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Facts onWorl{in_g
Women -
U.S. Department of Labor
Women 's Bureau
0336A
98-2
May 1998
20 FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
1.
There were 105 million women age 16 and
over in the United States in 1997. Of that
total, 63 million were in the civilian labor
force--persons working or looking for work.
2.
Six out of every ten women age 16 and over
--59. 8 percent--were labor force participants
in 1997. For women ages 20-54, seven out
of ten were working or looking for work, as
were half of the nation's female teenage
population (see Table 1).
Table 1
Labor Force Participation Rates
For Women, by Age Groups, 1997
Age Groups
All women
16 to 19 years
20 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 and over
Participation Rates
59.8%
51.0
72.7
76.0
77.7
76.0
50.9
8.6
Source: U.S . Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Employment and
Earnings, January 1998.
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3.
Women's share of the total labor force
continues to rise. Women accounted for
46 percent of total labor force participants in
1997 and are projected to comprise
47 percent in the year 2006.
4.
Between 1996 and 2006, women will
account for 59 percent of total labor force
growth. Their labor force participation rate
will increase from 59.3 percent in 1996 to
61. 4 percent in 2006.
5.
Labor force participation for women varies
substantially by marital status (see Table 2).
Table 2
Labor Force Participation Rates
For Women, by Marital Status, March 1997
Marital Status
Participation Rates
Divorced
Never married
Married, spouse absent
Married, spouse present
Widowed
74.5%
66.8
65.3
62.1
18.2
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Unpublished data,
March 1997.
6.
7.
The presence and age of children has much
to do with the composition of the total
female labor force . Fifty-two percent have
no children; 24 percent have children 14 to
17 years old, none younger; 17 percent have
children under six; and 9 percent have
children under 3 years old.
Table 4
Employed Women by Occupational Group, 1997
(in thousands)
Occupation
Total
Managerial and
professional specialty
Technical, sales and
administrative support
Service occupations
Precision production,
craft and repair
Operators, fabricators,
and laborers
Farming, forestry, and fishing
Educational attainment is also a predictor of
labor force participation and unemployment.
Persons with higher levels of education are
more likely to be in the labor force and
display very low unemployment rates.
Table 3
Employment Status of Women, age 25 years and
over, by Educational Attainment, 1997
Educational
Attainment
Less than
H .S. diploma
H .S. graduates,
no college
College graduates
Participation
Rate
Unemployment Rate
30.7%
9.6%
56.8
75.5
4.3
2.2
8.
9.
Unemployment for all women in 1997
remained fairly low at 5. 0 percent. Black
and Hispanic women had higher rates,
however, but have now dropped below
10 percent--9.9 percent and 8.9 percent,
respectively. White women had the lowest
rate--4. 2 percent The March 1996 rate for
Asian and Pacific Islander women was
4.4 percent.
The number of working women has doubled
since 1970--from 30 million to 60 million in
1997. The largest share still work in sales,
technical, and administrative support jobs
(see Table 4).
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59,873
18,437
24,549
10,416
1,256
4,540
675
Source: U.S . Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings,
January 1998.
10.
Source: U.S . Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 1998.
Employed
Secretaries and cashiers are still the
occupations where the largest numbers of
women were employed.
Table 5
Leading Occupations of Employed Women, 1997
(numbers in thousands)
Occupation
Number
Employed
Secretaries
2,989
Cashiers
2,356
Managers and
administrators, n.e.c.1
2,237
Registered nurses
1,930
Sales supervisors/proprietors 1,780
Nursing aides, orderlies,
and attendants
1,676
1
n.e.c.--not elsewhere classified
Source: U.S . Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings,
January 1998.
11.
12.
Self-employment is also an occupational
option for many women. The number of
self-employed women in nonagricultural
industries has grown from 2.8 million in
1987 to 3.6 million in 1997. It has led many
women to become successful entrepreneurs.
words, women earned only 74 percent of
what men earned. Between the ages of 16 to
24, women earned 92 percent of what men
earned-- $292 and $317, respectively.
Comparing the median weekly earnings of
part-time workers, women earned more than
men--$153 and $139, respectively. Between
the ages of 16 to 24, however, the their
earnings are basically even--$112 for women
and $114 for men.
More and more women have become
business owners. According to the latest
data from the Bureau of the Census, women
owned 6. 4 million businesses in 1992,
representing a third of all domestic firms and
40 percent of all retail and service firms .
As both groups age, the gap widens and
mirrors the figure for women and men
overall. For persons age 25 years and over,
women earned 7 5 percent of what men
earned .
Women owned firms employed 13. 2 million
persons and generated $1. 6 trillion in
business revenues in 1992.
13.
14.
15.
Of the 60 million employed women in 1997,
44 million or 74 percent worked full time;
and 16 million or 26 percent worked part
time. Full-time employment equates to
working 3 5 hours or more per week.
In 1997, nearly 4 million women held more
than one job. These women are known as
multiple job holders. Multiple job holding is
most prevalent among white women who
were widowed, separated, divorced, and
single.
Many women who are multiple job holders
are also contingent workers. By contingent,
we mean any job in which an individual does
not have an explicit or implicit contract for
long-term employment. Women accounted
for half of all contingent workers in the U .S.
in 1995.
17.
Occupations with the highest median weekly
earnings for women in 1997 were: lawyers,
$959; physicians, $946; pharmacists, $907;
computer systems analysts and scientists,
$850; engineers, $837; and college and
university teachers, $829.
18.
Working wives contribute substantially to
family income. In 1996, median income for
married-couple families with the wife in the
paid labor force was $58,381, compared
with $33,748 for those without the wife in
the paid labor force .
19.
With women earning less than men, it is
important that women have access to
adequate health care and have sufficient
retirement income.
Data from the Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration of the U.S . Department of
Labor, reveal that in 1994 only 3 8 percent of
women retirees received pension benefits and
only 21 percent received health coverage
that could be continued for life.
Some examples or contingent workers are:
part-time workers; the self-employed, such
as independent contractors; temporary help
agency workers; and workers provided by
contract firms .
20.
16.
Overall, women continue to earn less than
men. Median weekly earnings for full-time
wage and salary women workers in 1997
were $431 and $579 for men. In other
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In 1996, 13 .6 percent of women age 65
years and over lived below the poverty level,
compared with only 6.8 percent of men in
the same age group--2 .5 million women and
only 912,000 men.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WOMEN'S BUREAU
REGIONAL ADDRESSES/CONTACT INFORMATION
Re&ion I· Boston
Jacqueline Cooke, RA
J.F .K . Federal Building
Government Center
Room E-270
Boston , MA 02203
Phone: (617) 565-1988
1-800-518-3585
Fax: (617) 565-1986
(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island , Vermont)
Re&ion II; New York
Mary C. Murphree, RA
201 Varick Street
Room 601
New York , NY 10014-4811
Phone: (212) 337-2389
Fax: (2 12) 337-2394
Re&ion Y; Chicago
Nancy Chen , RA
230 S. Dearborn Street, Room 1022
Chicago , IL 60604
Phone: (312) 353-6985
1-800-648-8183
Fax: (312) 353-6986
(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio ,
Wisconsin)
Re&ion YI; Dallas
Delores L. Crockett, Acting RA
Federal Building
525 Griffin Street, Suite 735
Dallas , TX 75202
Phone: (214) 767-6985
1-888-887-6794
Fax: (214) 767-5418
(Arkansas , Louisiana, New Mexico , Oklahoma, Texas)
Re&ion IX; San Francisco
Barbara Sanford , Acting RA
71 Stevenson Street, Suite 927
San Francisco , CA 94105
Phone: (415) 975-4750
Fax: (415) 975-4753
(Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada)
Re&ion X; Seattle
Karen Furia, RA
1111 Third Avenue, Room 885
Seattle, WA 98101-3211
Phone: (206) 553-1534
Fax: (206) 553-5085
1-888-296-7011
(Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington)
Women's Bureau Clearinghouse
1-800-827-5335
(New Jersey , New York, Puerto Rico , Virgin Islands)
Re&ion III; Philadelphia
Cornelia Moore, RA
Gateway Building
Room 2450
3535 Market Street
Phildelphia, PA 19104
Phone: (215) 596-1183
1-800-379-9042
Fax: (215) 596-0753
(Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland ,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)
Re&ion IV: Atlanta
Delores L. Crockett,
Field Coordinator/RA
Atlanta Federal Center,
61 Forsyth Street, SW Suite 7T95
Atlanta , GA 30303
Phone: (404) 562-2336
1-800-672-8356
Fax: (404) 562-2413
(Alabama, Florida , Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)
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Re&ion VII; Kansas City
Rose Kemp, RA
City Center Square Building
1100 Main Street, Suite 1230
Kansas City , MO 64105
Phone: (816) 426-6108
1-800-252-4706
Fax: (816) 426-6107
(Iowa, Kansas , Missouri , Nebraska)
Re&ion VIII; Denyer
Oleta Crain, RA
Terese Obrigewitch, EOA
1801 California Street, Suite 905
Denver, CO 80202-2614
Phone: (303) 844-1286
1-800-299-0886
Fax: (303) 844-1283
(Colorado , Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Utah, Wyoming)
Fair Pay Clearinghouse
1-800-347-3743
Internet Address
http://www.dol.gov/doVwb/
E-mail Address
wb-wwc@dol.gov
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