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Women in the labor force: a databook

In 2018, 57.1 percent of all women participated in the labor force. This was about the same as the 57.0 percent who participated in 2017, and still about 3 percentage points below the peak of 60.0 percent in 1999. By comparison, the labor force participation rate for men was 69.1 percent in 2018, unchanged from the previous year and 17.5 percentage points below its peak of 86.6 percent in 1948.

The rapid rise in women’s labor force participation was a major development in the labor market during the second half of the 20th century.  Overall, women’s labor force participation increased dramatically from the 1960s through the 1980s, before slowing in the 1990s. With the dawn of the 21st century, labor force participation among women began a gradual decline, until the participation rate hit a recent low in 2015 at 56.7 percent.

Women’s involvement in the labor market has changed in several notable ways over the past several decades. For example, women became much more likely to pursue higher levels of education: from 1970 to 2018, the proportion of women ages 25 to 64 in the labor force who held a college degree quadrupled, whereas the proportion of men with a college degree about doubled over that time. Women also have become more likely to work full time and year round. In addition, women’s earnings as a proportion of men’s earnings have grown over time: women working full time earned 62 percent of what men earned in 1979 and 81 percent in 2018.  More recently, women in the baby-boom generation (defined as people born between 1946 and 1964) have begun to retire in large numbers, which has put downward pressure on their labor force participation rate over the past decade or so.

This report presents historical and recent labor force and earnings data for women and men from the Current Population Survey (CPS), 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. (For a detailed description of the source of the data and an explanation of concepts and definitions used, see the technical notes at the end of this report.)

Selected demographic characteristics

Women’s labor force participation was 57.1 percent in 2018, little changed from 57.0 percent in 2017. Men’s labor force participation, which always has been much higher than that for women, was 69.1 percent in 2018, unchanged from the previous year. (See table 2.)

In 2018, the unemployment rate for women was 3.8 percent, down 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. The rate for men was 3.9 percent in 2018, also down 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. Women’s unemployment rates varied considerably by race and ethnicity. In 2018, Asian women had the lowest rate (3.0 percent), followed by White women (3.4 percent). Unemployment rates for Hispanic or Latino women and Black or African American women were much higher, at 5.1 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively. Men’s unemployment rates exhibit a similar pattern. The rates for Asian men (3.0 percent) and White men (3.5 percent) were well below the figures for Hispanic or Latino men (4.3 percent) and Black or African American men (7.0 percent). (See tables 2 and 3.)

Labor force participation varies by marital status and differs between women and men. Never-married women had the highest participation rate of all women at 64.5 percent in 2018. Separated and divorced women were more likely to participate in the labor force (62.7 percent and 61.2 percent, respectively) than married women (58.2 percent). By contrast, married men were more likely to participate in the labor force (73.1 percent) than separated men (70.2 percent), never-married men (67.7 percent), and divorced men (64.4 percent). Among women and men who were widowed, the labor participation rates were 19.5 percent and 24.0 percent, respectively. (See table 4.)

The labor force participation rate of all women with children under 18 years of age was 71.4 percent in March 2018, about unchanged (71.3 percent) from 2017. Among mothers, the labor force participation rate for those with children 6 to 17 years old, at 76.5 percent in March 2018, was higher than for those with younger children. The rate for those with children under 6 years old was 64.7 percent, and the rate for women with children under 3 years old was 62.0 percent. (See tables 5 and 7; data were collected in the 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS.)

Unmarried mothers are more likely to participate in the labor force than married mothers. In March 2018, 77.3 percent of unmarried mothers were in the labor force, compared with 69.0 percent of married mothers. (See table 6; data were collected in the 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS.)

Educational attainment

The educational attainment of women ages 25 to 64 in the labor force has risen substantially over the past half century. In 2018, 44 percent of women ages 25 to 64 held a bachelor’s degree and higher, compared with 11 percent in 1970. In 2018, 6 percent of women in the labor force had less than a high school diploma—that is, did not graduate from high school or earn a GED—down from 34 percent in 1970. (See tables 9A and 9B.)

Occupation and industry

Women accounted for 52 percent of all workers employed in management, professional, and related occupations in 2018, somewhat more than their share of total employment (47 percent). The share of women in specific occupations within this large category varied. For example, 19 percent of software developers, 27 percent of chief executives, and 37 percent of lawyers were women, whereas 89 percent of registered nurses, 80 percent of elementary and middle school teachers, and 61 percent of accountants and auditors were women. (See table 11.)

In 2018, Asian and White women were more likely to work in higher paying management, professional, and related occupations (53 percent and 45 percent, respectively) than were Black (36 percent) and Hispanic women (27 percent). Meanwhile, Hispanic (31 percent) and Black women (28 percent) were more likely than Asian and White women (21 percent and 20 percent, respectively) to work in lower paying service occupations. (See table 12.)

Women accounted for more than half of all workers within several industry sectors in 2018: financial activities (53 percent), education and health services (74 percent), leisure and hospitality (52 percent), and other services (54 percent). (Other services includes repair and maintenance industries; personal and laundry services; membership associations and organizations; and private households.) However, women were substantially underrepresented (relative to their share of total employment) in agriculture (26 percent), mining (14 percent), construction (10 percent), manufacturing (29 percent), and transportation and utilities (24 percent). (See table 14.)

Earnings

In 2018, women who worked full time in wage and salary jobs had median usual weekly earnings of $789, which represented 81.1 percent of men’s median weekly earnings ($973). Among women, earnings were higher for Asians ($937) and Whites ($817) than for Blacks ($654) and Hispanics ($617). Women’s-to-men’s earnings ratios were higher for Blacks (89.0 percent) and Hispanics (85.7 percent) than for Whites (81.5 percent) and Asians (75.5 percent). (See table 16; note that the comparisons of earnings in this report are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that may be important in explaining earnings differences.)

Women’s median usual weekly earnings vary by educational attainment. In 2018, female full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and older with less than a high school diploma had earnings of $469. Women who had only a high school diploma had earnings of $616, those with an associate’s degree had earnings of $746, and those with a bachelor’s degree and higher had earnings of $1,145. (See table 17.)

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were the highest in 2018 for female nurse practitioners and pharmacists ($1,891 and $1,890, respectively), lawyers ($1,762), and chief executives ($1,736). Earnings for men were highest for physicians and surgeons ($2,513), chief executives ($2,488), architectural and engineering managers ($2,285), and pharmacists ($2,271). (See table 18.)

In 2018, 2.6 percent of women paid at an hourly rate had earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour). Among women 25 years and older who were paid at an hourly rate, 1.7 percent had earnings at or below the minimum wage, compared with 6.3 percent of women ages 16 to 24. (See table 20.)

Hours of work

In 2018, 24 percent of employed women usually worked part time—that is, less than 35 hours per week. The percentage of employed women working part time has not changed much over the past five decades. In comparison, 12 percent of employed men usually worked part time in 2018. This rate for men had trended up during the Great Recession before beginning a gradual decline in 2012. (See table 21.)

Of all women who worked at some point during calendar year 2017, 63 percent worked full time and year round, compared with 41 percent in 1970. The proportion of men who worked full time and year round also rose over the period, from 66 percent in 1970 to 75 percent in 2017. (See table 23; data were collected in the 1971 and 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplements to the CPS and reflect earnings and work experience in the previous calendar year.)

Married-couple families

Among married-couple families, 53 percent had earnings from both the wife and the husband in 2017, compared with 44 percent in 1967. These rates are below the peak of 60 percent in 1996. Couples in which only the husband worked represented 19 percent of married-couple families in 2017, versus 36 percent in 1967. (See table 24B; data were collected in the 1968 and 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplements to the CPS and reflect earnings and work experience in the previous calendar year.)

The working poor

Among people who were in the labor force for at least 27 weeks in 2017, more women (3.8 million) than men (3.1 million) lived below the official poverty level. The working-poor rate (the ratio of the working poor to all individuals who were in the labor force for at least 27 weeks) was 5.3 percent for women and 3.8 percent for men. Black and Hispanic women were much more likely to be among the working poor than White or Asian women. The working-poor rates for Black and Hispanic women were 10.0 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, compared with 4.5 percent for White women and 2.5 percent for Asian women. (See table 26; data are from the 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS and reflect earnings and work experience in the previous calendar year.)

Worker displacement

From January 2015 through December 2017, 3.0 million workers age 20 and older were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years; women accounted for 44 percent of those displaced. Labor market outcomes were similar for displaced women and men. Displaced women were about as likely as men to have found a new job in January 2018: the reemployment rate was 65 percent for women and 67 percent for men. Displaced women and men were about equally likely to be unemployed in January 2018, at 14 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Displaced women were slightly more likely to have left the labor force in January 2018 than displaced men (21 percent and 18 percent, respectively). (See table 27; data are from the January 2018 Displaced Worker, Employee Tenure, and Occupational Mobility Supplement to the CPS.)

Employee tenure

In January 2018, the median number of years that employed women had been with their employers was 4.0 years, unchanged from January 2016. Median employee tenure (the point at which half of all workers had more tenure and half had less tenure) for men held at 4.3 years. (See table 28; data are from the January 2018 Displaced Worker, Employee Tenure, and Occupational Mobility Supplement to the CPS.)

School enrollment

Of the 3.2 million young people ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2018, 69.1 percent (2.2 million) were enrolled in college in October of that year. For the 2018 high school graduates, the college enrollment rate was 71.4 percent for young women and 66.9 percent for young men. (See table 29; data are from the October 2018 School Enrollment Supplement to the CPS.)

Among high school students, young women were more likely to be in the labor force (24.6 percent) in October 2018 than were young men (20.9 percent). Labor force participation rates followed the same pattern among college students: college women had a labor force participation rate of 49.7 percent, and college men had a participation rate of 44.9 percent. (See table 30; data are from the October 2018 School Enrollment Supplement to the CPS.)

Among young people ages 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in school in October 2018, the unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma was 12.3 percent for young women and 15.7 percent for young men. In contrast, the unemployment rates for young women and men with at least a bachelor's degree were 6.6 percent each. (See table 30; data are from the October 2018 School Enrollment Supplement to the CPS.)

Multiple jobholders and the self-employed

In 2018, 7.8 million workers had more than one job. About half (3.9 million) of these workers were women. The multiple jobholding rate for women, at 5.4 percent, was higher than that for men, at 4.6 percent. (See table 31.)

In 2018, 4.9 percent of working women in nonagricultural industries were self-employed, compared with 6.7 percent of men. Among the self-employed, 39.3 percent were women in 2018, compared with 26.8 percent in 1976. (See table 32.)

Foreign-born

Foreign-born women were less likely than native-born women to be in the labor force in 2018 (54.3 percent, compared with 57.6 percent). By contrast, foreign-born men were more likely to be in the labor force (77.9 percent) than were native-born men (67.3 percent). Among women, the unemployment rate for foreign-born women, at 4.1 percent, was higher than that for native-born women, at 3.8 percent. At 3.0 percent, the unemployment rate for foreign-born men was lower than that of native-born men (4.2 percent). (See table 33.)

Union membership

In 2018, 9.9 percent of female wage and salary workers were members of unions, compared with 11.1 percent of their male counterparts. For both men and women, the union membership rate in 2018 was lower than in 1983 (the first year that union membership data were regularly collected in the CPS), but the rate for men fell by much more than did the rate for women. In 1983, union membership rates were 24.7 percent for men and 14.6 percent for women. (See table 34.)

Veterans

There were 1.1 million female veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces in the labor force in 2018. Women accounted for 12.0 percent of the 9.5 million veterans in the labor force. The unemployment rate for female veterans, at 3.0 percent in 2018, was similar to that of male veterans, at 3.5 percent. (See table 35.)

People with disabilities

Of the 16.1 million women with disabilities in 2018, 2.9 million, or 17.8 percent, participated in the labor force. A little over half of women with disabilities (52 percent) were age 65 and older; labor force participation among this age group was 5.5 percent, compared with 30.9 percent for those ages 16 to 64. Among the 14.0 million men with disabilities, 24.2 percent participated in the labor force in 2018. About 46 percent of all men with disabilities were age 65 and older. Among men in this age group, 10.7 percent were labor force participants, compared with 35.8 percent of men ages 16 to 64 with disabilities.                                                                                                   

Among people with a disability, the unemployment rate for women was 8.1 percent and that for men was 7.9 percent, more than twice the rates of women and men without a disability (3.7 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively). (See table 36.)