Share of married-couple families with an employed mother at its lowest, 1994-2010

In 2010, the mother was employed in 65.4 percent of married-couple families with children under the age of 18—a record low for the series. The series began in 1994. The mother was employed in 67.0 percent of families with children maintained by women in which no spouse was present.

[Chart data]

Prior to 1997, the percentage of married-couple families where the mother was employed was greater than the percentage of families maintained by women (no spouse present) with an employed mother. From 1997 to 2010, families maintained by women with no spouse present were more likely to have an employed mother than were married-couple families with children.

In 2010, the mother was employed in 58.9 percent of married-couple families with younger children (under 6 years of age), compared with 59.6 percent of families in which no spouse was present.

[Chart data]

Among families with older children (6 to 17 years of age, none younger), the mother was employed in 72.1 percent of families maintained by women in 2010, compared with 70.7 percent (a record low for the series) of married-couple families.

These data are from Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "Employment Characteristics of Families – 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0396.