Characteristics of Women Workers

One of the most striking aspects of the role of women in the American economy today is the large number and proportion of women who are in paid employment outside of their homes and the increasing strength of their attachment to the work force. In recent years, women by the millions have continuously responded to the economy's demand for additional workers. Since 1965, nearly 60 percent of the net growth in the American labor force was accounted for by women (table 1). By early 1975, there were 361⁄2 million women workers, and they accounted for 2 out of every 5 workers in the country's entire labor force. About 46 percent of all women in the population aged 16 and over were in the labor force, a proportion that rose to well over 50 percent for women aged 18 to 54 (table 2).

The extraordinary acceleration in women's labor force participation over the past decade resulted from changes in many areas-demographic, social, technological, and economic. These changes included large increases in the adult population due to the relatively high birth rates in the immediate post-World War II years, the development and increased availability of goods and services that made housework easier, more widespread acceptance of family planning and birth control, a softening of society's prejudice against working wives, the increasing demand for workers in white-collar and service jobs, and landmark legislation and court decisions prohibiting employment discrimination based on sex.

Marital Status

The most dramatic growth in labor force participation has occurred among married women living with their husbands. They account for almost three-fifths of all women workers; single (never married) women are a fifth; and formerly married or separated women are another fifth (table 3).

The preponderance of married women workers reflects two facts: (1) Even though proportionately fewer wives than single, separated, or divorced women work, a very large majority of the adult women in the population are married and living with their husbands. (2) Labor force participation rates are now relatively high even for married women (table 4). More than 4 out of 10 wives living with their husbands, including those with children under age 18, are in the work force.

Of some 131⁄2 million women in the labor force who have children under age 18, about 11 million are wives living with their husbands (table 5).

Although proportionately more single than married women work, the overall participation rate of single women is held down by the fact that many are still in school or seeking their first job. About the same proportion of separated women as of single women work but the proportion is higher for divorced women. Fewer divorced than married women have preschoolage children and, among those who do have children, the proportion who work is higher than it is for married women living with their husbands. A much smaller proportion of widows are in the labor force since a great many of them are elderly (table 6).

Younger children in the family continue to reduce the chances of a mother's working, but the participation rates of these mothers have risen steadily in recent years. In March 1974, the rates ranged from 31 percent for wives with children under age 3 to 51 percent for those with school-age children (6-17 years) and none younger. The participation rate for wives with no children under age 18, at 43 precent, falls between these rates because about half of these women were at least 55 years old, ages where the proportions of women working or looking for work are very low. If the age group for women with no children under age 18 is limited to those under 55, the participation rate would be 62 percent.

In families with children, labor force participation rates of wives rose between 1960 and 1974 as follows:

caused in part by the postwar baby boom and in part simply by increased disposable family income, thus permitting greater expenditures on services and goods after basic necessities were purchased.

Since the mid-1960's, the greatest labor force increase, by age group, has shifted to the younger women. Labor force participation rates in ages 20 to 34 have risen by 14 percentage points in 10 years, and 9 percentage points for those 35 to 44 years old. During the same period, increases for women in ages 45 to 64 moved up very few percentage points.

The accelerated increases among younger women reflect not only their reduced child care responsibilities due to the declining birth rates of recent years, but several other changes. Among them are the greater proportions of women who have been to college and their greater propensity to be in the labor force; the generally expanding job opportunities in professional, technical, and clerical work; and the desire for additional family income as young families face rising prices in every area of consumer goods and services, including the costs of houses and apartments, home furnishings, and clothing.

One of the important effects of the recent increase in labor force participation among younger women is a modification of participation rate patterns as women move up the age scale (table 9). Even though women still move in and out of the labor force more than men, a growing proportion now remain in the work force more or less continuously. As in the past, their labor force participation begins to decline when they are in their late twenties. In their midthirties it begins to increase as children reach school age. The extent of the decline in the twenties age group is much smaller than it used to be. In the 1950's, labor force participation rates were about 11 points lower for women between 25 and 29 than for those 20 to 24. Today, the difference is about 4 points.

Worklife Expectancy at Birth.-The increased participation of women in the work force, especially of young women, shows up in a dramatic increase in women's worklife expectancy. As the following tabulation shows, women's worklife expectancy at birth has been growing for a long time but the most dramatic increase has occurred since 1950. There has, of course, been some increase in worklife expectancy at birth for both men and women as a result of increased life expectancy, but from 1900 to 1960, worklife expectancy

The findings of the 1960-based worklife data show that, on the average, after a 35-year-old married woman has had her last child and returned to the labor force, she could still be expected to work an additional 25 years a substantial contribution to the country's productive capacity and her family's welfare. Many of these women have worked 3 or 4 years before marrying and continued to work until the birth of their first child. The study estimated that the birth of a child reduced the average time a married woman could expect to be in the work force by about 10 years. The birth of each additional child appeared to cut the worklife expectancy by 2 to 3 years. Women who marry at age 20 and who never have any children could expect a worklife of 35 years; those with only one child, a worklife expectancy of 25 years; and those with four or more children, 17 years. A more recent study now underway will probably show that the presence of children results in a smaller reduction in women's working lives.

Full- and Part-Time Work

The strength and seriousness of American women's attachment to the labor force is provided by data which show that when women work, most do so on a full-time (35 hours a week or more) basis; and when most look for work, they look for full- rather than part-time jobs (tables 10 and 11). On the average, about 7 out of every 10 employed women hold full-time jobs (table 12). Moreover, 2 out of 5 married women with husbands present and over half of the widowed, divorced, or separated women in the labor force work an entire year at full-time jobs, as the tabulation shows.

Among married women, those with children are more likely to work part time and part of the year than those without children. The age of the child does not seem to be a major factor in the proportion working part rather than full time but does influence the proportion working year round.

The extensive movement in and out of the labor force for women with very young children is demonstrated by the fact that almost half of these women worked at least 1 week in 1973 but as of a given date (March 1974), fewer than a third were in the labor force.

A substantial minority of women-about 3 out of 10 work only part time (less than 35 hours a week). By contrast, 1 out of 10 men works part time. Another 26 percent of the women work full-time weekly schedules but less than an entire year. The highest proportion of part-time work is found among women under 25 and those 65 and over. Students and teachers account for the large proportion of single women who work part year or part time.

Unemployment and Job Tenure

Even though the average American woman today may have a relatively long working life, the intermittent nature of many women's participation in the labor force raises their unemployment rates and reduces their average job tenure, which in turn reduces their hourly earnings and various supplementary benefits, such as pensions and vacations.

Unemployment rates are generally higher for women than for men, although the difference tends to narrow when the overall unemployment rate rises (table 14). (Usually in periods when the unemployment rate rises the proportion of women who seek work declines.) In 1974 the unemployment rate for women was 6.7 percent, compared with 4.8 percent for men. One reason for the usually higher unemployment rate for women is the fact that a higher proportion move in and out of the labor force because of family responsibilities. In 1974 proportionately twice as many women as men who were seeking jobs had reentered the labor market; by contrast, 39 percent of the unemployed women but 65

percent of the jobless men were seeking work because they had lost their previous jobs (table 16).

Both men and women in the United States change employers fairly frequently so that on the average a worker at retirement age has worked less than 15 years for the same employer (table 17). Women's frequent movement in and out of the labor force reduces their periods of continuous service with the same employer substantially below that of men. Even in the 60 to 64 age group, when the difference in job tenure is smallest, women have worked an average of 5.5 years less for the same employer than have men. Tenure is likely to be as continuous for women past the childrearing stage of their lives as it is for men but they never make up for labor force participation lost in earlier years (table 18).

Job tenure is typically shorter for part-time than for full-time women workers. Many part-time workers either temporarily drop out of the labor force or take different jobs during the school holiday period of their children or shift jobs when the hours of school attendance of their children change. In addition, some women seek part-time jobs to supplement family income for a one-time purpose; for example, to finance school expenses of their children or to purchase a home.

Industries and Occupations in Which Women Are Employed

In 1974 approximately 21 million of the 30 million women in nonagricultural employment were in three industry groups: services-7.4 million, trade-7.0 million, and government-6.3 million (table 20). Manufacturing, the major employer of men, ranked fourth, with 5.8 million women employees. Over 7 million women were in health services and education in the private and public sectors. In retail trade, 2 out of 3 employees in department, clothing, and accessory stores and drug stores and more than half the employees in eating and drinking establishments were women. Women made up slightly more than half of the employees in finance, insurance, and real estate.

Women are employed predominantly in white-collar occupations; 60 percent are in such jobs compared with 40 percent of the men. Almost 4 out of 10 women in nonagricultural industries in 1970 were in clerical and similar jobs; about 1 out of 6 employed women were in service occupations, excluding private household service; and almost as many were in a professional or similar occupation (table 21).

In 1974 about half of all women workers were in 12 occupations secretaries, typists, cashiers, retail trade sales workers, bookkeepers, private household workers, school teachers, registered nurses, nurses' aides, waitresses, in sewing occupations, and cleaning

services.

Although proportionately more men than women are in blue-collar jobs, the difference is accounted for