Women in the Labor Force: 

A Databook

Introduction

Highlights

The past several decades have been marked by notable changes in women’s labor force activities compared to men’s, including increased labor force participation, employment growth in higher paying occupations, 

and gains in real earnings. In 1970, about 43 percent of

women aged 16 and older were in the labor force; by the late

1990s, the labor force participation rate of women had risen

to 60 percent. Though still well above the rates that prevailed 

throughout the 1970s, the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, t

participation rate for women has receded slightly since 1999,

to 59.4 percent in 2006. As women’s labor force participation has increased, so has their employment in higher paying 

occupations. In 2006, half of all workers in management, 

professional, and related occupations were women. Women’s 

earnings relative to men’s also were substantially higher in 

2006 than in previous decades. In 1979, among full-time

workers, women’s earnings were approximately 62 percent 

of men’s; by 2006, the ratio had grown to about 81 percent.

The increased movement of women into the labor force and 

into higher paying occupations has gone hand in hand with 

their pursuit of higher education. For example, in 1970, just

over one-tenth of 25- to 64-year-old women in the labor 

force had completed 4 or more years of college; by 2006, 

one-third held at least a bachelor’s degree. 

This report presents historical and current labor force 

and earnings data for women and men from the Current 

Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a national monthly 

survey of approximately 60,000 households conducted by the 

U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Unless otherwise noted, data are annual averages from the 

CPS. Users should note that the comparisons of earnings in 

this report are on a broad level and do not control for many 

factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences. For a detailed description of the source of the data 

and an explanation of concepts and definitions used, see the 

Technical Note at the end of this report. 

• In 2006, approximately 59 percent of women were in the 

labor force. The unemployment rate for women declined 

to 4.6 percent in 2006, down half a percentage point from 

a year earlier. Although higher than its most recent low 

of 4.1 percent in 2000, the unemployment rate in 2006

was low by historical standards. Unemployment rates for 

women varied among the major race and Hispanic ethnicity groups in 2006. Asian women had the lowest rate (3.

percent), followed by white (4.0 percent), Hispanic (5.9 

percent), and black women (8.4 percent). (See tables 1,

2, and 3.) 

• Since the early 1980s, women’s and men’s unemployment

rates have been roughly similar. In 2000, the jobless rates 

for women and men were at 30-year lows—4.1 and 3.9

percent, respectively. The rates rose from 2000 to 2003 

but have declined each year since. The unemployment 

rates for women and men were the same in 2006 (4.6 

percent). (See table 2.) 

• From 1975 to 2000, the labor force participation rate

of mothers with children under age 18 rose from 47 to

73 percent. By 2004, the rate had receded to about 7

percent, where it remained through 2006. In general, 

mothers with older children (6 to 17 years of age, none

younger) are more likely to participate in the labor force 

than mothers with younger children (under 6 years of age). 

Unmarried mothers have higher participation rates than 

married mothers, 76.4 versus 68.4 percent, respectively. 

(See tables 6 and 7.) (Data are from the Annual Social 

and Economic Supplement to the CPS.) 

• The educational attainment of women in the labor force 

aged 25 to 64 rose substantially from 1970 to 2006.

One-third of these women held college degrees in 2006, 

compared with about one-tenth in 1970. Only about 8

percent of women were high school dropouts in 2006, 

down from 34 percent in 1970. (See table 9.)

• In 2006, women accounted for 50.6 percent of all persons employed in management, professional, and related 

occupations, somewhat more than their share of all employed workers (46.3 percent). The share of women in 

specific occupations within this broad category varied. 

For example, 7 percent of engineering managers and 33 

percent of lawyers were women. In contrast, 91 percent

of registered nurses and 83 percent of social workers were 

women. (See table 11
• Employed Asian women were more likely to work in the 

higher paying (on average) management, professional, 

and related occupations than employed white, black, or 

Hispanic women (about 46 percent compared with 39, 31,

and 22 percent, respectively). Hispanic and black women 

were more likely than white and Asian women to work 

in service occupations (31 and 27 percent for Hispanic

and black women, respectively, compared to 19 percent

for both Asian and white women). (See table 12.)

• By industry, women accounted for more than half of all 

workers within financial activities, education and health 

services, and leisure and hospitality in 2006. However, 

women were substantially underrepresented (relative to 

their share of total employment) in mining, construction, 

manufacturing, and transportation and utilities. (See table 

14.)

• Women who worked full time in 2006 had median 

weekly earnings of $600. This was 80.8 percent of the 

$743 median weekly earnings of men. Earnings of Asian 

and white women ($699 and $609, respectively) were 

higher than the earnings of their black and Hispanic 

counterparts ($519 and $440, respectively). Within race

groups, women’s-to-men’s earnings ratios were higher 

among black and Hispanic women (87.8 and 87.1 percent,

respectively) than among white and Asian women (80.0 

and 79.3 percent, respectively). (See table 16.)

• In 2006, female college graduates aged 25 and older 

who worked full time earned about 81 percent more than

women with only a high school diploma. This difference 

in earnings by education has increased sharply since 1979,

when female college graduates earned 43 percent more 

than female high school graduates. (See table 17.)

• In 2006, approximately one-fourth of employed women 

usually worked part time—fewer than 35 hours a week. 

Comparatively, only about one-tenth of employed men 

usually worked part time. For the past 10 years, the proportions of both employed women and men who usually

work part time has been relatively stable. (See table 

20.) 

• Women in nonagricultural industries worked an average 

of 36.2 hours per week in 2006. The average workweek 

for women has increased by about 2 hours since 1976.

Men’s average workweek (41.7 hours) remained relatively

unchanged over the same period. (See table 21.

• Of all women who worked at some point during calendar year 2005, 6 in 10 worked full time and year round,

compared with about 4 in 10 in 1970. During the sam

35-year period, the proportion of men who worked full 

time and year round grew from 66 to 74 percent. (See 

table 22.) (These data were collected in the Annual Social 

and Economic Supplement to the CPS and refer to work 

experience during the prior calendar year.) 

• Both the wife and husband had earnings from work in 

57 percent of married-couple families in 2005, up from 

44 percent in 1967. Couples in which only the husband

worked represented 18 percent of married-couple families

in 2005, compared with 36 percent in 1967. (See table

23.) (These data were collected in the Annual Social and 

Economic Supplement to the CPS and reflect earnings 

and work experience of the prior calendar year.) 

• In 2005, working wives’ contributions to family income 

accounted for 35 percent (median) of their families’ 

incomes, up by about 8 percentage points from 1970,

when wives’ earnings accounted for 27 percent of their 

families’ total incomes. The proportion of wives earning 

more than their husbands also has grown. In 1987, 1

percent of working wives whose husbands also worked 

earned more than their spouses; in 2005, the proportion 

was 26 percent. (See tables 24 and 25.) (These data were 

collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement 

to the CPS and reflect earnings and work experience of 

the prior calendar year.) 

• In 2006, about 1.1 million women workers paid at a

hourly rate had earnings at or below the prevailing Federal 

minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. This was about 3 percent

of all women paid at an hourly rate. About half of these 

women were aged 16 to 24. Among workers aged 25

years and older who were paid hourly rates, 1.8 percent

of women had earnings at or below the minimum wage, 

twice the rate for men. (See table 26.) 

• Among workers who were in the labor force for at least 

27 weeks in 2005, women were slightly more likely than 

men to live in poverty—6.1 percent versus 4.8 percent,

respectively. Of these women, blacks and Hispanics were 

more than twice as likely as whites and Asians to live 

below the poverty level. Poverty rates for women in the 

labor force 27 weeks or more generally decline with age: 

roughly  in 10 such women aged 16 to 24 lived bel

the poverty level in 2005, compared with about  in 30

such women aged 45 and older. (See table 27.) (Data are 

from the 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement 

to the CPS and reflect earnings and work experience of 

the prior calendar year.) 

• About 15 percent of both women and men reported working at home at least once per week as part of their main

job in May 2004. Working at home was more common for 

parents than for nonparents. Women were slightly more 

likely than men to have a formal arrangement with their 

employer to be paid for the work they did at home than 

were men. While self-employment was fairly common 

among those who worked at home, women who worked at 
home were less likely to be self-employed than were their 

male counterparts; about 29 percent of women working at 

home were self-employed versus 38 percent of men. (See 

table 31.) (Data are from the May 2004 Work Schedules

supplement to the CPS.) 

• About 1.7 million women and 2.1 million men were displaced from a job between January 2003 and Decembe

2005. Women who were displaced were roughly twice as 

likely as men to have been out of the labor force at the 

time of the survey in January 2006 (21 percent versus 1

percent). (See table 32.) (Data are from the January 2006 

Displaced Worker supplement to the CPS.) 

• Among 2006 high school graduates, young women and 

young men were about equally likely to be enrolled in 

college in October (66.0 and 65.5 percent, respectively). 

(See table 33.) (Data are from the October 2006 School 

Enrollment supplement to the CPS.)

• About 45 percent of women aged 16 to 24 who were

enrolled in either high school or college in October 2006 

were in the labor force. Men enrolled in school had a 

slightly lower labor force participation rate (41.1 percent)

Among those not enrolled in school, women were less 

likely to be in the labor force than men (75.1 versus 87.9

percent). (See table 34.) (Data are from the October 2005 

School Enrollment supplement to the CPS.)

• Among 16-to-24-year-old women who were not enrolled

in school, those who did not have a high school diploma 

were significantly less likely to participate in the labor 

force than those who had a high school diploma only 

(52.9 versus 72.9 percent). The high school dropouts also 

were twice as likely to be unemployed (25.9 versus 12.5

percent). (See table 34.) (Data are from the October 2005 

School Enrollment supplement to the CPS.)

• During the last 5 years, the multiple jobholding rate for 

women has hovered around 5.5 percent. The multiple 

jobholding rate for men has been slightly lower, holding 

at roughly 5.0 percent. (See table 35.) (Data were collected in the May CPS.) 

• Over the past 30 years, the percentage of working women 

who were self-employed has increased slightly (from 

4.4 percent in 1976 to 5.5 percent in 2006), while the

percentage of employed men who were self-employed 

has edged down (from 8.4 percent in 1976 to 7.9 percent

in 2006). In 2006, about 38 percent of all self-employed 

persons were women compared with only 27 percent in 

1976. (See table 36.)

• In 2006, foreign-born women were less likely to be in 

the labor force than native-born women (55.3 versus 60.0 

percent, respectively). Of those in the labor force, foreignborn and native-born women were about equally likely 

to be unemployed (4.7 and 4.6 percent, respectively). 

Among men, foreign-born men were more likely to be 

in the labor force than native-born men (81.7 percent

versus 72.0 percent, respectively) and less likely to be 

unemployed (3.5 percent versus 4.8 percent). (See table 

37.) 

• About 12 percent of female wage and salary workers

were represented by unions in 2006, compared with about 

14 percent of men. Union attachment for both sexes has

fallen since 1983, when unions represented 18 percent o

female wage and salary workers and nearly 28 percent of 

men. (See table 38.)