1

Women in the Labor Force:

A Databook

Introduction

The past several decades have been marked by

several notable changes in women’s labor force

activities compared to men’s, including rising labor

force participation, employment growth in higher-paying

occupations, and earnings increases. In 1970, about 43

percent of women age 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 it is still well above the

rates that prevailed throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and much

of the 1990s, the rate has receded slightly since 1999, to 59.3

percent in 2005. During the past several decades, women

were increasingly employed in higher-paying occupations.

In 2005, more than half of all the workers in management,

professional, and related occupations were women. Women’s

earnings relative to men’s also were substantially higher in

2005 than in previous decades. In 1979, among full-time

workers, women’s earnings were 62 percent of men’s; by

2005 the ratio had grown to 81 percent. The 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, about one-tenth of

women age 25 to 64 in the labor force had completed 4 or

more years of college; by 2005, 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 Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unless otherwise noted, data are annual averages from the

CPS. 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.

Highlights

• In 2005, just over 59 percent of women age 16 and

over were in the labor force. Their unemployment

rate declined to 5.1 percent in 2005 compared with

5.4 percent a year earlier. Although still a

percentage point higher than it was in 2000, the

unemployment rate for women remained low by

historical standards. The unemployment rates for

white and Asian women were much lower than

those of their black and Hispanic counterparts. (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 4.1

and 3.9 percent, respectively, and were at 30-year

lows. The rates rose from 2000 to 2003, but then

declined in the next 2 years. The unemployment

rates for women and men were equal in 2005 at 5.1

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 2005, the rate had receded slightly

to about 71 percent. In general, mothers with older

children (6 to 17 years of age) are more likely to

participate in the labor force than are mothers of

younger children (under 6 years of age). Unmarried

mothers have higher participation rates than married

mothers. (See tables 6 and 7.)

• The educational attainment level of working women

age 25 to 64 rose substantially from 1970 to 2005.

About 3 in 10 women in the labor force held college

degrees in 2005, compared with about 1 in 10 in

1970. About 8 percent of women in the labor force

in 2005 were high school dropouts, compared with

34 percent in 1970. (See table 9.)

• In 2005, half of all persons employed in

management, professional, and related occupations

were women. The share of women in specific

occupations within this broad category varied. For

example, 6 percent of mechanical engineers and 32

percent of physicians and surgeons were women.

In contrast, 95 percent of dietitians and 86 percent

of paralegals and legal assistants were women. (See

table 11.)

• Employed Asian women were more likely than

employed white, black, and Hispanic women to work

in management, professional, and related

occupations (about 45 percent compared with 39,
2

30, and 22 percent, respectively). Hispanic and

black women (31 and 27 percent, respectively) were

more likely than white and Asian women (19 and 18

percent, respectively) to work in service

occupations. (See table 12.)

• By industry, in 2005, women accounted for more

than half of all workers within financial activities,

education and health services, and leisure and

hospitality. 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 2005 had median

weekly earnings of $585. Asian and white women

earned more than their black and Hispanic

counterparts ($665 and $596 compared with $499

and $429, respectively). In 2005, women’s median

weekly earnings were 81 percent of men’s.

Women’s-to-men’s earnings ratios were higher

among black and Hispanic women (89 and 88

percent, respectively) than among white and Asian

women (80 and 81 percent, respectively). (See table

16.) (Users should note that the comparisons of

earnings in the report are made on a broad level

and do not control for many factors that can be

significant in explaining earnings differences.)

• In 2005, female college graduates age 25 and over

earned about 79 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.

Female college graduates who were full-time wage

and salary workers had median weekly earnings

that were 76 percent of those of their male

counterparts in 2005, $883 versus $1,167. (See table

17.)

• In 2005, approximately 25 percent of employed

women usually worked part time—fewer than 35

hours a week. Comparatively, only about 11 percent

of employed men usually worked part time. Since

1994, the proportion of employed women and men

who usually work part time has remained little

changed. (See table 20.)

• From 1976 to 2005, the average workweek of women

in nonagricultural industries increased by about 2

hours to 36.1 hours. Men’s average workweek

remained relatively unchanged over the same

period and was 41.7 hours in 2005. (See table 21.)

• Of all women who worked at some point during

calendar year 2004, nearly 6 in 10 worked full time

and year round, compared with about 4 in 10 in

1970. During the same 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 2005 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 2004, up

from 44 percent in 1967. (See table 23.) These data

also were collected in the 2005 Annual Social and

Economic Supplement to the CPS and reflect

earnings and work experience of the prior calendar

year.

• In 2004, working wives’ contributions to family

income accounted for 35 percent (median) of their

families’ incomes, up by 8 percentage points from

1970, when wives’ earnings accounted for 27

percent of the family total. The proportion of wives

earning more than their husbands also has grown.

In 1987, the first year data became available for

wives’ earnings compared to their husbands’, 18

percent of working wives whose husbands also

worked earned more than their spouses; in 2004,

the proportion was 25 percent. (See tables 24 and

25.) These data, also collected in the Annual Social

and Economic Supplement to the CPS, reflect the

earnings and work experience of the prior calendar

year.

• In 2005, about 1.2 million women workers paid at an

hourly rate had earnings at or below the Federal

minimum wage of $5.15 an hour; about half of these

women were age 16 to 24. Among workers age 25

years and over who were paid hourly rates, 2

percent of women had earnings at or below the

minimum wage, twice the rate for men. (See table

26.)

• Women were slightly less likely than men to have

flexible schedules on their jobs in May 2004. White

women were more likely to have flexible schedules

than either their black or Hispanic counterparts.

Women without children under age 18 were more

likely to have flexible schedules than women with

children under age 18, although the reverse was

true for men. (See table 29.) Data are from the May

2004 Work Schedules supplement to the CPS.

• About 15 percent of both women and men reported

working at home at least once per week as part of
3

their main job in May 2004. Working at home was

more common for parents than for persons who

were not parents. 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

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 30.) Data are from the

May 2004 Work Schedules supplement to the

CPS.

• About 1.7 million women and 2.1 million men

experienced job displacement between January

2003 and December 2005. Women who were

displaced were almost twice as likely as men to

have left the labor force by January 2006 (21 percent

versus 13 percent). (See table 31.) Data are from

the January 2006 Displaced Worker supplement to

the CPS.

• Among 2005 high school graduates, young women

were slightly more likely than young men to enter

college (70.4 versus 66.5 percent). (For information

on the labor force status of recent high school

graduates and dropouts by school enrollment and

sex, see table 32.) Data are from the October 2005

School Enrollment supplement to the CPS.

• About 48 percent of women age 16 to 24 who were

enrolled in either high school or college in October

2005 were in the labor force. Men enrolled in school

had a lower labor force participation rate (42.3

percent). Among those not enrolled in school,

women were less likely to be in the labor force than

men (74.6 versus 87.5 percent). Young women who

had not completed high school and were not

enrolled in school were significantly less likely to

participate in the labor force (53.5 versus 73.2

percent) and nearly twice as likely to be unemployed

(21.2 versus 11.5 percent) as were women 16 to 24

years of age who had a high school diploma only.

(See table 33.) Data are from the October 2005

School Enrollment supplement to the CPS.

• From 1970 to 1995, the rate of multiple jobholding

among women nearly tripled, from 2.2 percent of

employed women in 1970 to 6.5 percent in 1995.

Since 1995, however, the multiple jobholding rate

for women has trended downward, falling to 5.2

percent by 2005. The multiple jobholding rate for

men also has trended downward over the past

decade, from 6.3 percent in 1995 to 4.6 percent in

2005. (See table 34.) Data were collected in the

May 2005 CPS.

• Over the past 30 years, the percentage of employed

women who were self-employed has increased

slightly, from 4.4 percent in 1976 to 5.4 percent in

2005, while the percentage of employed men who

were self-employed has decreased slightly, to 7.8

percent in 2005 from 8.4 percent in 1976. In 2005,

about 37 percent of all self-employed persons were

women compared with 27 percent in 1976. (See

table 35.)

• Foreign-born women were less likely to be in the

labor force in 2005 than native-born women (53.8

versus 60.0 percent). Of those in the labor force,

foreign-born women were more likely to be

unemployed (6.3 percent) than their native-born

counterparts (5.3 percent). The reverse was true

for men for both labor force participation and the

unemployment rate. (See table 36.)

• In 2005, about 13 percent of female wage and salary

workers were represented by unions, compared with

about 15 percent of men. Union attachment for

both groups has fallen since 1983, when unions

represented 18 percent of female wage and

salary workers and nearly 28 percent for men. (See

table 37.)