,602 54.1 2,515 39.8 5,504 94.1

1970 2,354 38.0 5,881 60.0 3,181 42.9 6,288 91.9

1975 3,130 43.5 6,956 65.9 3,598 44.5 8,149 92.2

1979 3,538 47.8 7,889 71.6 3,803 48.4 9,110 92.5

38

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 38.

School enrollment

status of women and

men 16 to 34 years old

in the labor force by

age, October, 1970 and

1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Sex and age

Enrolled in school Not enrolled in school

1970 1979 1970 1979

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Women, 16 to 34 years 2,630 39.4 4,509 51.3 11,430 51.7 18,467 67.6

16 to 19 1,700 34.8 2,367 44.3 1,521 59.8 2,019 70.3

20 to 24 654 50.5 1,172 56.9 4,360 60.0 5,869 72.0

25 to 34 276 57.5 971 70.1 5,549 45.2 10,578 64.9

Men, 16 to 34 years 3,993 47.5 4,947 53.5 16,875 95.4 23,987 95.3

16 to 19 2,125 39.7 2,516 44.7 1,580 84.7 2,201 87.1

20 to 24 1,056 51.2 1,286 57.7 4,708 94.6 6,910 94.4

25 to 34 812 81.6 1,144 82.4 10,587 97.6 14,877 97.1

Table 39.

Percent of recent high

school graduates

enrolled in college by

sex, selected years,

October, 1960-79

Year

Percent high school graduates

Women Men

October of:

1960 38 54

1965 45 57

1970 49 55

1975 49 53

1978 49 51

1979 48 50

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 40.

Employment status of

women and men 16 to

34 years old enrolled in

school by age and type

of school,

October 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Labor force

Sex and type of school Population Unemployed

Total Employed

Total Percent of

labor force

WOMEN

Total enrolled in school 16 to 34 years old 8,788 4,510 4,018 492 10.9

Elementary or high school 3,804 1,672 1,378 294 17.6

16 and 17 years 3,340 1,464 1,211 253 17.3

18 and 19 years 316 141 109 32 22.7

20 to 24 years 82 38 33 5 (D

25 to 34 years 66 29 25 4 0)

College, full-time2 3,368 1,466 1,323 143 9.8

16 to 19 years 1,544 643 574 70 10.9

20 to 24 years 1,460 669 612 55 8.2

20 and 21 years 980 438 396 41 9.4

22 to 24 years 480 231 216 14 6.1

25 to 34 years 364 154 137 18 11.7

College, part-time 1,616 1,372 1,317 55 4.0

16 to 19 years 140 118 112 7 5.9

20 to 24 years 519 465 441 24 5.2

20 and 21 years 181 156 141 15 9.6

22 to 24 years 338 309 300 9 2.9

25 to 34 years 957 789 764 24 3.0

MEN

Total enrolled in school 16 to 34 years old 9,249 4,946 4,413 535 10.8

Elementary or high school 4,265 2,014 1,692 322 16.0

16 and 17 years 3,638 1,672 1,410 262 15.7

18 and 19 years 533 268 218 50 18.7

20 to 24 years 62 45 40 5 0)

25 to 34 years 32 29 24 5 (D

College, full-time2 3,633 1,632 1,451 183 11.2

16 to 19 years 1,337 468 405 63 13.5

20 to 24 years 1,738 827 723 106 12.8

20 and 21 years 1,046 457 407 51 11.2

22 to 24 years 692 370 316 55 14.9

25 to 34 years 558 337 323 14 4.2

College, part-time 1,351 1,300 1,270 30 2.3

16 to 19 years 123 107 103 4 3.7

20 to 24 years 430 414 398 16 3.9

20 and 21 years 146 137 131 6 4.4

22 to 24 years 284 277 267 10 3.6

25 to 34 years 798 779 769 10 1.3

'Rate not shown where base is less than 2Students attending 12 hours or more of week were classified as full-time students. 

75,000. college classes during the average school

Digitized 

40

for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 41.

Employment status of

women and men 16 to

24 years old, not

enrolled in college, who

were high school

graduates or school

dropouts in 1979,

October 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Labor force

Sex and school status Population

Total Percent of

population Employed

Unemployed

T . . Percent of

Tota labor force

Not in

labor force

Women, total 1,096 841 76.7 658 183 21.8 255

High school graduates 870 716 82.3 580 136 19.0 154

School dropouts 226 125 55.3 78 47 37.6 101

Men, total 967 856 88.5 729 127 14.8 111

High school graduates 731 672 91.9 579 93 13.8 59

School dropouts 236 184 78.0 150 34 18.5 52

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 42.

Employment status of

women and men 16 to

24 years old, not

enrolled in school, by

years of school

completed,

October 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Labor force

Sex and last year of school completed Population

Total Employed

Unemployed

Total Percent of

labor force

WOMEN

Total not enrolled in school 11,022 7,889 6,914 975 12.4

School dropouts, total 2,614 1,264 952 312 24.7

Completed 8 years of school or less 514 213 166 47 22.1

Completed 1 to 3 years of high school 2,073 1,051 786 265 25.2

High school graduates:

Graduated from high school 8,407 6,625 5,962 663 10.0

Completed 4 years of high school only 5,935 4,472 3,944 528 11.8

Completed 1 or more years of college 2,472 2,153 2,018 135 6.3

Completed 1 to 3 years of college 1,652 1,387 1,288 99 7.1

Completed 4 years or more college 820 766 730 36 4.7

MEN

Total not enrolled in school 9,848 9,112 8,250 862 9.5

School dropouts, total 2,650 2,248 1,892 356 15.8

Completed 8 years of school or less 650 500 419 81 16.2

Completed 1 to 3 years of high school 2,000 1,748 1,473 275 15.7

High school graduates:

Graduated from high school 7,197 6,863 6,359 504 7.3

Completed 4 years of high school only 5,159 4,910 4,516 394 8.0

Completed 1 or more years of college 2,038 1,953 1,843 110 5.6

Completed 1 to 3 years of college 1,365 1,296 1,221 75 5.8

Completed 4 years or more college 673 657 622 35 5.3

42

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 43.

Educational attainment

of women and men in

the labor force,

March, 1965-79

Year

Total

Number

(thousands) Percent

Less than

4 years of

high school1

4 years of

high school

only

1 to 3

years of

college

4 years or

more of

college

Median years

of school

completed

WOMEN

1965 24,871 100.0 37.7 41.9 10.4 10.0 12.3

1966 25,662 100.0 36.2 43.0 11.0 9.9 12.3

1967 26,647 100.0 35.4 42.9 11.8 9.9 12.3

1968 27,846 100.0 33.6 43.7 12.3 10.5 12.4

1969 28,891 100.0 32.2 45.0 12.4 10.4 12.4

1970 30,064 100.0 30.6 45.5 13.2 10.7 12.4

1971 30,478 100.0 29.3 45.4 13.9 11.4 12.5

19722 32,933 100.0 30.8 44.7 13.2 11.4 12.4

1973 33,905 100.0 29.2 45.2 13.8 12.0 12.5

1974 35,321 100.0 27.8 44.2 15.2 12.8 12.5

1975 36,496 100.0 26.6 44.8 15.3 13.2 12.5

1976 37,817 100.0 25.5 44.6 15.9 14.0 12.6

1977 39,374 100.0 24.8 44.6 16.3 14.4 12.6

1978 40,971 100.0 23.3 44.6 17.1 14.3 12.6

1979 42,971 100.0 22.7 44.6 17.8 14.9 12.6

MEN

1965 46,258 100.0 45.1 32.0 10.5 12.4 12.2

1966 46,356 100.0 43.8 32.6 10.7 12.8 12.2

1967 46,571 100.0 42.2 32.9 11.7 13.2 12.2

1968 47,255 100.0 40.6 33.8 12.2 13.6 12.3

1969 47,862 100.0 38.9 34.4 12.6 13.9 12.3

1970 48,891 100.0 37.3 35.1 13.5 14.2 12.4

1971 49,439 100.0 35.4 35.7 14.0 14.9 12.4

19722 52,477 100.0 36.2 35.0 13.8 15.0 12.4

1973 53,420 100.0 34.1 35.8 14.5 15.6 12.4

1974 54,312 100.0 32.7 36.0 14.9 16.4 12.5

1975 54,577 100.0 30.9 36.3 15.5 17.3 12.5

1976 55,246 100.0 29.3 36.5 16.0 18.2 12.6

1977 56,392 100.0 29.0 36.0 16.4 18.7 12.6

1978 57,466 100.0 28.2 36.0 17.0 18.8 12.6

1979 58,608 100.0 26.4 36.7 17.3 19.6 12.6

’Includes persons reporting no school year 

completed.

beginning in 1972 data relate to persons 

16 and over; in prior years, data relate to 

persons 18 and over.

43

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 44.

Labor force and marital

status of women by

years of school

completed,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Item

8 years

or less

(including

none)

High school College

1 to 3

years

4 years 1 to 3

years

4 years

or more

Women, total 12,597 16,163 33,565 12,805 9,555

In labor force 2,922 6,826 19,157 7,653 6,413

Labor force participation rate 23.2 42.2 57.1 59.8 67.1

Unemployment rate 9.2 12.7 6.1 4.3 3.0

Never married, total 1,139 5,529 5,424 3,375 2,097

In labor force 361 2,563 4,083 2,249 1,750

Labor force participation rate 31.7 46.4 75.3 66.6 83.4

Unemployment rate N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Married, husband present, total 5,965 7,072 21,996 7,155 6,051

In labor force 1,617 2,882 11,512 4,001 3,821

Labor force participation rate 27.1 40.7 52.3 55.9 63.1

Unemployment rate N.A. N.A. 5.0 3.3 2.7

Married, husband absent, total 600 764 1,158 357 197

In labor force 201 361 819 262 165

Labor force participation rate 33.6 47.2 70.8 73.3 83.9

Unemployment rate N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Divorced, total 591 952 2,209 1,009 598

In labor force 248 574 1,786 847 512

Labor force participation rate 41.9 60.2 80.9 83.9 85.7

Unemployment rate N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Widowed, total 4,302 1,847 2,779 909 613

In labor force 495 447 956 295 165

Labor force participation rate 11.5 24.2 34.4 32.4 27.0

Unemployment rate N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

N.A. = not available.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 45.

Occupational

distribution of

employed women by

years of school

completed,

March 1979

Occupation

Less than

4 years of

high school

4 years of

high school

only

1 to 3

years of

college

4 years or

more of

college

Total employed: Number (in thousands) 8,609 17,992 7,326 6,223

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 1.8 5.9 18.7 64.8

Managerial-administrative, except farm 2.9 6.1 7.8 9.5

Sales 6.9 7.1 7.8 4.1

Clerical 17.2 46.8 45.3 15.6/

Craft 2.6 1.8 1.4 0.8

Operatives, except transport 24.3 10.5 \ 2.8 0.9

Transport equipment operatives 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.1

Nonfarm laborers 2.1 1.3 0.5 0.3

Service, except private household 31.4 17.2 13.5 3.3

Private household 8.1 1.7 1.1 0.2

Farm 1.8 0.9 0.6 0.4

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 46.

Women and men 25

years and over in the

labor force by age and

years of school

completed,

March 1979

Sex and years

of school completed

Total, 25

years and

over

25 to 34

years

35 to 44

years

45 to 54

years

55 years

and over

WOMEN

Total in labor force:

Number (thousands) 31,810 11,007 8,061 6,907 5,835

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary school: 

8 years or less 8.4 3.1 5.8 11.0 18.7

High school:

1 to 3 years 12.5 9.0 13.2 14.8 15.4

4 years 44.8 42.1 48.0 47.0 42.9

College:

1 to 3 years 16.9 21.7 15.5 14.1 12.8

4 years or more 17.4 24.1 17.3 13.1 10.2

MEN

Total in labor force:

Number (thousands) 45,934 15,581 11,256 10,095 9,002

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary school: 

8 years or less 12.1 4.9 9.2 15.8 23.7

High school:

1 to 3 years 12.1 8.6 11.9 15.8 14.4

4 years 35.3 35.3 37.6 35.0 32.9

College:

1 to 3 years 17.1 23.1 16.4 12.5 12.7

4 years or more 23.4 28.1 24.8 20.9 16.3

46

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 47.

Percent of workers 25

years old and over with

12 years of education

or more by sex and

occupation group,

March, 1970 and 1979

Item

Total employed, 25

years and over

(in thousands)

Percent with 4 years

of high school only

Percent with 1 year

of college or more

1970 1979 1970 1979 1970 1979

WOMEN

White-collar workers 13,748 19,858 45.7 45.6 35.1 46.7

Blue-collar workers 4,493 4,485 29.9 43.4 3.7 8.4

Service workers 4,798 5,630 30.4 43.6 6.2 14.9

Farmers and farm workers 208 310 26.0 44.2 8.7 21.3

MEN

White-collar workers 16,863 20,434 28.4 24.8 53.6 67.5

Blue-collar workers 19,167 18,829 33.2 45.8 7.9 17.4

Service workers 2,994 3,210 30.1 39.5 11.1 24.5

Farmers and farm workers 1,869 1,681 26.1 35.8 8.9 17.3

47

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part V

Earnings and Income

At the beginning of the 1980’s, 

working women were in the same 

relative earnings position compared 

with men as at the outset of the 

1970’s. Women working full time 

averaged about $6 for every $10 

earned by men. Although earnings 

parity with men was nearly achieved in 

some newer fields such as computer 

science, most women were still at the 

lower end of the pay scale.

In March 1979, both husband and 

wife were earners in 51 percent of 

married-couple families. Median 

income of these families was about 

$23,000 in 1978 compared with a little 

more than $17,000 for families where 

only the husband worked.

Even though their earnings were 

relatively low, working wives 

contributed about a quarter of the 

family income in 1978. This proportion 

varied depending on the extent of their 

work experience. The proportion was 

38 percent for wives working all year, 

full time, but only 11 percent for those 

working just part time or 26 weeks or 

less full time.

The income of about 10.1 million 

women for all of 1978 was not 

sufficient to lift them above the poverty 

level. These women were typically 

school dropouts (61 percent) and a 

large proportion (35 percent) were at 

least 55 years of age.

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 48.

Median usual weekly

earnings of full-time

wage and salary

workers by sex,

May, 1967-78 and

second quarter,

1979-80

Table 49.

Median usual weekly

earnings of full-time

wage and salary

workers by sex and

occupation, annual

averages, 1979

Usual weekly earnings Women’s

Year In current dollars In 1967 dollars earnings as

percent of

Women Men Women Men men’s

May of:

1967 $ 78 $125 $78 $125 62

1969 86 142 79 130 61

1970 94 151 81 131 62

1971 100 162 83 134 62

1972 106 168 85 135 63

1973 116 188 88 143 62

1974 124 204 85 140 61

1975 137 221 86 138 62

1976 145 234 86 138 62

1977 156 253 86 139 62

1978 166 272 85 140 61

19791

2nd quarter 183 295 85 137 62

1980:

2nd quarter 200 317 81 129 63

'Data for 2nd quarter 1979 and later are 

not strictly comparable with previous 

years.

Occupation

Usual weekly earnings

Women Men

Women’s

earnings as

percent of

men’s

Professional-technical $263 $372 71

Managerial-administrative, 

except farm 235 399 59

Sales 159 311 51

Clerical 183 287 64

Craft 188 310 61

Operatives, except transport 159 253 63

Transport equipment operatives 186 277 67

Nonfarm laborers 159 213 75

Service 139 208 67

Farm 130 163 80

49

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 50.

Distribution of full-time

wage and salary

workers by usual

weekly earnings and

selected

characteristics, annual

averages,

1979

Item Total

(thousands) Under

$149

Percent i

$150

to

199

distribution of weekly earnings

$200 $250 $300 $350

to to to to

249 299 349 399

$400

or

more

Median

earnings

AGE

Women, 16 years and over 27,138 30.9 26.0 18.7 10.7 6.4 3.0 4.4 $186

16 to 24 6,284 47.5 29.4 13.8 5.5 2.1 1.0 .8 153

25 and over 20,854 25.9 24.9 20.2 12.2 7.7 3.6 5.4 197

Men, 16 years and over 43,790 9.4 11.9 15.7 13.2 14.3 9.8 25.7 298

16 to 24 8,304 25.3 23.8 21.2 11.9 8.3 4.1 5.4 201

25 and over 35,487 5.6 9.1 14.5 13.5 15.7 11.2 30.5 322

FAMILY STATUS

Wives 14,357 28.8 26.5 19.7 11.2 6.6 3.0 4.2 189

Women who maintain families 3,591 29.0 25.5 19.9 10.9 7.0 3.6 4.1 190

Husbands 30,799 4.7 8.9 14.7 13.7 15.7 11.4 30.8 324

Men who maintain families 988 9.5 13.2 16.1 12.5 15.5 9.5 23.7 294

Women not in families 5,125 24.4 23.5 20.3 12.9 8.0 4.0 6.8 204

Men not in families 6,157 11.5 14.3 17.0 14.6 13.8 8.5 20.2 274

RACE AND HISPANIC ORIGIN

Women:

White 23,230 30.1 26.2 19.0 10.9 6.5 3.0 4.4 187

Black 3,312 37.5 24.9 17.0 8.7 5.6 2.9 3.5 174

Hispanic origin 1,324 46.2 25.7 13.5 7.1 4.1 1.6 1.9 156

Men:

White 38,970 8.3 11.2 15.4 13.3 14.6 10.2 27.2 306

Black 4,107 19.2 17.8 19.5 13.3 11.4 6.8 12.2 233

Hispanic origin 2,411 18.3 20.8 20.2 11.9 11.5 5.8 11.5 226

50

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 51.

Distribution of families

by usual weekly wage

and salary earnings,

type of family, and

number of earners,

annual averages,

1979

Percent distribution of family earnings

Type of family and number

of wage and salary earners

Number of

families

(thousands) Under

$100

$100

to

199

$200

to

299

$300

to

399

$400

to

499

$500

to

599

$600

to

799

$800

or

more

usual

weekly

earnings

Total families with earners 40,267 4.2 13.1 17.3 19.6 16.2 11.7 11.6 6.6 $377

Married-couple families 33,656 3.0 9.3 15.9 20.4 17.8 13.1 13.1 7.5 407

1 earner 14,695 6.5 18.9 25.1 22.6 12.9 6.8 4.5 2.8 297

Husband 12,369 3.5 13.8 25.9 25.4 15.0 8.0 5.2 3.2 322

Wife 1,743 22.9 46.3 21.1 7.1 1.5 .6 .4 .1 151

Other family member 583 20.3 44.8 20.8 9.1 3.3 1.0 .6 .1 161

2 or more earners 18,962 .3 1.9 8.7 18.6 21.6 17.9 19.8 11.3 494

Husband and wife 15,867 .2 1.4 8.3 18.8 22.0 18.2 19.9 11.2 496

Husband and other family member(s) 2,593 .3 2.2 7.9 16.4 19.9 18.4 21.3 13.6 517

Wife and other family member(s) 361 2.3 15.6 25.3 24.9 18.6 6.6 5.5 1.3 324

Other family members only 141 3.0 10.9 30.9 23.5 11.8 9.0 7.6 3.2 320

Families maintained by women 5,375 11.2 35.8 25.7 13.9 6.6 3.2 2.5 1.1 209

1 earner 3,753 15.4 46.6 25.1 8.7 2.4 1.0 .4 .4 171

Householder1 2,853 13.6 47.6 26.5 9.0 2.0 .7 .3 .2 174

Other family member 899 21.1 43.5 20.6 7.9 3.6 1.8 .8 .7 159

2 or more earners 1,622 1.4 10.9 27.3 25.9 16.3 8.4 7.3 2.6 336

Families maintained by men 1,236 5.0 17.3 19.8 22.5 13.7 9.9 7.5 4.4 329

1 earner 789 7.7 25.4 24.7 21.8 10.2 5.3 2.8 2.0 265

2 or more earners

0

448 .2 2.9 11.0 23.7 19.8 18.0 15.8 8.5 459

'Householder refers to the woman 

maintaining the family.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 52.

Median annual earnings

of year-round full-time

workers 14 years and

over by sex,

1955-78

Year

Annual earnings Women’s earnings

as percent of

Women Men men’s

1955 $2,719 $4,252 63.9

1956 2,827 4,466 63.3

1957 3,008 4,713 63.8

1958 3,102 4,927 63.0

1959 3,193 5,209 61.3

1960 3,293 5,417 60.8

1961 3,351 5,644 59.4

1962 3,446 5,794 59.5

1963 3,561 5,978 59.6

1964 3,690 6,195 59.6

1965 3,823 6,375 60.0

1966 3,973 6,848 58.0

1967 4,150 7,182 57.8

1968 4,457 7,664 58.2

1969 4,977 8,227 60.5

1970 5,323 8,966 59.4

1971 5,593 9,399 59.5

1972 5,903 10,202 57.9

1973 6,335 11,186 56.6

1974 6,970 11,889 58.6

1975 7,504 12,758 58.8

1976 8,099 13,455 60.2

1977 8,618 14,626 58.9

1978 9,350 15,730 59.4

NOTE: Data for 1955 to 1966 are for wage 

and salary workers only and exclude selfemployed persons.

Table 53.

Median annual earnings

of women 14 years and

over by weeks worked,

1978

Work experience Annual

earnings

Women’s earnings

as percent of

men’s

Total who worked at any

time in 1978 $5,249 43.3

Worked at full-time jobs 7,464 55.0

50 to 52 weeks 9,350 59.4

27 to 49 weeks 5,534 61.2

26 weeks or less 1,622 71.4

Worked at part-time jobs 1,635 100.0

50 to 52 weeks 3,423 103.9

27 to 49 weeks 2,338 87.3

26 weeks or less 714 99.0

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 54.

Sources of income of

women 14 years and

over,

Type of income

Number of women

(thousands)

Total 71,864

1978 Wage or salary income 46,574

Nonfarm self-employment income 2,573

Farm self-employment income 452

Property income 31,909

Social security and railroad 

retirement income 16,994

Other retirement income 3,457

Supplemental security income 2,262

Public assistance or welfare income 3,516

Veterans’ and unemployment benefits 

and workers’ compensation 3,514

Other income 4,556

NOTE: Because some women receive 

income from more than one source, the 

sum of the individual components is greater 

than the total.

Table 55.

Married-couple families

by number of earners

and size of family,

March 1979, and

median family income

in 1978

(Number of families in thousands)

Size of family Median

family

income

19781

Number of earners Total 2

persons

3

persons

4

persons

5

persons

6

persons

7 or

more

Total married-couple families 47,689 17,554 10,313 10,694 5,431 2,245 1,453 $19,400

No earners 5,102 4,441 371 147 70 37 37 7,900

One earner 14,179 5,405 2,908 3,333 1,618 601 313 16,400

Husband only 12,201 4,309 2,367 3,163 1,525 553 284 17,200

Wife only 1,476 1,096 196 91 56 29 10 11,200

Other relative only 502 — 346 80 37 20 20 13,200

Two earners 21,528 7,709 5,528 5,079 2,113 744 354 21,200

Husband and wife only 

Husband and other relative,

18,669 7,709 4,274 4,272 1,667 539 207 20,900

only 2,414 — 1,046 663 395 183 126 23,900

Husband is nonearner 445 — 208 143 51 22 21 17,700

Three earners or more 6,881 — 1,505 2,135 1,629 863 749 30,000

Husband and wife earners 

Husband an earner, wife

5,573 — 1,505 1,722 1,255 614 477 29,900

nonearner 1,172 — — 376 326 223 248 30,600

Husband is nonearner 135 — — 37 48 26 23 27,400

’Income rounded to nearest $100.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 56.

Married-couple families

by number of earners in

previous year and

presence and number

of own children under

18,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Presence and number of own children under age 18

Number of earners Total

None 1 2 3 4 5

6 or

more

Total married-couple families 47,689 23,178 9,202 9,136 4,067 1,437 448 222

No earners 5,102 4,708 163 119 54 35 12 12

One earner 14,179 6,344 2,369 3,178 1,513 515 189 71

Husband only 12,201 4,770 2,171 3,075 1,452 486 181 67

Wife only 1,476 1,183 141 79 48 19 6 —

Other relative only 502 391 57 24 14 10 1 5

Two earners 21,528 9,551 4,831 4,565 1,796 585 138 61

Husband and wife only 18,669 8,122 4,165 4,186 1,571 472 112 41

Husband and other relative, only 2,414 1,128 579 348 207 109 23 20

Husband is nonearner 445 301 87 31 18 4 3 1

Three earners or more 6,881 2,575 1,839 1,274 705 302 109 77

Husband and wife earners 5,573 2,136 1,460 1,038 576 219 86 58

Husband an earner, wife nonearner 1,172 363 352 217 125 75 21 19

Husband is nonearner 135 76 28 19 4 7 2 —

NOTE: Children are defined as "own” related children such as grandchildren,

children of the family and include never- nieces, nephews, and cousins, and

married sons and daughters, stepchildren, unrelated children 

and adopted children. Excluded are other

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 57.

Families maintained by

women and men by

number of earners and

size of family,

March 1979, and

median family income

in 1978

(Numbers in thousands)

Type of family and number of earners Total

Size of family Median

family

income

19781

2

persons

3

persons

4

persons

5

persons

6 or

more

Maintained by women, total1 8,453 3,901 2,287 1,209 596 460 $ 8,500

No earners 1,961 904 490 318 153 96 4,100

One earner 4,112 2,140 1,160 455 222 135 8,300

Householder3 only 3,187 1,624 988 362 145 68 8,100

Other relative only 925 516 172 94 77 67 9,400

Two earners or more 2,380 857 637 435 222 229 15,600

Householder3 and other relative 2,116 857 529 370 182 177 15,600

Householder3 is nonearner 264 — 108 65 40 51 15,800

Maintained by men, total1 1,653 1,024 376 132 61 60 $16,000

No earners 188 145 24 8 7 3 6,200

One earner 746 488 173 56 18 10 13,900

Householder3 only 594 381 148 46 15 3 14,100

Other relative only 152 106 25 10 3 7 13,000

Two earners or more 719 391 179 68 35 46 22,200

Householder3 and other relative 677 391 160 58 31 37 22,400

Householder3 is nonearner 43 — 19 11 5 9 (4)

’Income rounded to nearest $100. householder refers to the woman or man

includes only divorced, separated, maintaining the family.

widowed or never-married persons. 'Median not shown where number of

families is less than 75,000.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 58.

Families maintained by

women and men by

number of earners in

previous year and

presence and number of

own children under 18,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Presence and number of own children under age 18

Type of family and number of earners Total

None 1 2 3 4

5 or

more

Maintained by women, total1 8,453 3,167 2,358 1,701 782 293 152

No earners 1,961 641 473 448 234 111 53

One earner 4,112 1,159 1,406 972 393 124 59

Householder2 only 3,187 459 1,337 909 341 97 43

Other relative only 925 700 69 62 51 27 16

Two earners or more 2,380 1,366 479 282 155 58 41

Householder2 and other relative 2,116 1,199 437 262 143 48 27

Householder2 is nonearner 264 168 42 19 12 9 14

Maintained by men, total1 1,653 1,085 316 168 64 15 4

No earners 188 134 37 12 1 3 —

One earner 746 382 195 119 37 10 3

Householder2 only 594 239 191 115 37 10 2

Other relative only 152 143 4 5 — — 1

Two earners or more 719 569 85 37 25 2 2

Householder2 and other relative 677 530 82 37 25 2 1

Householder2 is nonearner 43 39 2 — — — 1

includes only divorced, separated, 

widowed, or never-married persons, 

householder refers to the woman or man 

maintaining the family.

See note on table 56.

56

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 59.

Earnings of married

women, husband

present, as percent of

family income in 1978,

by selected

characteristics of

married-couple families,

March 1979

Characteristic

Number of

wives

(thousands)

Median percent

of family income

accounted for by

earnings of wife

Total, wives with earnings 26,074 26.1

Age of husband:

Under 25 years 2,240 30.0

25 to 44 years 13,373 26.0

45 years and over 10,461 25.5

Wife worked 50 to 52 weeks full time 11,455 37.6

Family income:

Under $10,000 463 63.6

$10,000 to $14,999 1,067 49.8

$15,000 to $19,999 1,873 42.3

$20,000 to $24,999 2,203 38.6

$25,000 and over 5,849 33.4

Median family income $25,346 —

Wife worked 27 to 49 weeks full time 3,472 29.6

Median family income $20,181 —

Wife worked 1 to 26 weeks full time

or 1 to 52 weeks part time 11,147 11.1

Median family income $19,184 —

Table 60.

Earnings of women

maintaining families as

percent of family

income in 1978 by

selected

characteristics,

March 1979

Characteristic

Number of

women

(thousands)

Median percent

of family income

accounted for by

earnings of woman

Total, women with earnings

maintaining families 5,273 67.8

Age of householder1:

Under 25 years 507 71.4

25 to 44 years 2,924 76.9

45 years and over 1,842 52.3

Householder1 worked 50 to 52 weeks

full time 2,943 77.0

Family income:

Under $5,000 75 85.1

$5,000 to $9,999 806 84.1

$10,000 to $14,999 864 79.5

$15,000 and over 1,199 61.6

Median family income $13,219 —

Householder1 worked 27 to 49 weeks

full time 712 74.5

Median family income $ 8,848 —

Householder1 worked 1 to 26 weeks full

time or 1 to 52 weeks part time 1,618 35.4

Median family income $ 5,746 —

'Householder refers to the woman 

maintaining the family.

57

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 61.

Women who work full

time year round by

median earnings in

1978, marital status,

and educational

attainment,

March 1979

Education Total Never

married

Married,

husband Separated Widowed Divorced

present

Number of women (thousands)

Total who worked 50 to 52

weeks full time 21,125 4,495 11,823 948 1,264 2,595

Less than 12 years of high school 3,339 391 1,880 213 389 465

12 years of high school only 

College:

10,227 2,072 5,894 - 484 573 1,205

1-3 years 3,815 934 1,965 144 197 575

4 years 2,259 664 1,282 64 59 189

5 years or more 1,485 433 803 44 46 160

Median earnings

Total $ 9,294 $ 9,201 $ 9,219 $ 9,023 $ 8,981 $10,119

Less than 12 years of high school 7,142 6,507 7,045 6,805 7,516 7,757

12 years of high school only 

College:

8,805 8,268 8,797 8,987 9,252 9,708

1-3 years 9,796 9,537 9,519 10,182 10,553 11,099

4 years 11,560 11,107 11,595 (D (D 13,029

5 years or more 14,697 14,663 14,408 (1) (D 16,318

'Median not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

58

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 62.

Median annual earnings

of year-round full-time

workers in 1978 by

occupation of longest

job,

March 1979

Occupation

Number employed

year round, full time

(thousands)

Annual earnings,

1978 Women’s earnings

as percent of

men’s

Women Men Women Men

Total with earnings 20,914 41,036 $ 9,350 $15,730 59

Professional-technical 3,977 7,121 12,647 19,729 64

Managerial-administrative, except farm 1,836 7,128 10,689 19,633 54

Sales 880 2,456 7,644 16,839 45

Clerical 8,311 2,561 9,158 15,289 60

Craft 390 8,768 9,584 15,776 61

Operatives, except transport 2,479 4,483 7,995 13,470 59

Transport equipment operatives 52 2,344 8,364 14,071 59

Nonfarm laborers 199 1,873 7,452 12,031 62

Service 2,699 2,821 6,832 11,057 62

Farm 91 1,480 2,360 7,948 30

Table 63.

Women 16 years old

and over by poverty

status,

1966-78

(Numbers in thousands)

Below poverty level

Year Population

Number Percent of

population

1966 68,597 10,585 15.4

1967 69,833 10,714 15.3

1968 71,041 9,645 13.6

1969 72,367 9,550 13.2

1970 73,666 9,947 13.5

1971 75,503 10,172 13.5

1972 76,812 9,724 12.7

1973 78,110 9,096 11.6

1974 79,452 9,371 11.8

1975 80,834 10,060 12.4

1976 82,059 10,034 12.2

1977 83,374 9,897 11.9

1978 84,686 10,053 11.9

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 64.

Poverty status in 1978

of women and men by

age and years of school

completed,

March 1979

Sex and years of

school completed

Total,

16 years

and over

16 and 17

years

18 to 21

years

22 to 34

years

35 to 44

years

45 to 54

years

55 to 64

years

65 years

and over

WOMEN

Total (thousands) 84,686 4,057 8,365 23,289 12,671 11,790 10,887 13,627

Total in poverty:

Number (thousands) 10,053 586 1,233 2,561 1,204 993 1,194 2,282

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary school: 8 years or 

less (includes none

completed) 32.1 15.4 6.6 13.8 24.8 39.4 46.9 63.6

High school: 1 to 3 years 28.7 80.5 39.2 28.9 29.9 24.0 18.0 16.3

4 years 26.8 4.1 36.6 35.1 31.6 30.0 26.8 14.2

College: 1 year or more 12.4 — 17.7 22.1 13.4 6.6 8.3 5.8

MEN

Total (thousands) 76,894 4,178 8,010 22,438 11,940 11,036 9,744 9,548

Total in poverty:

Number (thousands) 5,631 531 803 1,374 656 646 671 951

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary school: 8 years or 

less (includes none

completed) 34.5 25.2 10.1 15.5 30.3 42.1 53.9 71.9

High school: 1 to 3 years 26.6 73.4 37.9 21.7 23.6 19.5 17.3 11.7

4 years 21.6 1.1 32.3 29.2 24.7 25.9 18.0 10.6

College: 1 year or more 17.2 — 19.7 33.6 21.3 12.5 10.9 5.7

60

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VI

Race and Hispanic Origin

The social and cultural diversity 

among the various racial and ethnic 

groups is reflected in the labor market 

experience of women. Historically, 

black women have been more likely to 

work than whites. However, during the 

1970's the labor force participation rate 

for white women grew much more 

rapidly than for black women so that by 

the close of the decade there was little 

difference between their overall 

participation rates (about 51 and 54 

percent, respectively, for white and 

black women). Although the 

participation rate for Hispanic women 

was somewhat lower than for either 

blacks or whites, it has also advanced, 

reaching 47 percent in 1979.

The proportion of black women in 

white-collar work increased sharply 

over the decade, as many of the 

younger, better educated women found 

jobs in clerical occupations. Over the 

same period, the proportion of blacks in 

private household occupations — an 

area where many black women have 

historically found employment — 

declined dramatically.

Black and Hispanic mothers who 

were maintaining families (no husband 

present) were considerably less likely 

than white mothers to be in the labor 

force. Thus, not surprisingly, the 

incidence of poverty was far greater 

among such black and Hispanic 

families than among white families. In 

1978, about 60 percent of the black 

and Hispanic families maintained by 

women with children were living below 

the poverty level compared with only 

34 percent of white families.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 65.

Labor force status of

women and men by

race, annual averages,

1955-79

(Numbers in thousands)

Year

Women

Population Labor force

participation rate Unemployment rate

White Black

and other White Black

and other White Black

and other

1955 51,803 5,772 34.5 46.1 4.3 8.4

1956 52,372 5,857 35.7 47.3 4.2 8.9

1957 52,997 5,952 35.7 47.2 4.3 7.3

1958 53,645 6,047 35.8 48.0 6.2 10.8

1959 54,393 6,144 36.0 47.7 5.3 9.4

1960 55,215 6,369 36.5 48.2 5.3 9.4

1961 55,994 6,489 36.9 48.3 6.5 11.8

1962 56,660 6,663 36.7 48.0 5.5 11.0

1963 57,672 6,823 37.2 48.1 5.8 11.2

1964 58,665 6,972 37.5 48.5 5.5 10.6

1965 59,601 7,130 38.1 48.6 5.0 9.2

1966 60,503 7,292 39.2 49.3 4.3 8.6

1967 61,492 7,477 40.1 49.5 4.6 9.1

1968 62,513 7,666 40.7 49.3 4.3 8.3

1969 63,564 7,873 41.8 49.8 4.2 7.8

1970 64,624 8,110 42.6 49.5 5.4 9.3

1971 65,697 8,345 42.6 49.2 6.3 10.8

1972 67,138 8,730 43.2 48.7 5.9 11.3

1973 68,090 9,102 44.1 49.1 5.3 10.5

1974 69,064 9,445 45.2 49.1 6.1 10.7

1975 70,115 9,750 45.9 49.2 8.6 14.0

1976 71,147 10,056 46.9 50.2 7.9 13.6

1977 72,117 10,345 48.1 50.9 7.3 14.0

1978 73,118 10,646 49.5 53.3 6.2 13.1

1979 74,120 10,963 50.6 53.5 5.9 12.3

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 65. Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Year

Men

Population Labor force

participation rate Unemployment rate

White Black

and other White Blackand other White Black

and other

1955 47,077 5,034 85.4 85.0 3.7 8.8

1956 47,604 5,120 85.6 85.1 3.4 7.9

1957 48,122 5,194 84.8 84.3 3.6 8.3

1958 48,747 5,287 84.3 84.0 6.1 13.8

1959 49,410 5,384 83.8 83.4 4.6 11.5

1960 50,067 5,595 83.4 83.0 4.8 10.7

1961 50,610 5,677 83.0 82.2 5.7 12.8

1962 51,055 5,777 82.1 80.8 4.6 10.9

1963 52,033 5,888 81.5 80.2 4.7 10.5

1964 52,869 5,978 81.1 80.0 4.1 8.9

1965 53,683 6,101 80.8 79.6 3.6 7.4

1966 54,063 6,200 80.6 79.0 2.8 6.3

1967 54,608 6,298 80.7 78.5 2.7 6.0

1968 55,435 6,413 80.4 77.6 2.6 5.6

1969 56,349 6,549 80.2 76.9 2.5 5.3

1970 57,488 6,773 80.0 76.5 4.0 7.3

1971 58,762 6,973 79.6 74.9 4.9 9.1

1972 60,221 7,237 79.6 73.7 4.5 8.9

1973 61,213 7,532 79.5 73.8 3.7 7.6

1974 62,311 7,779 79.4 73.3 4.3 9.1

1975 63,386 8,017 78.7 71.5 7.2 13.7

1976 64,422 8,279 78.4 70.7 6.4 12.7

1977 65,478 8,486 78.5 71.0 5.5 12.4

1978 66,462 8,714 78.6 72.0 4.5 10.9

1979 67,494 8,955 78.6 71.9 4.4 10.3

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 66.

Labor force status of

persons of Hispanic

origin by sex, annual

averages,

1973-79

Sex and Population Labor force Unemployment

year (thousands) participation rate rate

WOMEN

1973 3,159 40.9 9.0

1974 3,364 42.3 9.4

1975 3,557 43.1 13.6

1976 3,650 44.0 12.9

1977 3,783 44.1 11.8

1978 4,023 46.5 11.3

1979 4,138 47.4 10.4

MEN

1973 2,838 81.5 6.7

1974 3,060 81.7 7.3

1975 3,132 80.7 11.4

1976 3,193 79.6 10.7

1977 3,373 80.7 8.9

1978 3,616 81.0 7.6

1979 3,764 81.3 6.9

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 67.

Women and men in the

population and labor

force by age, race, and

Hispanic origin, annual

averages,

1979

Age

White Black Hispanic origin

Women Men Women Men Women Men

POPULATION

Total: Number (thousands) 74,120 67,494 9,392 7,634 4,138 3,764

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

16 to 24 20.9 22.5 26.6 28.1 28.3 30.0

16 to 19 9.3 10.3 12.2 14.0 12.7 14.3

20 to 24 11.6 12.2 14.4 14.1 15.6 15.7

25 to 34 20.2 21.6 22.0 21.4 25.8 25.1

35 to 44 14.9 15.5 15.6 15.1 18.2 17.8

45 to 54 13.9 14.4 13.1 13.8 12.3 12.9

55 to 64 13.2 13.1 10.5 10.8 8.2 7.7

65 and over 16.8 12.8 12.3 10.7 7.2 6.4

LABOR FORCE

Total: Number (thousands) 37,528 53,074 4,984 5,446 1,960 3,059

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

16 to 24 26.8 22.1 24.1 24.5 31.0 27.5

16 to 19 10.6 8.5 8.5 8.5 11.7 10.0

20 to 24 16.2 13.6 16.6 16.0 19.3 17.5

25 to 34 25.1 26.4 29.1 27.3 28.6 29.1

35 to 44 18.6 19.1 19.9 19.1 20.7 20.6

45 to 54 15.9 16.9 14.7 16.4 12.9 14.3

55 to 64 10.9 12.3 8.7 9.8 6.0 6.8

65 and over 2.7 3.3 2.5 2.9 0.8 1.8

65

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 68.

Employment status of

white, black and

Hispanic persons, by

sex and marital status,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Women

Race, Hispanic origin,

and employment status Total Never

married

Married,

husband

present

Married,

husband

absent

Widowed Divorced

WHITE

Population 73,812 14,261 44,087 1,928 9,021 4,515

Labor force 37,210 9,296 21,391 1,136 1,988 3,400

Labor force participation rate 50.4 65.2 48.5 58.9 22.0 75.3

Employed 35,025 8,554 20,353 1,031 1,889 3,198

Unemployed 2,185 742 1,038 105 99 202

Unemployment rate 5.9 8.0 4.9 9.2 5.0 5.9

BLACK

Population 9,319 2,962 3,213 1,074 1,288 782

Labor force 4,899 1,502 1,920 632 322 523

Labor force participation rate 52.6 50.7 59.7 58.9 25.0 66.8

Employed 4,321 1,195 1,778 564 301 483

Unemployed 578 307 142 69 21 40

Unemployment rate 11.8 20.4 7.4 10.9 6.5 7.7

HISPANIC

Population 3,926 897 2,220 291 261 256

Labor force 1,859 502 1,028 117 58 154

Labor force participation rate 47.4 56.0 46.3 40.4 22.2 60.2

Employed 1,677 436 946 103 51 140

Unemployed 183 66 82 15 7 14

Unemployment rate 9.8 13.1 8.0 12.5 (D 9.0

See footnote at end of table.

66

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 68. Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Men

Race, Hispanic origin,

and employment status Total Never

married

Married,

wife

present

Married,

wife

absent

Widowed Divorced

WHITE

Population 67,188 17,708 43,549 1,434 1,595 2,900

Labor force 52,297 12,874 35,474 1,134 439 2,375

Labor force participation rate 77.8 72.7 81.5 79.1 27.5 81.9

Employed 49,674 11,535 34,419 1,073 427 2,2.21

Unemployed 2,622 1,339 1,055 62 12 154

Unemployment rate 5.0 10.4 3.0 5.4 2.7 6.5

BLACK

Population 7,475 2,848 3,230 586 310 501

Labor force 5,246 1,760 2,585 405 116 379

Labor force participation rate 70.2 61.8 80.0 69.0 37.6 75.8

Employed 4,549 1,337 2,422 341 105 344

Unemployed 696 423 163 64 11 35

Unemployment rate 13.3 24.0 6.3 15.7 9.4 9.3

HISPANIC

Population 3,617 1,120 2,120 187 56 134

Labor force 2,936 786 1,852 162 22 114

Labor force participation rate 81.1 70.1 87.4 86.7 0) 84.9

Employed 2,704 673 1,751 149 22 109

Unemployed 232 113 101 13 — 5

Unemployment rate 7.9 14.3 5.4 8.1 — 4.8

'Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

\

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 69.

Labor force status of

women by race,

Hispanic origin, marital

status, and presence

and age of children

under 18,

March 1979

Marital and family status Civilian

labor force

(thousands)

White

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rate

Women, total 37,210 50.4 5.9

Never married 9,296 65.2 8.0

With no own children 9,122 65.4 7.9

With children under 18 174 57.3 12.6

With children 6-17 only 52 (D (D

With children under 6 121 55.3 14.9

Married, husband present 21,391 48.5 4.9

With no own children 10,097 46.3 3.7

With children under 18 11,294 50.7 5.9

With children 6-17 only 7,178 58.1 4.7

With children under 6 4,116 41.5 8.1

Married, husband absent 1,136 58.9 9.2

With no own children 532 57.9 5.6

With children under 18 603 59.8 12.4

With children 6-17 only 353 66.3 8.1

With children under 6 250 52.5 18.5

Widowed 1,988 22.0 5.0

With no own children 1,725 20.2 4.2

With children under 18 263 53.1 9.8

With children 6-17 only 241 55.2 9.0

With children under 6 22 0) 18.7

Divorced 3,400 75.3 5.9

With no own children 1,781 70.4 5.0

With children under 18 1,619 81.6 6.9

With children 6-17 only 1,192 85.3 6.0

With children under 6 427 72.9 9.5

See footnote at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 69. Continued

Black Hispanic origin

Marital and family status Civilian

labor force

(thousands)

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rateCivilian

labor force

(thousands)

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rate

Women, total 4,899 52.6 11.8 1,859 47.4 9.8

Never married 1,502 50.7 20.4 502 56.0 13.1

With no own children 1,191 50.3 19.1 469 58.6 13.0

With children under 18 311 52.4 25.7 33 34.0 (D

With children 6-17 only 135 63.3 24.0 10 (D (D

With children under 6 176 46.3 27.0 23 d) (D

Married, husband present 1,920 59.7 7.4 1,028 46.3 8.0

With no own children 695 51.6 4.2 358 49.2 7.6

With children under 18 1,225 65.6 9.2 669 44.9 8.1

With children 6-17 only 715 70.3 7.2 344 52.8 6.4

With children under 6 510 60.1 11.9 326 38.7 10.0

Married, husband absent 632 58.9 10.9 117 40.4 12.5

With no own children 258 58.5 7.2 49 d) 0)

With children under 18 374 59.1 13.4 69 (D (D

With children 6-17 only 229 62.9 10.2 34 (D d)

With children under 6 146 53.9 18.3 34 (D (D

Widowed 322 25.0 6.5 58 22.2 (D

With no own children 252 22.8 6.7 43 19.0 (D

With children under 18 70 38.8 (D 15 (D (D

With children 6-17 only 60 39.7 (D 9 0) 0)

With children under 6 10 (D (D 6 (D —

Divorced 523 66.8 7.7 154 60.2 9.0

With no own children 243 65.9 3.4 71 55.3 d)

With children under 18 279 67.7 11.4 83 65.2 9.4

With children 6-17 only 207 74.4 9.7 59 71.2 (D

With children under 6 72 53.8 d) 24 (D (D

1Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

See note on table 26.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 70.

Employment status of

women and men of

Hispanic origin,

March,1975 and 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Sex and employment

status

1975 1979

_ . . Mexican- Puerto _ .

To,al American Rican 0,her To,al

MexicanAmerican

Puerto

Rican 0,her

WOMEN

Labor force 1,478 835 184 460 1,859 1,077 196 586

Labor force participation rate 42.3 42.1 33.5 47.7 47.4 48.1 33.4 53.3

Employed 1,298 735 157 406 1,677 962 173 542

Unemployed 180 99 27 54 183 115 23 44

Unemployment rate 12.2 11.9 14.6 11.7 9.8 10.7 11.9 7.5

Not in labor force 2,015 1,146 365 504 2,066 1,163 390 514

MEN

Labor force 2,542 1,547 310 685 2,936 1,853 318 765

Labor force participation rate 79.6 81.0 74.0 79.3 81.1 83.1 73.1 80.3

Employed 2,209 1,358 250 601 2,704 1,724 272 708

Unemployed 333 189 60 84 232 130 46 57

Unemployment rate 13.1 12.2 19.3 12.3 7.9 7.0 14.3 7.4

Not in labor force 651 363 109 178 682 378 117 187

70

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 71-

Labor force status of

women and men by

educational attainment,

race, and Hispanic

origin,

March 1979

Sex and years of

school completed

White Black Hispanic origin

Population ^ rbc° r Population Labor Population £ b o r

WOMEN

Total: Number (in thousands) 73,812 37,210 9,319 4,899 3,926 1,859

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary: Less than 8 years1 6.8 2.8 14.1 7.0 28.9 19.7

8 years 7.2 3.3 7.4 5.0 7.5 5.5

High school: 1 to 3 years 18.1 15.1 27.7 22.2 20.6 17.9

4 years 40.8 45.6 31.4 38.6 29.1 37.4

College: 1 to 3 years 15.4 17.8 13.0 17.4 9.4 12.9

4 years or more 11.7 15.4 6.4 9.8 4.5 6.6

Median school years completed 12.4 12.6 12.0 12.4 11.0 12.2

MEN

Total: Number (in thousands) 67,187 52,297 7,475 5,246 3,618 2,936

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Elementary: Less than 8 years1 7.0 4.4 18.9 12.4 27.6 26.3

8 years 7.5 5.2 6.7 5.5 8.0 7.3

High school: 1 to 3 years 17.5 15.3 26.7 23.6 22.4 19.6

4 years 33.4 36.8 29.4 36.5 24.2 27.1

College: 1 to 3 years 16.8 17.7 11.8 13.8 11.8 12.9

4 years or more 17.8 20.6 6.5 8.1 6.0 6.8

Median school years completed 12.5 12.7 11.7 12.2 10.9 11.5

'Includes persons reporting no school years 

completed.

71

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 72.

Labor force

participation rates and

unemployment rates of

women and men by

educational attainment,

race,and Hispanic

origin,

March 1979

White Black Hispanic origin

Sex and years of

school completed Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rate

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rate

Labor force

participation

rate

Unemployment rate

WOMEN

Total 50.4 5.9 52.6 11.8 47.4 9.8

Elementary: Less than 8 years1 20.8 8.8 25.9 5.7 32.2 4.7

8 years 22.9 9.3 36.0 10.4 35.0 8.4

High school: 1 to 3 years 42.2 11.7 42.2 18.0 41.0 14.7

4 years 56.3 5.4 64.5 12.0 60.9 10.0

College: 1 to 3 years 58.4 3.7 70.3 8.5 64.8 5.6

4 years or more 66.0 2.9 81.2 4.1 70.2 5.3

MEN

Total 77.8 5.0 70.2 13.3 81.1 7.9

Elementary: Less than 8 years1 48.9 6.5 46.1 10.3 77.3 6.0

8 years 53.9 6.8 57.2 8.3 74.8 8.3

High school: 1 to 3 years 67.7 10.4 62.1 21.0 70.8 14.5

4 years 86.0 4.7 87.2 13.6 91.1 6.7

College: 1 to 3 years 81.8 4.0 82.0 9.1 88.6 7.0

4 years or more 90.3 1.7 88.2 4.2 91.3 2.5

'Includes persons reporting no school years 

completed.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 73.

Work experience of

women and men by

race and Hispanic

origin,

1978

Women Men

Work experience

White Black Hispanic

origin White Black Hispanicorigin

Total: Number (thousands) 73,812 9,319 3,926 67,187 7,475 3,618

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked during year 57.2 56.1 53.1 82.4 72.6 83.1

Did not work during year 42.8 43.9 46.9 17.6 27.4 16.9

Worked during year:

Number (thousands) 42,226 5,229 2,083 55,378 5,426 3,008

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Worked at full-time jobs1 66.8 74.9 74.5 88.1 86.2 89.2

40 to 52 weeks 49.6 54.0 49.4 74.9 65.0 71.2

50 to 52 weeks 43.0 47.8 41.4 67.2 57.1 62.4

27 to 39 weeks 5.6 6.6 6.9 4.7 8.0 6.4

1 to 26 weeks 11.6 14.3 18.3 8.5 13.1 11.4

Worked at part time jobs2 33.2 25.1 25.5 11.9 13.8 10.8

40 to 52 weeks 15.4 11.7 10.0 5.6 4.9 4.5

50 to 52 weeks 11.2 9.0 8.1 4.1 3.4 3.5

27 to 39 weeks 4.8 2.8 3.9 1.5 1.2 1.5

1 to 26 weeks 13.1 10.6 11.5 4.7 7.7 4.9

'Usually worked 35 hours or more a week 

in a majority of weeks worked.

2Usually worked less than 35 hours a week 

in a majority of weeks worked.

73

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 74.

Occupational

distribution of

employed white, black,

and Hispanic women

and men,

March, 1970 and 1979

Occupation

Women Men

1970 1979 1970 1979

WHITE

Total: Number (thousands) 25,967 35,025 43,798 49,674

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 15.6 16.9 14.8 16.2

Managerial-administrative, except farm 4.8 6.7 15.5 15.2

Sales 7.3 7.2 6.1 6.5

Clerical 36.1 36.3 7.4 5.9

Craft 1.1 1.8 20.6 21.5

Operatives, including transport 14.5 10.7 18.8 17.1

Nonfarm laborers 0.4 1.1 5.6 6.1

Service 18.8 18.3 6.0 7.9

Private household workers 3.7 2.1 0.1 0.1

All other service 15.1 16.2 6.0 7.8

Farm 1.5 1.0 5.1 3.8

BLACK

Total: Number (thousands) 3,407 4,321 4,273 4,549

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 10.0 12.7 5.7 8.7

Managerial-administrative, except farm 1.4 3.0 4.1 5.6

Sales 2.5 2.8 1.5 2.0

Clerical 18.9 28.8 8.3 7.1

Craft 0.7 1.3 14.4 17.5

Operatives, including transport 16.7 14.4 30.2 25.6

Nonfarm laborers 0.9 1.7 19.2 13.5

Service 48.4 34.8 11.9 16.7

Private household workers 19.4 8.0 0.2 0.1

All other service 29.0 26.8 11.6 16.6

Farm 0.5 0.5 4.6 3.3

HISPANIC ORIGIN

Total: Number (thousands) 1,019 1,677 1,874 2,704

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Professional-technical 8.1 7.5 7.5 7.7

Managerial-administrative, except farm 2.1 3.7 5.4 5.5

Sales 5.4 5.3 4.0 3.3

Clerical 28.5 31.7 7.5 6.3

Craft 2.3 2.1 20.4 20.9

Operatives, including transport 27.5 25.2 26.9 25.6

Nonfarm laborers 1.4 1.1 10.4 11.6

Service 22.9 21.8 11.9 13.5

Private household workers 4.6 2.6 0.1 0.1

All other service 18.3 19.2 11.8 13.4

Farm 2.1 1.5 6.0 4.7

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 75.

Median annual earnings

of women and men

who worked year round,

full time, by race and

Hispanic origin,

1978

Table 76.

Median annual earnings

of year-round full-time

workers 14 years and

over by sex, race, and

Hispanic origin,

1975-78

Sex and earnings White Black Hispanic

origin

WOMEN

Worked year round full time in 19781:

Number (thousands) 17,257 2,466 837

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0

Under $2,0002 1.0 0.6 1.2

$2,000 to $4,999 5.6 9.7 9.7

$5,000 to $9,999 47.7 50.8 57.1

$10,000 to $14,999 32.3 26.7 24.3

$15,000 to $24,999 12.1 11.7 6.9

$25,000 or more 1.4 0.5 0.5

Median annual earnings, 1978 

MEN

$ 9,540 $ 8,837 $8,115

Worked year round full time in 19781:

Number (thousands) 33,127 3,019 1,757

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0

Under $2,0002 0.5 0.9 0.6

$2,000 to $4,999 1.7 4.2 3.5

$5,000 to $9,999 14.6 30.4 33.5

$10,000 to $14,999 24.9 28.0 29.8

$15,000 to $24,999 41.4 31.5 27.8

$25,000 or more 16.8 4.9 4.9

Median annual earnings, 1978 $16,184 $12,498 $11,841

'The survey was conducted in March 1979 

and counted persons 16 years and over as 

of the survey date who worked 50 to 52 

weeks in 1978, usually full time (35 hours 

or more per week).

includes workers with no earnings or a 

loss.

Annual earnings Women’s earnings

as percent of

men’s

year

Women Men

WHITE

1975 $7,737 $13,233 58.5

1976 8,376 14,272 58.7

1977 8,870 15,378 57.7

1978 9,732 16,360 59.5

BLACK

1975 $7,392 $ 9,848 75.1

1976 7,831 10,222 76.6

1977 8,290 10,602 78.2

1978 9,020 12,530 72.0

HISPANIC

1975 $6,577 $ 9,588 68.6

1976 7,129 10,422 68.4

1977 7,599 10,935 69.5

1978 8,331 11,943 69.8

75

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 77.

Number

of wives

Median percent

Earnings of married Characteristic of family income

women, husband

present, as percent of

(thousands) accounted for by

earnings of wife

family income in 1978 WHITE

by selected Total, wives with earnings 25,508 25.3

characteristics of Wife worked 50 to 52 weeks full time 10,107 37.2

married-couple families, Family income:

race,and Hispanic Under $10,000 390 62.3

origin,

March 1979

$10,000 to $14,999 899 50.4

$15,000 to $19,999 

$20,000 to $24,999

1,626

1,954

42.0

38.6

$25,000 and over 5,238 33.0

Median family income $25,593 —

Wife worked 27 to 49 weeks full time 3,085 29.0

Median family income $20,427 —

Wife worked 1 to 26 weeks full time 

or 1 to 52 weeks part time 10,316 10.7

Median family income $19,630 —

BLACK

Total, wives with earnings 2,078 33.2

Wife worked 50 to 52 weeks full time 1,085 41.3

Family income:

Under $10,000 1 57

$10,000 to $14,999 147 48.4

$15,000 to $19,999 209 43.9

$20,000 to $24,999 216 38.8

$25,000 and over 455 37.7

Median family income $22,977 —

Wife worked 27 to 49 weeks full time 324 34.2

Median family income $18,180 —

Wife worked 1 to 26 weeks full time 

or 1 to 52 weeks part time 670 15.9

Median family income $13,470 —

HISPANIC ORIGIN

Total, wives with earnings 1,103 28.1

Wife worked 50 to 52 weeks full time 443 39.9

Family income:

Under $10,000 1 26

$10,000 to $14,999 70 1

$15,000 to $19,999 103 41.7

$20,000 to $24,999 87 40.4

$25,000 and over 157 33.7

Median family income $21,285 —

Wife worked 27 to 49 weeks full time 183 31.8

Median family income $17,300 —

Wife worked 1 to 26 weeks full time 

or 1 to 52 weeks part time 477 14.0

Median family income $14,524 —

'Median not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 78.

Number of women and

men 16 years and over

below poverty level and

poverty rate by age,

race, and Hispanic

origin,

1975-78

(Numbers in thousands)

Sex and

year

White Black Hispanic

Number Percent

of total Number Percent

of total Number Percent

of total

WOMEN

1975 7,201 10.2 2,667 31.4 N.A. N.A.

1976 7,026 9.8 2,781 31.3 872 23.7

1977 6,864 9.4 2,850 31.3 870 21.9

1978 6,990 9.5 2,859 30.7 822 20.9

MEN

1975 4,378 7.0 1,417 21.1 N.A. N.A.

1976 4,118 6.2 1,440 19.6 588 18.0

1977 4,147 6.2 1,429 19.1 553 15.5

1978 4,079 6.0 1,387 18.3 542 14.9

N.A. = not available.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 79. (Numbers in thousands)

White, black,and

Hispanic families by

type,

March ,1975-79

Other families2

Race, Hispanic All

origin,and year families

Marriedcouple

families1 Maintained

by men1

Maintained by women

As percent

Total of all

families

WHITE

1975 49,440 43,050 1,182 5,208 10.5

1976 49,873 43,311 1,182 5,380 10.8

1977 50,083 43,397 1,219 5,467 10.9

1978 50,529 43,423 1,278 5,828 11.5

1979 50,911 43,637 1,356 5,918 11.6

BLACK

1975 5,491 3,357 200 1,934 35.2

1976 5,585 3,352 229 2,004 35.9

1977 5,804 3,407 246 2,151 37.1

1978 5,806 3,260 269 2,277 39.2

1979 5,907 3,244 273 2,390 40.5

HISPANIC

1975 2,475 1,926 87 462 18.7

1976 2,499 1,896 81 522 20.9

1977 2,583 1,978 88 517 20.0

1978 2,764 2,104 99 561 20.3

1979 2,741 2,089 110 542 19.8

1 includes men in Armed Forces living off 

post or with their families on post. 

Maintained by never-married, widowed, 

divorced, or separated persons.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 80.

Labor force status of

women and men

maintaining families by

race and Hispanic

origin, and presence

and age of own

children under 18,

March ,1975 and 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

1975 1979

Race, Hispanic origin, and

presence and age of children Population Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

Population Labor

force

Labor force

participation

rate

WHITE

Women maintaining families 5,208 2,896 55.6 5,918 3,661 61.9

With children under 18 2,972 1,866 62.8 3,511 2,481 70.7

With children 6-17 only 1,851 1,265 68.3 2,357 1,773 75.2

With children under 6 1,122 601 53.6 1,154 709 61.4

With no children under 18 2,236 1,030 46.1 2,408 1,180 49.0

Men1 maintaining families 1,182 879 74.9 1,355 1,007 75.0

With children under 18 348 305 87.6 444 393 88.5

With no children under 18 835 574 68.7 911 614 67.4

BLACK

Women maintaining families 1,934 988 51.1 2,390 1,283 53.7

With children under 18 1,378 740 53.7 1,684 951 56.5

With children 6-17 only 761 464 61.0 954 598 62.7

With children under 6 618 276 44.7 730 353 48.4

With no children under 18 555 248 44.7 706 332 47.0

Men1 maintaining families 200 142 71.3 272 193 71.3

With children under 18 69 54 (2) 116 96 82.8

With no children under 18 131 88 67.2 156 97 62.2

HISPANIC

Women maintaining families 462 201 43.5 542 251 46.3

With children under 18 352 147 41.8 410 181 44.1

With children 6-17 only 182 85 46.7 210 108 51.4

With children under 6 170 62 36.5 200 73 36.5

With no children under 18 110 54 49.1 132 70 53.0

Men1 maintaining families 87 63 73.4 110 88 80.0

With children under 18 26 18 (2) 36 31 (2)

With no children under 18 61 45 (2) 73 57 (2)

’Population includes a few male members 

of the Armed Forces living off post or with 

their families on post.

2Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

NOTE: Children are defined as “ own” nieces, nephews, cousins, and unrelated

children of the family. Included are never- children.

married sons, daughters, step children and

adopted children. Excluded are other

related children, such as grandchildren,

Digitized for FRASER 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 81.

Labor force status of

women maintaining

families by race and

Hispanic origin, marital

status, and presence

and age of children

under 18,

March 1979

(Numbers in thousands)

Race, Hispanic origin, and

labor force status

Women

maintaining

families,

total

Never

married

Married,

husband

absent

Divorced Widowed

WHITE

Population, total 5,918 681 1,049 2,297 1,891

Labor force 3,661 418 635 1,865 743

Labor force participation rate 61.9 61.4 60.5 81.2 39.3

Unemployment rate 7.0 7.2 11.2 5.9 5.8

With no children under 18

Population 2,408 383 145 474 1,406

Labor force 1,180 247 85 363 485

Labor force participation rate 49.0 64.5 58.6 76.6 34.5

Unemployment rate 3.6 3.2 4.7 2.8 4.1

With children under 18

Population 3,511 298 904 1,823 485

Labor force 2,481 171 550 1,502 258

Labor force participation rate 70.7 57.4 60.8 82.4 53.2

Unemployment rate 8.5 12.9 12.4 6.7 8.5

BLACK

Population, total 2,390 705 687 474 523

Labor force 1,283 390 417 313 163

Labor force participation rate 53.7 55.3 60.7 66.0 31.2

Unemployment rate 12.9 21.3 9.6 11.2 4.3

With no children under 18

Population 706 118 147 93 348

Labor force 333 84 95 61 93

Labor force participation rate 47.2 71.2 64.6 65.6 26.7

Unemployment rate 4.5 3.6 4.2 (1) 3.2

With children under 18

Population 1,684 588 540 381 174

Labor force 951 307 322 252 70

Labor force participation rate 56.5 52.2 59.6 66.1 40.2

Unemployment rate 15.8 26.1 11.5 11.9 (1)

See footnote at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 81. Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Race, Hispanic origin , and

labor force status

Women

maintaining

families,

total

Never

married

Married,

husband

absent

Divorced Widowed

HISPANIC

Population, total 542 126 194 137 86

Labor force 251 60 74 87 30

Labor force participation rate 46.3 47.6 38.1 63.5 34.9

Unemployment rate 12.4 (D (1) 9.2 (1)

With no children under 18

Population 132 29 24 28 52

Labor force 70 27 14 15 15

Labor force participation rate 53.0 0) (D d) 0)

Unemployment rate (D (D d) (D d)

With children under 18

Population 410 97 170 109 34

Labor force 181 33 61 72 15

Labor force participation rate 44.1 34.0 35.9 66.1 (1)

Unemployment rate 13.8 (D (D 0) (D

'Rate not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

See note on table 80.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 82.

Families by type and

race, March 1979, and

median family income

in 1978

Type of family

Number of families

(thousands) Median family income, 1978

Total White Black Total White Black

All families 57,804 50,910 5,906 $17,640 $18,368 $10,879

Married-couple families 47,692 43,636 3,244 19,340 19,638 15,913

Wife in paid labor force1 23,005 20,624 1,934 22,109 22,372 19,073

Wife not in paid labor force 24,686 23,012 1,310 16,156 16,533 11,180

Other families:

Maintained by women 8,468 5,918 2,390 8,537 9,911 5,888

Maintained by men 1,655 1,355 272 15,966 16,914 12,080

'Persons 14 years and over are classified 

in the paid labor force if they were 

employed as wage and salary workers or 

self-employed workers during the survey

week (in March 1979) or were looking for 

work at the time and had last worked as 

wage and salary or self-employed workers.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 83.

Number of own

children by age of

children, race and

Hispanic origin, type of

family, and labor force

status of mother, March

1979, and median

family income in 1978

Children under 18 years

Item

White Black Hispanic

Number of children (thousands)

Total children 49,557 7,764 4,194

Mother in labor force 25,122 4,360 1,743

Mother not in labor force 23,712 3,219 2,378

Children in married-couple families 42,809 3,947 3,261

Mother in labor force 21,095 2,425 1,414

Mother not in labor force 21,714 1,522 1,847

Children in families maintained by women 6,025 3,632 860

Mother in labor force 4,027 1,935 329

Mother not in labor force 1,999 1,697 531

Children in families maintained by men 723 185 72

Median family income, 1978

Total children $19,213 $ 9,793 $12,171

Mother in labor force 20,542 12,983 15,395

Mother not in labor force 17,991 6,613 10,174

Children in married-couple families 20,680 16,726 14,390

Mother in labor force 22,438 19,575 17,152

Mother not in labor force 18,950 11,854 12,240

Children in families maintained by women 7,606 5,082 7,330

Mother in labor force 9,705 6,932 7,965

Mother not in labor force 4,722 4,055 4,427

Children in families maintained by men 16,344 11,318 (1)

See footnote at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 83. Continued

Children 6 to 17 years

nem

White Black Hispanic

Number of children (thousands)

Total children 35,114 5,619 2,725

Mother in labor force 19,192 3,297 1,204

Mother not in labor force 15,312 2,183 1,461

Children in married-couple families 29,860 2,797 2,076

Mother in labor force 15,979 1,790 968

Mother not in labor force 13,881 1,007 1,108

Children in families maintained by women 4,645 2,684 589

Mother in labor force 3,213 1,508 235

Mother not in labor force 1,432 1,177 353

Children in families maintained by men 610 138 60

Median family income, 1978

Total children $20,389 $10,229 $12,871

Mother in labor force 21,606 13,367 16,106

Mother not in labor force 19,003 7,026 10,508

Children in married-couple families 22,102 17,472 15,351

Mother in labor force 23,632 20,650 17,945

Mother not in labor force 20,129 11,799 12,785

Children in families maintained by women 8,718 5,620 5,423

Mother in labor force 10,607 7,286 7,838

Mother not in labor force 5,155 4,500 4,699

Children in families maintained by men 17,671 11,586 (D

See footnote at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 83. Continued

Children under 6 years

Item

White Black Hispanic

Number of children (thousands)

Total children 14,443 2,145 1,469

Mother in labor force 5,929 1,063 540

Mother not in labor force 8,400 1,035 917

Children in married-couple families 12,949 1,151 1,186

Mother in labor force 5,116 636 446

Mother not in labor force 7,833 515 740

Children in families maintained by women 1,381 948 272

Mother in labor force 813 427 94

Mother not in labor force 567 520 178

Children in families maintained by men 114 47 12

Median family income, 1978

Total children $16,854 $ 8,472 $11,137

Mother in labor force 17,632 11,881 13,747

Mother not in labor force 16,380 5,995 9,523

Children in married-couple families 17,910 15,274 12,741

Mother in labor force 19,088 17,114 15,550

Mother not in labor force 17,116 11,971 11,508

Children in families maintained by women 4,951 3,806 4,205

Mother in labor force 7,039 5,399 5,364

Mother not in labor force 3,839 3,253 4,037

Children in families maintained by men 11,823 0) (1)

2Median not shown where base is less than 

75,000.

See note on table 80.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VII

Additional Characteristics

Data in this section go beyond the 

overview provided by measures of 

labor force participation and 

unemployment to give a better insight 

on working women. For example, 

women work fewer hours than men, 

but when they work overtime, they are 

more likely to receive premium pay. 

And although women are still less likely 

than men to hold second jobs, the 

proportion of “ moonlighters” among 

women nearly doubled during the 

1970’s.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 84.

Average hours worked

by nonfarm wage and

salary workers by sex

and occupation,

May 1979

All schedules Full-time schedules

Sex and occupation Number of

workers

(thousands)

Average

weekly

hours

Number of

workers

(thousands)

Average

weekly

hours

WOMEN

White collar, total 23,232 35.5 16,446 40.3

Professional-technical 6,017 36.9 4,482 41.3

Managerial 2,045 40.6 1,727 42.9

Sales 2,105 29.7 1,003 40.0

Clerical 13,065 34.9 9,235 39.3

Blue collar, total 5,296 36.7 3,952 39.7

Craft 636 38.5 508 41.3

Operatives 4,184 37.0 3,171 39.5

Nonfarm laborers 476 32.6 274 39.0

Service 6,925 29.3 3,184 39.8

MEN

White collar, total 19,748 43.7 17,666 45.4

Professional-technical 7,511 43.4 6,771 44.7

Managerial 6,294 47.1 5,976 47.7

Sales 2,746 42.5 2,328 45.6

Clerical 3,197 38.8 2,591 41.9

Blue collar, total 23,000 40.7 19,274 43.0

Craft 10,248 41.8 9,045 43.1

Operatives 8,903 41.8 7,649 43.7

Nonfarm laborers 3,850 35.1 2,579 41.1

Service 4,417 36.7 3,030 43.8

Table 85.

Days usually worked by

nonfarm wage and

salary workers by sex

and full- or part-time

status,

May 1979

Days worked

Days usually

worked

Usually worked

full time

Usually worked

part time

Total Women Men Women Men Women Men

Total reporting days (in thousands) 82,109 35,207 46,902 25,245 42,467 9,962 4,435

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Less than five days 11.9 18.2 7.1 2.2 2.2 58.7 54.2

Three days or less 7.2 11.5 4.0 .2 .4 40.3 38.2

Four days 4.1 5.9 2.8 1.2 1.4 17.7 15.4

Four and a half days .5 .8 .3 .8 .3 .7 .5

Five days or more 88.1 81.8 92.9 97.8 97.8 41.3 45.8

Five days 75.3 75.3 75.3 90.4 79.4 37.2 36.1

Five and a half days 3.0 1.3 4.2 1.7 4.6 .3 .7

Six days 8.1 4.3 11.0 4.7 11.4 3.2 7.1

Seven days 1.7 .9 2.4 1.0 2.4 .5 2.1

Average (mean) days 4.90 4.70 5.04 5.06 5.16 3.80 3.93

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 86.

Shift worked by

nonfarm wage and

salary workers who

usually work full time

by sex and marital

status,

May 1979

Total Percent distribution

Sex and marital status reporting

(thousands) Total Day Evening Night Other

Women, total 22,277 100.0 87.4 7.0 2.5 3.0

Married, husband present 12,199 100.0 89.2 5.7 2.5 2.6

Never married 5,234 100.0 85.5 8.7 2.3 3.6

Other marital status 4,844 100.0 85.0 8.5 3.1 3.4

Men, total 38,273 100.0 81.7 8.8 4.0 5.6

Married, wife present 28,320 100.0 82.5 7.8 3.9 5.7

Never married 7,082 100.0 79.4 11.8 3.8 4.9

Other marital status 2,871 100.0 78.9 10.2 5.1 5.9

88

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 87.

Absence rates for fulltime nonfarm wage and

salary workers by sex

and age,

May 1978

Incidence rate Inactivity rate

Sex and age

Number of (percent of workers absent) (percent of aggregate time lost)

woiKers

(thousands) _ . . Illness Miscellaneous

To,al and injury reasons

_ . . Illness Miscellaneous

Total and injury reasons

WOMEN

Total, 16 years and over 22,689 8.6 6.1 3.5 4.3 2.8 1.6

16 to 19 1,114 12.3 6.7 6.2 5.4 2.7 2.7

20 to 24 4,009 8.7 5.0 3.8 4.0 2.2 1.7

25 to 34 6,482 8.9 5.3 3.1 4.5 2.7 1.8

35 to 44 4,341 8.0 4.8 3.2 4.2 2.9 1.3

45 to 54 3,899 7.5 4.9 2.6 3.8 2.8 1.0

55 to 64 2,531 8.9 5.6 3.2 5.0 3.6 1.4

65 and over 314 7.5 4.5 3.0 5.9 3.5 2.4

MEN

Total, 16 years and over 37,464 5.8 3.4 1.9 3.1 2.1 1.0

16 to 19 1,415 7.3 3.9 3.4 3.5 2.0 1.4

20 to 24 5,262 6.9 4.7 2.8 3.6 2.0 1.5

25 to 34 11,117 4.9 2.8 2.1 2.6 1.5 1.1

35 to 44 7,638 4.5 2.9 1.6 2.8 1.9 .9

45 to 54 6,999 5.0 3.7 1.3 3.0 2.5 .5

55 to 64 4,554 5.8 4.1 1.7 4.0 3.0 .9

65 and over 478 7.3 4.7 2.6 4.3 3.5 .8

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 88.

Overtime workers by

usual hours, premium

pay, sex, and marital

status,

May 1979

Total Usually worked 41 hours

Percent Percent

Sex and marital status Number

(thousands) Received

premium

pay

Did not

receive

premium

pay

Number

(thousands) Received

premium

pay

Did not

receive

premium

pay

Women, total 3,986 45.3 54.6 2,182 29.9 70.1

Married husband present 2,059 45.9 54.0 1,135 30.0 70.0

Never married 944 43.2 56.8 514 29.4 70.6

Separated 197 45.7 54.3 104 29.8 70.2

Widowed and divorced 789 46.1 53.9 430 30.5 69.5

Men, total 14,778 41.9 58.1 10,713 32.7 67.3

Married wife present 11,300 40.6 59.4 8,249 31.1 68.9

Never married 2,283 46.6 53.4 1,595 38.6 61.4

Separated 365 47.7 52.3 260 40.0 60.0

Widowed and divorced 830 44.5 55.5 609 35.3 64.7

Usually worked less than 41 hours

Percent

Number

(thousands) Received

premium

pay

Did not

receive

premium

pay

Women, total 1,805 64.0 36.0

Married husband present 924 65.7 34.3

Never married 429 59.7 40.3

Separated 93 63.4 36.6

Widowed and divorced 359 64.9 35.1

Men, total 4,066 66.2 33.8

Married wife present 3,052 56.2 33.8

Never married 688 65.0 35.0

Separated 105 66.7 33.3

Widowed and divorced 221 69.7 30.3

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 89.

Number and percent of

full-time wage and

salary workers who

worked long weeks and

received premium pay

by selected

characteristics,

May 1979

Worked 41 hours or more Received premium pay

Characteristic Number

(thousands)

Percent of

full-time

workers

Number

(thousands)

Percent of those

who worked 41

hours or more

WOMEN 3,986 15.0 1,807 45.3

Age:

16 to 19 134 11.0 78 58.2

20 to 24 701 15.1 408 58.2

25 to 54 2,708 15.6 1,163 42.9

55 and over 443 13.6 159 35.9

Race:

White 3,616 15.9 1,621 44.8

Black and other 371 9.6 186 50.1

Marital status:

Never married 944 15.1 408 43.2

Married, spouse present 2,059 14.2 947 46.0

Other1 985 17.1 453 46.0

Union status:

Union2 711 11.3 354 49.8

Other 3,276 16.2 1,453 44.4

MEN 14,778 32.7 6,191 41.9

Age:

16 to 19 420 24.5 244 58.1

20 to 24 1,994 31.6 1,127 56.5

25 to 54 10,666 34.4 4,254 39.9

55 and over 1,696 27.6 565 33.3

Race:

White 13,761 34.2 5,642 41.0

Black and other 1,017 20.7 549 54.0

Marital status:

Never married 2,283 25.8 1,063 46.6

Married, spouse present 11,300 34.5 4,585 40.6

Other1 1,195 33.2 543 45.4

Union status:

Union2 3,674 23.5 2,674 72.8

Other 11,105 37.6 3,518 31.7

'Includes separated, divorced and widowed association similar to a union, or whose 

persons. job is covered by a union or employee

2Data include workers who either are association contract,

members of a labor union or an employee

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 90. (Percent distribution)

Length of time on

current job by sex,

January 1978

Length of time on job Women Men

Total 100.0 100.0

1 year or less 32.5 25.2

Over 1 to 2 years 13.6 10.4

Over 2 to 5 years 21.8 19.0

Over 5 to 10 years 16.4 16.9

Over 10 to 20 years 10.9 15.7

Over 20 years 4.7 12.9

Median number of years on current job 2.6 years 4.5 years

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 91.

Occupational mobility

of employed persons

between January 1977

and January 1978 by

age, sex, race, and

Hispanic origin,

January 1978

Total employed Status in January 1977

Occupational

Characteristic mobility in January 1978 Not in

Number Percent

Sarna

occupation

uinerem

occupation Unemployed labor

force

rate1

WOMEN

Total, 18 years old and

over, not in school 35,447 100.0 74.1 9.8 4.4 11.8 11.7

18 and 19 1,613 100.0 33.4 23.0 8.5 35.1 40.8

20 to 24 5,535 100.0 58.4 17.1 7.2 17.4 22.6

25 to 34 9,438 100.0 70.4 11.8 4.8 13.0 14.4

35 to 44 7,021 100.0 77.7 8.0 3.5 10.8 9.3

45 to 54 6,457 100.0 85.9 4.6 3.5 5.9 5.1

55 to 64 4,285 100.0 90.1 3.4 1.7 4.8 3.6

65 and over 1,098 100.0 89.5 2.3 .9 7.4 2.5

White 30,897 100.0 73.6 10.3 4.0 12.1 12.2

Black 3,886 100.0 78.4 6.3 6.4 8.8 7.5

Hispanic origin 

MEN

1.445 100.0 69.2 9.1 6.5 15.2 11.6

Total, 18 years old and

over, not in school 51,117 100.0 80.9 10.5 4.5 4.1 11.5

18 and 19 1,782 100.0 33.5 26.4 11.1 29.0 44.1

20 to 24 6,415 100.0 57.5 21.9 9.9 10.7 27.8

25 to 34 14,140 100.0 78.1 14.3 4.8 2.8 15.5

35 to 44 10,473 100.0 87.7 7.7 3.2 1.4 8.1

45 to 54 9,838 100.0 91.5 4.3 2.9 1.3 4.5

55 to 64 6,702 100.0 92.5 3.3 2.2 2.1 3.4

65 and over 1,767 100.0 90.8 1.8 1.9 5.5 2.0

White 45,944 100.0 81.2 10.7 4.1 4.0 11.6

Black 4,371 100.0 77.8 9.2 8.7 4.4 10.6

Hispanic origin 2,384 100.0 77.8 10.9 6.2 5.1 12.2

’Percent of persons employed in both 

January 1977 and January 1978 who had 

a different occupation in January 1978 

than in January 1977.

Digitized 

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 92.

Multiple jobholding

rates of employed

women and men and

main reason for

working at more than

one job,

May 1979

Item Women Men

Number of persons with more

than one job (thousands) 1,407 3,317

Multiple jobholders as percent

of total employed 3.5 5.9

MAIN REASON FOR WORKING

AT MORE THAN ONE JOB

All reasons: Percent 100.0 100.0

Meet regular expenses 34.3 28.8

Pay off debts 7.7 6.3

Save for the future 5.9 11.0

Get experience 7.1 8.8

Help friend or relative 6.4 5.6

Buy something special 9.6 7.8

Enjoy the work 16.0 19.1

Other reasons 13.0 12.6

Table 93.

Membership of women

in national unions and

employee associations,

selected years,

1960-78

Year

Number of

women members

(thousands)

Percent of total

membership

Unions and associations:

1970 5,398 23.9

1972 5,736 24.9

1974 6,038 25.0

1976 6,438 26.7

1978 6,696 27.5

Unions:

1960 3,304 18.3

1962 3,272 18.6

1964 3,413 19.0

1966 3,689 19.3

1968 3,940 19.5

1970 4,282 20.7

1972 4,524 21.7

1974 4,600 21.3

1976 4,648 22.0

1978 5,106 23.5

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 94.

Employment status of

women, by State,

annual averages, 1978

(Numbers in thousands)

State

Civilian

noninstitutional

population

Civilian labor force

Number Participation

rate

Unemployed

unpiuyeu "

Number Rate

Alabama 1,408 630 44.7 576 54 8.5

Alaska 125 78 62.4 70 7 9.0

Arizona 874 408 46.7 383 25 6.1

Arkansas 852 396 46.5 363 33 8.3

Cal fornia 8,549 4,464 52.2 4,108 357 8.0

Colorado 994 535 53.8 499 35 6.6

Connecticut 1,215 647 53.3 604 43 6.7

Delaware 224 112 50.0 102 11 9.5

District of Columbia 273 164 60.1 152 12 7.5

Florida 3,471 1,581 45.5 1,455 127 8.0

Georgia 1,935 1,008 52.1 934 74 7.3

Hawaii 312 179 57.4 165 14 7.6

Idaho 314 163 51.9 152 10 6.4

Illinois 4,318 2,203 51.0 2,047 156 7.1

Indiana 2,036 1,067 52.4 988 79 7.4

Iowa 1,105 583 52.8 559 25 4.2

Kansas 909 499 54.9 480 19 3.7

Kentucky 1,323 628 47.5 584 43 6.9

Louisiana 1,459 629 43.1 572 57 9.1

Maine 410 193 47.1 179 13 6.8

Maryland 1,601 856 53.5 797 60 7.0

Massachusetts 2,296 1,219 53.1 1,141 79 6.5

Michigan 3,461 1,699 49.1 1,553 146 8.6

Minnesota 1,490 829 55.6 790 40 4.8

Mississippi 896 422 47.1 377 45 10.7

Missouri 1,911 968 50.7 907 61 6.3

Montana 282 145 51.4 134 10 7.3

Nebraska 607 342 56.3 330 11 3.3

Nevada 235 134 57.0 126 7 5.6

New Hampshire 327 181 55.4 172 8 4.6

New Jersey 2,902 1,435 49.4 1,312 123 8.6

New Mexico 440 215 48.9 200 15 6.8

New York 7,132 3,283 46.0 3,014 268 8.2

North Carolina 2,132 1,184 55.5 1,116 68 5.8

North Dakota 234 112 47.9 106 6 5.1

Ohio 4,152 2,030 48.9 1,905 126 6.2

Oklahoma 1,111 524 47.2 500 24 4.6

Oregon 920 483 52.5 450 32 6.7

Pennsylvania 4,713 2,122 45.0 1,952 170 8.0

Rhode Island 373 184 49.3 173 11 5.9

South Carolina 1,089 575 52.8 532 44 7.6

South Dakota 256 135 52.7 130 5 4.0

Tennessee 1,699 818 48.1 758 59 7.3

Texas 4,776 2,441 51.1 2,284 156 6.4

Utah 446 212 47.5 203 9 4.2

Vermont 183 102 55.7 94 7 7.1

Virginia 1,940 1,047 54.0 976 71 6.7

Washington 1,420 722 50.8 665 57 7.9

West Virginia 712 252 35.4 232 20 7.9

Wisconsin 1,781 967 54.3 906 61 6.3

Wyoming 149 82 55.0 78 3 4.2

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 95.

Occupational

distribution of

employed women by

State, annual averages,

1978

(Percent distribution)

White-collar workers

State

Total

Professional

and

technical

Managers

and administrators

except farm

Sales

workers

Clerical

workers

Alabama 59.6 14.8 6.5 6.2 32.1

Alaska 71.7 19.0 7.8 6.7 38.1

Arizona 68.4 16.6 6.2 9.1 36.5

Arkansas 52.8 12.1 6.2 6.3 28.3

California 69.2 15.7 8.2 7.6 37.7

Colorado 66.6 14.0 8.2 8.2 36.3

Connecticut 68.1 19.4 5.2 8.4 35.1

Delaware 67.5 16.6 6.8 6.7 37.4

District of Columbia 74.3 21.6 5.7 3.6 43.4

Florida 64.3 12.4 7.2 8.3 36.5

Georgia 61.3 15.2 5.5 5.3 35.2

Hawaii 64.0 14.1 6.6 8.2 35.1

Idaho 62.5 14.8 5.4 8.8 33.4

Illinois 65.8 16.3 6.1 6.6 36.8

Indiana 54.3 13.8 4.4 6.1 30.0

Iowa 55.5 15.0 4.3 6.5 29.7

Kansas 60.0 14.2 5.8 6.7 33.3

Kentucky 57.1 15.3 3.9 6.6 31.2

Louisiana 67.2 17.0 7.0 7.5 35.7

Maine 56.0 16.8 6.1 5.6 27.4

Maryland 72.6 19.3 5.7 6.7 40.9

Massachusetts 64.6 18.7 4.7 6.0 35.1

Michigan 60.5 14.3 5.1 6.7 34.4

Minnesota 61.8 15.9 6.6 7.8 31.6

Mississippi 50.7 12.7 5.5 5.7 26.7

Missouri 60.7 16.1 5.7 7.1 31.8

Montana 62.2 14.2 7.8 8.7 31.5

Nebraska 59.9 15.1 6.1 7.6 31.1

Nevada 60.3 12.8 7.4 7.0 33.1

New Hampshire 60.4 13.9 5.4 6.9 34.2

New Jersey 66.9 18.0 5.8 6.8 36.3

New Mexico 67.3 17.6 6.9 8.1 34.8

New York 68.3 17.9 6.1 6.2 38.1

North Carolina 50.7 13.5 5.1 4.1 28.0

North Dakota 58.4 15.0 6.1 6.2 31.0

Ohio 62.3 15.6 5.4 7.8 33.5

Oklahoma 65.4 14.9 6.5 8.2 35.9

Oregon 62.7 13.2 7.0 7.9 34.5

Pennsylvania 60.7 15.1 5.3 6.7 33.6

Rhode Island 53.5 14.5 4.0 5.6 29.3

South Carolina 54.4 12.5 4.2 5.7 31.9

South Dakota 55.2 15.1 5.0 7.7 27.4

Tennessee 51.5 13.5 4.5 5.7 27.7

Texas 65.3 15.2 6.2 7.1 36.7

Utah 63.2 15.9 6.0 5.9 35.3

Vermont 61.9 18.5 6.1 8.0 29.3

Virginia 64.8 17.1 6.7 6.0 35.0

Washington 66.1 16.6 7.4 7.1 35.1

West Virginia 61.9 15.4 6.3 4.9 35.2

Wisconsin 59.4 14.5 5.9 7.4 31.6

Wyoming 61.6 12.9 6.9 8.2 33.7

See footnote at end of table.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(Percent distribution) Table 95.

Continued. Blue-collar workers

Service Farm

workers workers State

Total

Craft

and

kindred

workers

Operatives,

except

transport

Nonfarm

laborers

Alabama 16.8 1.8 12.8 1.5 22.8 (D

Alaska 7.6 1.2 2.7 3.0 20.6 (1)

Arizona 10.5 1.8 7.1 1.0 20.8 (1)

Arkansas 22.9 2.6 17.9 2.1 21.6 2.7

California 12.0 1.8 8.5 1.2 17.9 (1)

Colorado 10.3 2.0 6.2 1.4 21.6 1.5

Connecticut 14.4 1.3 11.7 1.3 17.0 (1)

Delaware 11.8 2.2 6.8 1.1 19.7 1.1

District of Columbia 4.0 (D 2.6 (1) 21.7 (1)

Florida 12.0 1.7 8.2 1.1 22.0 1.7

Georgia 18.4 2.3 14.1 1.6 19.3 1.0

Hawaii 9.7 1.5 6.6 (D 23.0 3.3

Idaho 12.6 3.3 7.1 1.6 22.4 2.5

Illinois 14.3 1.7 10.5 1.5 19.3 (1)

Indiana 21.8 2.4 17.0 1.5 21.7 2.1

Iowa 13.0 2.1 8.8 1.2 27.3 4.3

Kansas 12.9 1.9 8.4 1.6 23.8 3.3

Kentucky 16.9 2.1 13.4 (D 22.7 3.2

Louisiana 8.4 1.5 4.9 1.0 23.8 (1)

Maine 19.5 1.3 16.7 1.4 23.3 1.1

Maryland 8.4 1.4 5.0 1.1 18.2 (1)

Massachusetts 17.5 1.6 14.1 1.0 17.8 (1)

Michigan 14.7 1.5 10.9 1.5 23.9 1.0

Minnesota 11.2 1.5 8.1 1.0 24.7 2.3

Mississippi 26.1 2.0 22.2 1.0 21.8 1.4

Missouri 14.1 1.6 10.7 1.4 23.0 2.2

Montana 6.2 1.6 2.7 1.7 26.3 5.3

Nebraska 12.8 2.3 9.0 1.0 23.2 4.1

Nevada 6.2 1.4 3.0 1.0 31.9 1.5

New Hampshire 21.3 2.4 17.2 1.3 17.2 1.1

New Jersey 15.1 1.2 12.5 (1) 17.9 (1)

New Mexico 9.7 1.8 5.0 1.5 21.2 1.7

New York 13.0 1.5 10.1 (1) 18.2 (1)

North Carolina 30.6 2.1 26.5 1.4 16.9 1.8

North Dakota 6.8 1.7 3.8 1.0 29.3 5.6

Ohio 14.9 1.8 11.1 1.3 22.0 0)

Oklahoma 10.7 2.7 6.2 1.1 22.0 1.9

Oregon 10.5 1.6 6.2 1.2 24.9 2.0

Pennsylvania 17.2 1.8 13.5 1.3 21.3 0)

Rhode Island 28.2 2.0 24.6 1.0 18.2 (1)

South Carolina 25.1 1.7 21.4 1.5 19.7 (1)

South Dakota 10.5 2.5 6.3 1.0 26.6 7.8

Tennessee 26.6 2.7 22.3 1.2 21.1 (1)

Texas 12.0 2.0 7.9 1.6 21.5 1.2

Utah 14.7 1.3 11.9 1.1 21.0 1.1

Vermont 12.9 2.0 9.5 1.2 22.4 2.8

Virginia 14.5 1.4 10.5 1.6 19.5 1.2

Washington 11.5 1.8 6.2 2.5 20.5 1.9

West Virginia 13.5 1.4 10.5 1.0 23.7 (1)

Wisconsin 14.7 2.2 10.8 1.0 22.1 3.9

Wyoming 8.6 2.1 4.8 1.3 25.0 4.8

'Less than 500 persons employed or less than 1.0 percent of total employed.

97

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 96.

Percent of employment

and occupational

injuries and illnesses

among women workers

by selected

occupations,

1977

Occupation

Female employment

as percent of

total employment

Occupational injuries

and illnesses

Total

number

Percent accounted

for by women

Total 40.5 1,250,284 21.1

Professional, technical and kindred workers 42.6 43,738 49.3

Registered nurses 96.7 6,564 94.8

Teachers, except college and university 70.9 10,216 62.3

Elementary school teachers 84.2 3,804 76.3

Secondary school teachers 51.2 3,558 45.7

Managers and administrators, except farm 22.3 33,915 22.3

Restaurant, bar managers

Sales managers and department heads,

34.7 3,416 41.8

retail trade 36.2 5,242 26.2

Salesworkers 43.3 22,430 42.3

Sales clerks, retail trade 70.4 2,516 60.0

Clerical and kindred workers 78.9 56,474 55.3

Bookkeepers 90.0 2,133 85.9

Cashiers 87.0 5,393 77.7

Teachers aides 93.4 2,257 87.0

Typists 96.3 1,964 94.1

Craft and kindred workers 5.0 230,306 3.0

Operatives, except transport 39.6 255,123 22.5

Assemblers 50.3 31,312 37.9

Meat cutters, butchers, manufacturing 35.2 9,007 15.5

Packers, wrappers, except retail 63.6 10,322 54.9

Sewers and stitchers 95.2 4,412 90.6

Transport equipment operatives 6.8 87,328 4.7

Bus drivers 42.2 5,366 34.6

Laborers, except farm 9.4 237,161 9.6

Service workers, except private household 58.3 175,556 46.0

Cleaners and charwomen 96.1 7,412 41.5

Janitors and sextons 15.4 26,064 15.5

Cooks 56.3 17,815 44.3

Food counter and fountain workers 85.7 3,449 78.3

Waiters/waitresses 90.4 10,704 90.3

Housekeepers 64.6 2,517 73.4

Private household workers 97.0 469 86.6

Farmers and farm managers 6.4 517 2.5

Farm laborers and foremen 29.4 20,838 11.9

Farm laborers, wage workers 17.0 19,800 12.4

98

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 97.

Percent of employment

and occupational

injuries and illnesses

among women workers,

selected States,

1977

State

.. . . . Injuries and illnesses Female emDlovment 1

as percent of Tota, number Percent

total employment thousands) female workers

Total 40.6 1,250,284 21.1

Alaska 41.8 8,841 14.9

California 41.1 327,868 22.5

Colorado 40.4 33,954 19.9

Connecticut1 42.2 11,441 17.4

Hawaii 44.5 36,603 22.5

Idaho 39.0 38,290 17.9

Indiana 40.2 38,398 21.8

Iowa 40.0 18,510 19.8

Kentucky 39.8 51,015 18.9

Maine 40.5 43,828 21.0

Maryland 40.8 30,551 20.7

Michigan 38.6 70,537 23.0

Minnesota 39.9 50,802 25.0

Missouri 42.4 128,590 20.4

Montana 36.8 32,281 18.0

Nebraska 41.4 35,249 20.6

New Jersey 40.7 84,753 21.8

New Mexico 40.9 4,046 15.4

Oregon 39.9 43,777 21.0

South Dakota 39.4 17,397 21.4

Tennessee 41.6 25,649 19.9

Utah 38.6 20,491 16.6

Vermont 40.3 17,952 21.6

Virgin Islands N.A. 1,531 18.0

Wisconsin 40.5 60,626 21.5

Wyoming 37.6 17,304 10.3

1ln 1977, Connecticut provided injury and 

illness information only for manufacturing 

industries, excluding boat building and 

repair.

N.A. = not available.

99

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VIII

The 1980’s

The United States has begun the 

1980’s facing several severe economic 

problems including inflation, recession, 

and uncertainty concerning the supply 

and price of energy.The economic 

climate which supported the strong 

labor force growth of women in the 

1970’s is changing and already there 

are indications that the growth in 

women’s labor force participation may 

be slowing, perhaps temporarily. 

Between March 1979 and March 1980, 

the number of women in the labor 

force grew by about a million, but their 

labor force participation rate rose by 

only three-tenths of a percentage point. 

Over the same period, the proportion of 

black women in the labor force actually 

fell slightly as did the proportion of 

youth 16 to 24 years old. The labor 

market experience of women in the 

1980’s bears close watching for it may 

differ considerably from their 

experience in the past.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 98.

Summary indicators on

working women by

selected

characteristics,

January-June 1980

(Numbers in thousands; data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated)

Characteristic Janaury

1980

February

1980

March

1980

April

1980

May

1980

June

1980

Population and labor force

Civilian noninstitutional population 85,847 85,952 86,054 86,154 86,258 86,373

Civilian labor force 44,352 44,246 44,052 44,381 44,663 44,416

Labor force participation rates

Women 16 and over 51.7 51.5 51.2 51.5 51.8 51.4

16 to 19 years 54.6 53.6 52.6 51.9 54.1 52.6

20 to 24 years 69.1 68.4 67.5 68.8 69.0 68.4

25 to 54 years 63.6 63.8 63.7 64.1 64.0 64.0

55 years and over 23.1 23.0 22.6 22.9 22.9 22.8

White 51.4 51.2 51.0 51.3 51.4 51.1

Black 53.3 52.8 52.2 52.3 53.7 52.5

Employment status

Employed women, 16 years and over 41,318 41,221 41,054 41,156 41,165 41,079

16 to 19 years 3,743 3,617 3,551 3,553 3,598 3,547

20 to 24 years 6,375 6,368 6,301 6,330 6,281 6,266

25 to 54 years 25,632 25,677 25,704 25,746 25,732 25,720

55 years and over 5,568 5,559 5,488 5,532 5,554 5,546

Unemployed women, 16 years and over 3,034 3,025 2,997 3,225 3,498 3,337

16 to 19 years 731 765 737 689 819 739

20 to 24 years 695 636 616 719 810 759

25 to 54 years 1,410 1,454 1,481 1,626 1,664 1,678

55 years and over 198 169 164 191 205 161

Unemployment rates

Women 16 years and over 6.8 6.8 6.8 7.3 7.8 7.5

16 to 19 years 16.3 17.6 17.3 16.3 18.7 17.3

20 to 24 years 9.8 9.1 9.0 10.2 11.6 10.8

25 to 54 years 5.2 5.4 5.5 6.0 6.1 6.1

55 years and over 3.4 3.0 2.9 3.4 3.6 2.8

White, 16 years and over 6.0 6.1 5.9 6.4 6.9 6.7

Black, 16 years and over 12.6 12.4 13.5 13.8 14.7 13.9

White, 16 to 19 years 13.8 14.5 14.8 14.5 16.7 14.6

Black, 16 to 19 years 39.1 43.0 39.5 35.4 42.0 39.2

Full-time workers (not seasonally adjusted)

Percent of employed women working full time 70.8 71.0 71.2 71.0 70.4 72.3

Percent of unemployed women looking for full-time work 71.4 71.5 70.8 73.7 78.6 80.6

Duration of unemployment (not seasonally adjusted) 

Average (mean) number of weeks unemployed women

have been looking for work 9.7 9.8 10.2 10.9 10.0 8.8

101

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 99.

Family status of

women by selected

characteristics,

January-June 1980

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic January

1980

February

1980

March

1980

April

1980

May

1980

June

1980

Total women 16 years and over in families 71,956 71,939 71,943 71,950 71,890 71,910

Women maintaining families, no husband present:

Population 8,701 8,696 8,551 8,686 8,696 8,744

Labor force participation rate 59.6 58.6 59.2 58.9 58.6 58.0

Unemployment rate 9.0 8.9 8.7 8.6 7.7 8.3

Married women, husband present:

Population 48,301 48,347 48,377 48,210 48,151 48,103

Labor force participation rate 50.1 50.4 50.3 50.2 49.9 48.9

Unemployment rate 5.3 5.4 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.7

All other women in families:

Population 14,954 14,896 15,015 15,054 15,043 15,063

Labor force participation rate 51.7 51.2 50.9 50.9 52.6 58.8

Unemployment rate 12.4 12.3 12.0 11.3 14.1 16.1

Table 100.

Employed women by

occupation, race, and

Hispanic origin,

6-month average,

January-June 1980

Occupation Total White

Black

and

other

Hispanic

Total: Number (in thousands) 40,990 35,833 5,158 1,834

Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

White-collar workers 65.6 67.7 50.6 49.7

Professional-technical 16.9 17.3 14.8 8.9

Managerial-administrative, 

except farm 6.8 7.3 3.5 4.8

Sales 6.6 7.1 2.9 4.9

Clerical 35.2 36.0 29.4 31.1

Blue-collar workers 13.8 13.3 17.4 28.4

Craft 1.8 1.8 1.3 2.2

Operatives, except transport 10.1 ' 9.5 14.1 24.0

Transport equipment operatives .7 .7 .6 .3

Nonfarm laborers 1.3 '1.2 1.4 1.7

Service workers 19.5 17.8 31.4 20.2

Private household 2.5 1.8 6.7 4.4

Other service 17.1 16.0 24.7 15.8

Farm 1.1 1.1 .6 1.7

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Sources of Data

Part 1. Tables:

1 - 9 BLS, Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1978, and Employment and Earnings,

January 1980.

10 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, 1950 and I960, and BLS, 

Employment and Earnings, January 1971 and January 1980.

11 Bureau of the Census, Census of Population “ Characteristics of the 

Population” , Part I, 1950 and 1960, and BLS, Employment and Earnings,

January 1971 and January 1980.

12 BLS, Employment and Earnings, United States, 1909-78, and BLS, Employment

and Earnings, January 1980.

13 BLS, Employment and Earnings, January 1971 and January 1980.

14, 15 BLS, unpublished CPS data and Employment and Earnings, January 1980.

Part II. 16-20 BLS, unpublished data (1960), Special Labor Force Report 141, Work

Experience of the Population in 1970, and unpublished CPS data on Work 

Experience in 1978.

Part III. 21 Bureau of the Census, Census of Population 1950; P-E No. 1A, “ Employment 

and Personal Characteristics,” and P-E No. 20, “ Marital Status” (labor force 

adjusted for ages 16 and over). BLS, Special Labor Force Report 13 

(population and labor force adjusted for ages 16 and over); Special Labor 

Force Report 130 and U.S. Department of Labor, news release 79-747, 

October 31, 1979.

22 - 24 BLS, unpublished March 1979 Marital and Family data.

25 Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States. Colonial Times

to 1970, Bicentennial Edition. For 1970 and later see, U.S. Department of 

Health, Education, and Welfare, National Center for Health Statistics (HRA) 

77-1120, Advance Report, Final Natality Statistics 1975, and U.S. Department 

of Health,Education and Welfare, National Center for Health Statistics, PHS 

79-1120, Vol. 27, No. 13, Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths for 1978.

26 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, No. 282, 

“ Households and Families by Type: March 1975, Advance Report” and BLS, 

Special Labor Force Reports 13, 64, 130, 144, 153, 164, 173, 183, 206, 216, 

and 219 and unpublished March 1979 Marital and Family data.

27 BLS, U.S. Department of Labor news release 79-747, October 31, 1979.

28 BLS, unpublished March 1979 Marital and Family CPS data.

29 Special Labor Force Report No. 192, Women Who Head Families and BLS, 

unpublished 1978 and 1979 Marital and Family CPS data.

30 - 33 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data.

34 BLS, U.S. Department of Labor news release 79-747, October 31, 1979.

35, 36 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part IV. Tables:

37 - 42 BLS, unpublished CPS School-Age Youth data.

43 - 46 BLS, unpublished CPS Educational Attainment data.

47 BLS, U.S. Department of Labor news release, 80-87, February 14, 1980.

Part V. 48 49 BLS, U.S. Department of Labor news release, 80-188, March 27, 1980 and 

BLS, unpublished CPS Earnings data.

50, 51 BLS, unpublished CPS Earnings data.

52 - 54 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, “ Consumer 

Income".

55-61 BLS, unpublished Marital and Family CPS data.

62 - 64 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, “ Consumer 

Income” .

Part VI. 65 BLS, Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1978 - and Employment and Earnings,

January 1980.

66, 67 BLS, unpublished CPS annual average data.

68 - 70 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data.

71, 72 BLS, unpublished CPS Educational Attainment data.

73 BLS, unpublished CPS Work Experience data.

74 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data. (1970 data for Hispanics — 

Bureau of the Census, Census of the Population, 1970, PC(2)-1C, “ Persons of 

Spanish Origin” .

75 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital andFamily data.

76 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, “ Consumer 

Income” .

77 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data.

78 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, “ Consumer 

Income” .

79 - 81 BLS, unpublished Marital and Family CPS data.

82 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, “ Consumer

Income” .

83 BLS, unpublished CPS Marital and Family data.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VII Tables:

84 BLS, Monthly Labor Review, March 1980, “ Recent Trends in Worktime.”

85 BLS, unpublished CPS Days Worked data.

86 BLS, unpublished CPS Shift Worked data.

87 BLS, unpublished CPS Absence from Work data.

88, 89 BLS, unpublished CPS Long Hours and Premium Pay data.

90 BLS, unpublished CPS Job Tenure data.

91 BLS, U.S. Department of Labor news release 79-91, February 5, 1979.

92 BLS, unpublished CPS Multiple Jobholding data.

93 BLS, Directory of National Unions & Employee Associations, 1979

94, 95 BLS, Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment: States, 1978,

Metropolitan Areas, 1977-78, Report 571.

96, 97 BLS, Office of Occupational Safety & Health, Division of Record Requirements 

and Information.

Part VIII. 98, 99 BLS, Employment in Perspective: Working Women, 1st and 2nd Q 1980. 

100 BLS, Employment and Earnings, January-June 1980.

105

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significant court decisions in labor cases, ml/* offers thoughtful reviews and timely 

listings of current books in the fields of economics and social sciences.

For a 1-year subscription to the Monthly Labor Review,

published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

U.S. Department of Labor, 

send $18 to:

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Bureau of Labor Statistics

Regional Offices

Region I

1603 JFK Federal Building 

Government Center 

Boston, Mass. 02203 

Phone: (617) 223-6761

Region II

Suite 3400 

1515 Broadway 

New York, N.Y. 10036 

Phone: (212) 944-3121

Region III

3535 Market Street 

P.O. Box 13309 

Philadelphia, Pa. 19101 

Phone: (215) 596-1154

Region IV

1371 Peachtree Street, N.E. 

Atlanta, Ga. 30367 

Phone: (404) 881-4418

Region V

9th Floor

Federal Office Building 

230 S. Dearborn Street 

Chicago, III. 60604 

Phone: (312) 353-1880

Region VI

Second Floor

'555 G riffin Square Building 

Dallas, Tex. 75202 

Phone: (214) 767-6971

Regions VII and VIII

911 W alnut Street 

Kansas City, Mo. 64106 

Phone: (816) 374-2481

Regions IX and X

450 Golden Gate Avenue 

Box 36017

San Francisco, Calif. 94102 

Phone: (415) 556-4678

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