Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 09-0568
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, May 27, 2009
EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES IN 2008
The share of families with an unemployed member rose from 6.3 percent
in 2007 to 7.8 percent in 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. The proportion of families with an
unemployed member in 2008 neared the recent peak of 8.1 percent in 2003.
Of the nation's 77.9 million families, 82.2 percent had at least one em-
ployed member in 2008, down by 0.4 percentage point from 2007.
These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are
collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sam-
ple survey of approximately 60,000 households. Families include married-
couple families, as well as families maintained by a man or woman with no
spouse present. For further information about the CPS, see the Technical
Note.
Families and Unemployment
There were 6.1 million families with at least one unemployed member in
2008, up from 4.9 million in 2007. The proportion of families with an
unemployed member rose from 6.3 percent in 2007 to 7.8 percent in 2008.
Black and Hispanic families were more likely to have an unemployed member
(12.8 and 11.0 percent, respectively) than were white (7.1 percent) and
Asian (6.3 percent) families. Unemployment rose over the year among fami-
lies of all types. (See table 1.)
Most families with an unemployed member also have at least one family
member who is employed. Among families with an unemployed member in 2008,
70.8 percent also had an employed member, compared with 71.2 percent in
2007. Among married-couple families with an unemployed member in 2008,
82.5 percent had an employed member, little changed over the year. For
families maintained by women (no spouse present) with an unemployed mem-
ber, the proportion that also contained an employed member edged lower
from 50.5 percent in 2007 to 49.1 percent in 2008. For families main-
tained by men (no spouse present), the proportion fell from 60.7 percent
in 2007 to 57.3 percent in 2008. (See tables 1 and 3.)
Families and Employment
The share of families with an employed member was lower in 2008 (82.2
percent) than in 2007 (82.6 percent). The likelihood of having an em-
ployed family member declined over the year for white, black, and His-
panic families and was little changed for Asian families. Asian families
remained the most likely to have an employed member (89.7 percent) in 2008,
followed by Hispanic families (87.0 percent), white families (82.3 percent),
and black families (78.4 percent). (See table 1.)
In 2008, families maintained by women with no spouse present were less
likely to have an employed member (76.0 percent) than were married-couple
families (83.5 percent) or families maintained by men (84.4 percent). The
share of families with an employed member was lower in 2008 than in 2007 for
all family types. (See table 2.)
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Both the husband and wife were employed in 51.4 percent of married-couple
families in 2008, compared with 51.7 percent in 2007. Married-couple fami-
lies in which only the wife worked accounted for 6.9 percent of all married-
couple families in 2008, compared with 6.6 percent in 2007. The husband was
the sole employed member in 19.5 percent of families in 2008, compared with
19.8 percent in 2007.
Families with Children
Just under half of all families include children (sons, daughters, step-
children, and adopted children) under age 18. Among the 35.2 million fami-
lies with children, 90.0 percent had an employed parent in 2008, down from
90.7 percent in 2007. The mother was employed in 71.4 percent of families
maintained by women in 2008, and the father was employed in 82.8 percent
of those maintained by men. Among married-couple families with children,
97.0 percent had an employed parent in 2008. Both the mother and father
were employed in 62.1 percent of married-couple families with children.
(See table 4.)
Mothers
The labor force participation rate--the percent of the population working
or looking for work--for all mothers with children under 18 was 71.4 percent
in 2008, little changed from 71.0 percent in 2007. In 2008, the participa-
tion rate for married mothers with spouse present (69.5 percent) was lower
than the rate for mothers in other marital statuses (76.0 percent). Married
mothers were about as likely to be employed as mothers in other marital stat-
uses, but their unemployment rates were lower--3.8 percent of married mothers
were unemployed in 2008, compared with 9.5 percent of mothers with other mari-
tal statuses. Unemployment rates rose over the year for mothers of all marital
statuses. (See table 5.)
Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force than
mothers with older children. In 2008, the labor force participation rate of
mothers with children under 6 years old (64.0 percent) was lower than the rate
of those whose youngest child was between 6 and 17 years old (77.3 percent).
The participation rate of mothers with infants under a year old was 56.4 per-
cent. There was little difference between the participation rates of married
mothers of infants and those with other marital statuses. However, the unem-
ployment rate for married mothers of infants, at 5.0 percent, was lower than the
rate for mothers with other marital statuses (16.5 percent). Jobless rates for
all mothers increased in 2008. (See tables 5 and 6.)
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Technical Note
The estimates in this release are based on annual average data from the
Current Population Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of about 60,000
households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S.
Census Bureau. The information relates to the labor force status of persons
16 years old and over in the civilian noninstitutional population during an
"average" week of the year.
The data for 2008 presented in this release are not strictly comparable with
data for 2007 and earlier years because of the introduction in January 2008 of
revised population controls used in the CPS. The effect of the revised popula-
tion controls on the family estimates is unknown. However, the effect of the
new controls on the monthly CPS estimates was to decrease the December 2007 em-
ployment level by 598,000 and the unemployment level by 40,000. The updated
controls had little or no effect on unemployment rates and other ratios. For
additional information, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Esti-
mates in January 2008," available on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/cps/
cps08adj.pdf.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request: Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling
error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there
is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population
values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies de-
pending on the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured
by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance,
or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by
no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because
of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent
level of confidence.
The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error
can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of
the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the
sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct
information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and in-
formation on estimating standard errors, see the Household Data Section of
"Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" at http://www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_
methods.pdf.
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Definitions
Definitions of the principal terms used in this release are presented below.
Family. A family is a group of two or more persons residing together who
are related by birth, marriage, or adoption. The count of families is for
"primary" families only, that is, the householder and all other persons re-
lated to and residing with the householder. Families are classified either
as married-couple families or as families maintained by women or men without
spouses.
Householder. The householder is the family reference person. This is
the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned
or rented. The relationship of other individuals in the household is defined
in terms of relationship to the householder. The race or ethnicity of the
family is determined by that of the householder.
Married, spouse present; other marital status. These terms denote the
marital status of individuals at the time of interview. Married, spouse
present, refers to husbands and wives living together in the same household,
even though one may be temporarily absent on business, on vacation, on a
visit, in a hospital, or for other reasons. Other marital status includes
persons who are never married; married, spouse absent; separated; widowed;
or divorced. Separated includes persons with legal separations, those living
apart with intentions of obtaining a divorce, and other people permanently or
temporarily separated because of marital discord. Married, spouse absent,
includes married people living apart because either the husband or wife was
employed and living at a considerable distance from home, was serving away
from home in the Armed Forces, had moved to another area, or had a different
place of residence for any other reason except separation as defined above.
Children. Data on children refer to own children and include sons,
daughters, step-children, and adopted children, of the husband, wife, or
person maintaining the family. Not included are nieces, nephews, grand-
children, other related children, and all unrelated children living in
the household.
Employed. Employed persons are (a) all those who, during the survey
reference week, did any work at all as paid employees, worked in their own
business, profession, or on their own farm, or who worked 15 hours or more
as unpaid workers in a family-operated enterprise; and (b) all those who
did not work but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily
absent due to illness, bad weather, vacation, child-care problems, labor
disputes, or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time
off and whether or not they were seeking other jobs.
Unemployed. The unemployed are persons who had no employment during the
reference week, were available for work at that time, and had made specific
efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with
the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from
which they had been laid off need not be looking for work to be classified
as unemployed.
Civilian labor force. The civilian labor force comprises all persons
classified as employed or unemployed.
Unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a
percent of the civilian labor force.
Labor force participation rate. The labor force participation rate is
the labor force as a percent of the population.
Table 1. Employment and unemployment in families by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2007-08
annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
Characteristic 2007 2008
TOTAL
Total families...................................................... 77,894 77,943
With employed member(s)........................................... 64,330 64,058
As percent of total families................................ 82.6 82.2
Some usually work full time (1).......................... 59,616 59,116
With no employed member .......................................... 13,564 13,884
As percent of total families................................ 17.4 17.8
With unemployed member(s) ........................................ 4,914 6,104
As percent of total families................................ 6.3 7.8
Some member(s) employed ........................................ 3,497 4,319
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)......... 71.2 70.8
Some usually work full time (1)............................... 3,096 3,830
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)...... 63.0 62.7
White
Total families...................................................... 63,667 63,490
With employed member(s)........................................... 52,669 52,273
As percent of total families................................ 82.7 82.3
Some usually work full time (1).......................... 48,879 48,271
With no employed member .......................................... 10,997 11,217
As percent of total families................................ 17.3 17.7
With unemployed member(s) ........................................ 3,587 4,506
As percent of total families................................ 5.6 7.1
Some member(s) employed ........................................ 2,653 3,332
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)......... 73.9 74.0
Some usually work full time (1)............................... 2,350 2,955
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)...... 65.5 65.6
Black or African American
Total families...................................................... 9,184 9,297
With employed member(s)........................................... 7,249 7,290
As percent of total families................................ 78.9 78.4
Some usually work full time (1).......................... 6,608 6,622
With no employed member .......................................... 1,935 2,006
As percent of total families................................ 21.1 21.6
With unemployed member(s) ........................................ 990 1,188
As percent of total families................................ 10.8 12.8
Some member(s) employed ........................................ 591 686
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)......... 59.7 57.8
Some usually work full time (1)............................... 519 605
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)...... 52.4 50.9
Asian
Total families...................................................... 3,320 3,403
With employed member(s)........................................... 2,974 3,052
As percent of total families................................ 89.6 89.7
Some usually work full time (1).......................... 2,818 2,900
With no employed member .......................................... 347 351
As percent of total families................................ 10.4 10.3
With unemployed member(s) ........................................ 179 215
As percent of total families................................ 5.4 6.3
Some member(s) employed ........................................ 144 172
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)......... 80.5 79.9
Some usually work full time (1)............................... 133 158
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)...... 74.4 73.4
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
Total families...................................................... 10,332 10,500
With employed member(s)........................................... 9,048 9,135
As percent of total families................................ 87.6 87.0
Some usually work full time (1).......................... 8,492 8,466
With no employed member .......................................... 1,285 1,365
As percent of total families................................ 12.4 13.0
With unemployed member(s) ........................................ 876 1,159
As percent of total families................................ 8.5 11.0
Some member(s) employed ........................................ 619 846
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)......... 70.6 73.0
Some usually work full time (1)............................... 554 743
As percent of families with unemployed member(s)...... 63.2 64.1
1 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
NOTE: The race or ethnicity of the family is determined by that of the householder. Estimates for
the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data
are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of
any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
Table 2. Families by presence and relationship of employed members and family type, 2007-08 annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
Number Percent distribution
Characteristic
2007 2008 2007 2008
MARRIED-COUPLE FAMILIES
Total...................................... 58,145 58,125 100.0 100.0
Member(s) employed, total........................ 48,676 48,541 83.7 83.5
Husband only................................. 11,509 11,351 19.8 19.5
Wife only.................................... 3,858 4,036 6.6 6.9
Husband and wife............................. 30,055 29,854 51.7 51.4
Other employment combinations................ 3,254 3,300 5.6 5.7
No member(s) employed .......................... 9,469 9,585 16.3 16.5
FAMILIES MAINTAINED BY WOMEN (1)
Total...................................... 14,423 14,383 100.0 100.0
Member(s) employed, total........................ 11,087 10,929 76.9 76.0
Householder only............................. 6,307 6,250 43.7 43.5
Householder and other member(s).............. 2,994 2,870 20.8 20.0
Other member(s), not householder............. 1,785 1,809 12.4 12.6
No member(s) employed .......................... 3,336 3,454 23.1 24.0
FAMILIES MAINTAINED BY MEN (1)
Total...................................... 5,327 5,435 100.0 100.0
Member(s) employed, total........................ 4,568 4,589 85.7 84.4
Householder only............................. 2,170 2,178 40.7 40.1
Householder and other member(s).............. 1,696 1,659 31.8 30.5
Other member(s), not householder............. 701 752 13.2 13.8
No member(s) employed .......................... 759 845 14.3 15.6
1 No spouse present.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Updated population controls are introduced annually with
the release of January data.
Table 3. Unemployment in families by presence and relationship of employed members and family type, 2007-08
annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
Number Percent distribution
Characteristic
2007 2008 2007 2008
MARRIED-COUPLE FAMILIES
With unemployed member(s), total................ 2,978 3,796 100.0 100.0
No member employed.......................... 512 663 17.2 17.5
Some member(s) employed..................... 2,467 3,133 82.8 82.5
Husband unemployed.......................... 1,110 1,439 37.3 37.9
Wife employed............................. 725 927 24.3 24.4
Wife unemployed............................. 902 1,114 30.3 29.3
Husband employed.......................... 783 975 26.3 25.7
Other family member unemployed.............. 966 1,243 32.4 32.7
FAMILIES MAINTAINED BY WOMEN (1)
With unemployed member(s), total................ 1,416 1,666 100.0 100.0
No member employed............................ 701 849 49.5 50.9
Some member(s) employed....................... 714 817 50.5 49.1
Householder unemployed........................ 650 796 45.9 47.8
Other member(s) employed..................... 144 181 10.2 10.9
Other member(s) unemployed.................... 766 870 54.1 52.2
FAMILIES MAINTAINED BY MEN (1)
With unemployed member(s), total................ 520 642 100.0 100.0
No member employed............................ 205 274 39.3 42.7
Some member(s) employed....................... 316 368 60.7 57.3
Householder unemployed........................ 294 385 56.6 60.0
Other member(s) employed..................... 137 164 26.3 25.6
Other member(s) unemployed.................... 226 257 43.4 40.0
1 No spouse present.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Updated population controls are introduced annually
with the release of January data.
Table 4. Families with own children: Employment status of parents by age of youngest child and family type, 2007-08 annual
averages
(Numbers in thousands)
Number Percent distribution
Characteristic
2007 2008 2007 2008
WITH OWN CHILDREN UNDER 18 YEARS
Total............................................. 35,856 35,154 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................... 32,538 31,651 90.7 90.0
No parent employed................................... 3,318 3,504 9.3 10.0
Married-couple families.............................. 25,125 24,634 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................ 24,459 23,890 97.3 97.0
Mother employed.................................. 16,855 16,615 67.1 67.4
Both parents employed........................... 15,627 15,295 62.2 62.1
Mother employed, not father..................... 1,228 1,319 4.9 5.4
Father employed, not mother...................... 7,604 7,275 30.3 29.5
Neither parent employed........................... 666 744 2.7 3.0
Families maintained by women (1)..................... 8,554 8,338 100.0 100.0
Mother employed................................... 6,224 5,954 72.8 71.4
Mother not employed............................... 2,330 2,384 27.2 28.6
Families maintained by men (1)....................... 2,177 2,182 100.0 100.0
Father employed................................... 1,855 1,806 85.2 82.8
Father not employed............................... 322 376 14.8 17.2
WITH OWN CHILDREN 6 TO 17 YEARS, NONE YOUNGER
Total............................................. 20,361 20,062 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................... 18,619 18,212 91.4 90.8
No parent employed................................... 1,742 1,851 8.6 9.2
Married-couple families.............................. 13,823 13,771 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................ 13,435 13,351 97.2 96.9
Mother employed.................................. 10,126 10,139 73.3 73.6
Both parents employed........................... 9,341 9,298 67.6 67.5
Mother employed, not father..................... 785 841 5.7 6.1
Father employed, not mother...................... 3,309 3,212 23.9 23.3
Neither parent employed........................... 388 420 2.8 3.1
Families maintained by women (1)..................... 5,224 5,031 100.0 100.0
Mother employed................................... 4,070 3,823 77.9 76.0
Mother not employed............................... 1,155 1,207 22.1 24.0
Families maintained by men (1)....................... 1,314 1,260 100.0 100.0
Father employed................................... 1,115 1,037 84.9 82.3
Father not employed............................... 199 223 15.1 17.7
WITH OWN CHILDREN UNDER 6 YEARS
Total............................................. 15,495 15,092 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................... 13,918 13,439 89.8 89.0
No parent employed................................... 1,576 1,653 10.2 11.0
Married-couple families.............................. 11,302 10,863 100.0 100.0
Parent(s) employed................................ 11,024 10,539 97.5 97.0
Mother employed.................................. 6,729 6,476 59.5 59.6
Both parents employed........................... 6,287 5,998 55.6 55.2
Mother employed, not father..................... 442 478 3.9 4.4
Father employed, not mother...................... 4,295 4,063 38.0 37.4
Neither parent employed........................... 278 324 2.5 3.0
Families maintained by women (1)..................... 3,329 3,307 100.0 100.0
Mother employed................................... 2,154 2,131 64.7 64.4
Mother not employed............................... 1,175 1,176 35.3 35.6
Families maintained by men (1)....................... 863 922 100.0 100.0
Father employed................................... 740 769 85.7 83.4
Father not employed............................... 123 153 14.3 16.6
1 No spouse present.
NOTE: Own children include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Updated population
controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
Table 5. Employment status of the population by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18,
2007-08 annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
2007 2008
Characteristic
Total Men Women Total Men Women
WITH OWN CHILDREN UNDER 18 YEARS
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 66,801 29,684 37,117 65,655 29,142 36,513
Civilian labor force................................ 54,370 28,002 26,368 53,506 27,422 26,085
Participation rate................................ 81.4 94.3 71.0 81.5 94.1 71.4
Employed........................................... 52,373 27,216 25,157 51,017 26,380 24,637
Employment-population ratio....................... 78.4 91.7 67.8 77.7 90.5 67.5
Full-time workers (1).......................... 45,336 26,282 19,053 43,967 25,338 18,629
Part-time workers (2).......................... 7,037 933 6,104 7,050 1,042 6,008
Unemployed......................................... 1,998 786 1,211 2,490 1,041 1,448
Unemployment rate................................. 3.7 2.8 4.6 4.7 3.8 5.6
Married, spouse present
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 53,432 27,205 26,227 52,433 26,647 25,786
Civilian labor force................................ 43,824 25,784 18,041 43,137 25,205 17,933
Participation rate................................ 82.0 94.8 68.8 82.3 94.6 69.5
Employed........................................... 42,625 25,134 17,492 41,611 24,353 17,258
Employment-population ratio....................... 79.8 92.4 66.7 79.4 91.4 66.9
Full-time workers (1).......................... 37,120 24,332 12,788 36,128 23,444 12,685
Part-time workers (2).......................... 5,505 802 4,704 5,482 909 4,573
Unemployed......................................... 1,199 650 549 1,527 852 675
Unemployment rate................................. 2.7 2.5 3.0 3.5 3.4 3.8
Other marital status (3)
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 13,369 2,479 10,890 13,222 2,495 10,727
Civilian labor force................................ 10,546 2,219 8,328 10,369 2,217 8,152
Participation rate................................ 78.9 89.5 76.5 78.4 88.9 76.0
Employed........................................... 9,747 2,082 7,665 9,406 2,027 7,379
Employment-population ratio....................... 72.9 84.0 70.4 71.1 81.3 68.8
Full-time workers (1).......................... 8,216 1,950 6,266 7,838 1,894 5,944
Part-time workers (2).......................... 1,531 132 1,400 1,568 133 1,435
Unemployed......................................... 799 137 662 963 190 773
Unemployment rate................................. 7.6 6.2 8.0 9.3 8.6 9.5
WITH OWN CHILDREN 6 TO 17 YEARS, NONE YOUNGER
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 36,983 16,384 20,599 36,581 16,256 20,325
Civilian labor force................................ 31,179 15,269 15,910 30,846 15,128 15,718
Participation rate................................ 84.3 93.2 77.2 84.3 93.1 77.3
Employed........................................... 30,176 14,866 15,310 29,590 14,588 15,003
Employment-population ratio....................... 81.6 90.7 74.3 80.9 89.7 73.8
Full-time workers (1).......................... 26,288 14,378 11,910 25,733 14,054 11,679
Part-time workers (2).......................... 3,888 488 3,400 3,858 534 3,324
Unemployed......................................... 1,003 403 600 1,255 541 715
Unemployment rate................................. 3.2 2.6 3.8 4.1 3.6 4.5
WITH OWN CHILDREN UNDER 6 YEARS
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 29,818 13,299 16,518 29,074 12,886 16,188
Civilian labor force................................ 23,192 12,733 10,458 22,661 12,293 10,367
Participation rate................................ 77.8 95.7 63.3 77.9 95.4 64.0
Employed........................................... 22,197 12,350 9,847 21,426 11,792 9,634
Employment-population ratio....................... 74.4 92.9 59.6 73.7 91.5 59.5
Full-time workers (1).......................... 19,048 11,904 7,143 18,234 11,284 6,950
Part-time workers (2).......................... 3,149 446 2,704 3,193 508 2,684
Unemployed......................................... 995 383 611 1,234 501 733
Unemployment rate................................. 4.3 3.0 5.8 5.4 4.1 7.1
WITH NO OWN CHILDREN UNDER 18 YEARS
Civilian noninstitutional population................. 165,066 82,489 82,577 168,133 83,971 84,162
Civilian labor force................................ 98,754 54,134 44,620 100,780 55,098 45,682
Participation rate................................ 59.8 65.6 54.0 59.9 65.6 54.3
Employed........................................... 93,674 51,039 42,635 94,346 51,106 43,239
Employment-population ratio....................... 56.7 61.9 51.6 56.1 60.9 51.4
Full-time workers (1).......................... 75,755 43,752 32,003 76,064 43,515 32,549
Part-time workers (2).......................... 17,919 7,286 10,632 18,282 7,592 10,690
Unemployed......................................... 5,080 3,095 1,984 6,435 3,992 2,443
Unemployment rate................................. 5.1 5.7 4.4 6.4 7.2 5.3
1 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
2 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
3 Includes never married; married, spouse absent; divorced; separated; and widowed persons.
NOTE: Own children include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Updated popula-
tion controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child and marital
status, 2007-08 annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
Civilian labor force
Civilian
noninsti- Employed Unemployed
Characteristic tutional Percent
popula- of
tion Total popula- Percent Full- Part- Percent
tion Total of time time Number of
popula- workers workers labor
tion (1) (2) force
2007
TOTAL MOTHERS
With own children under 3 years old... 9,659 5,721 59.2 5,354 55.4 3,783 1,571 367 6.4
2 years .......................... 2,812 1,808 64.3 1,694 60.2 1,225 469 114 6.3
1 year ........................... 3,501 2,068 59.1 1,938 55.4 1,350 589 130 6.3
Under 1 year...................... 3,346 1,845 55.1 1,721 51.4 1,208 513 123 6.7
Married, spouse present
With own children under 3 years old... 7,018 4,027 57.4 3,888 55.4 2,730 1,157 140 3.5
2 years .......................... 2,076 1,281 61.7 1,230 59.2 881 349 51 4.0
1 year ........................... 2,536 1,433 56.5 1,388 54.7 954 434 46 3.2
Under 1 year...................... 2,406 1,313 54.6 1,270 52.8 896 374 43 3.3
Other marital status (3)
With own children under 3 years old... 2,641 1,694 64.1 1,466 55.5 1,052 414 227 13.4
2 years .......................... 736 528 71.6 464 63.1 344 120 63 12.0
1 year ........................... 965 635 65.8 551 57.1 396 155 84 13.2
Under 1 year...................... 940 531 56.5 451 48.0 312 139 80 15.1
2008
TOTAL MOTHERS
With own children under 3 years old... 9,595 5,792 60.4 5,354 55.8 3,782 1,573 438 7.6
2 years .......................... 2,934 1,852 63.1 1,734 59.1 1,264 470 118 6.4
1 year ........................... 3,342 2,069 61.9 1,905 57.0 1,337 568 164 7.9
Under 1 year...................... 3,319 1,871 56.4 1,715 51.7 1,180 535 156 8.4
Married, spouse present
With own children under 3 years old... 6,868 4,035 58.7 3,848 56.0 2,717 1,132 186 4.6
2 years .......................... 2,088 1,255 60.1 1,206 57.8 871 335 49 3.9
1 year ........................... 2,414 1,450 60.1 1,380 57.2 970 410 70 4.8
Under 1 year...................... 2,366 1,330 56.2 1,263 53.4 875 388 67 5.0
Other marital status (3)
With own children under 3 years old... 2,727 1,758 64.4 1,506 55.2 1,065 441 252 14.3
2 years .......................... 847 597 70.5 528 62.4 393 135 69 11.5
1 year ........................... 928 619 66.7 525 56.6 367 159 94 15.1
Under 1 year...................... 953 542 56.8 452 47.5 305 147 89 16.5
1 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
2 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
3 Includes never married; married, spouse absent; divorced; separated; and widowed persons.
NOTE: Own children include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Updated population
controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
United States Department of Labor
