Employment
Over the past several decades, women have dramatically reshaped their role in the nation's labor force. They have become much more likely to work or seek work outside the home. They are also employed in more varied occupations and are more likely to work year-round. In addition, women have attained higher levels of education. Reflecting their greater work activity and education, women's earnings as a proportion of men's earnings have grown over time and women are contributing increasingly important shares of family incomes, but the earnings gap between men and women remains. As more women have entered the labor force, interest has risen in how they divide their time between their jobs and other activities.

Earnings and Contributions
The earnings gap between women and men has narrowed over time, but it remains. Among full-time wage and salary workers, women's weekly earnings as a percent of men's have increased from 62 percent in 1979 to 80 percent in 2009.

Labor Force Participation
After decades of significant increases, the labor force participation rate for women has held steady in recent years.

For more information, see Detailed Sources and Notes at the end of the report. WOMEN IN AMERICA: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being Employment

• The labor force participation rate for women (age 20 and older) nearly doubled between 1948 (32 percent) and 1997 (61 percent). Since 1997, it has held steady (61 percent in 2009). The labor force participation rate for men (age 20 and older) has fallen from about 89 percent in 1948 to 75 percent in 2009. (See chart.)



• At all levels of educational attainment, the labor force participation rate of men was higher than that of their female counterparts. In 2009, the participation rate of women with less than a high school diploma was only 34 percent, compared to 59 percent for men. Among those with college degrees or higher, the participation rate of women was 73 percent, compared to 82 percent for men.



• Between 2005 and 2009, the labor force participation rate increased for White women (59.7 percent to 60.4 percent) and Hispanic women (57.4 percent to 59.2 percent). By comparison, the rate for Black women, who have the highest labor force participation among women, has edged down (64.4 percent to 63.4 percent). For men, labor force participation continued to fall across all racial and ethnic groups.



• Among mothers age 16 and over, those with older children (age 6 to 17 only) were more likely to be in the labor force (77 percent) in 2009 than those with children age 5 or younger (64 percent).



• The labor force participation rate of persons age 55 and older began to rise in 1996 for both women and men, but the pace of the increase has slowed in recent years