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Facts on
U.S. Working Women
U .S. Department of Labor
Women·s Bureau

Fact Sheet No. 86-2
1986
WOMEN WHO NAIRTAIR FAIIJ:LIES

o

The number of families maintained by women grew almost 90 percent
between 1970 and 1985. The growth is attributed largely to more
marriages ending in divorce and more women having children without
marrying.

o

In March 1985, there were more than 10.5 million families
principally supported by women who were divorced, separated,
widowed, or never married. These families accounted for almost 17
percent of all families in the United States, compared with 13
per cent in 1 97 5 .

o

As of 1985, 69.0 percent of women maintaining families were white,
28.8 percent were black, and 8.9 percent were of Hispanic origin.

o

Characteristics of women who head families include higher
unemployment, lower educational attainment, more dependent children, and lower earnings when compared with other labor force
groups. This explains in part the high incidence of poverty in
families maintained by women.

o

Sixty-one percent of women maintaining families in 1985 were in the
labor force--that is, working or looking for work--compared with 54
per cent in 197 5.

o

Four-fifths of the employed women maintaining families in 1985
worked at full-time jobs. Half of the women maintaining families
had earnings which comprised three-fourths or more of family
income.

o

In 1985, the unemployment rate for women who maintain families
stood at 10.5 percent, more than 3 percentage points above the
national average of 7.2 percent.

o

Despite some movement into professional and managerial jobs, particularly by divorcees who are generally younger and have more
education, most employed women maintaining families have tended to
remain in the generally low paying or less-~killed jobs. ~ike m?st
employed women in 1985, the largest proportion of women maintaining
families were in administrative support jobs, including clerical
work.

o

In 1985 black and Hispanic or1g1n women maintaining families had
lower median earnings, lower median ages, lower labor force
participation rates, and higher unemployment rates than white women
maintaining families. Also, their families were less likely than
similar white families to have more than one earner.

o

The growth of black female-headed families has been especially
dramatic. The number of such families more than doubled between
1970 and 1985.
In 1985, 44 percent of all black families were
headed by women, compared with 23 percent of Hispanic origin
families and 13 percent of white families.
Growth in Families Maintained by Women, 1970, 1980, and 1985
(Numbers in thousands)

Year
1970
1980
1985

White
Number
Percent
of
of all
families families
4,185

6,302
7,257

9.1
11.6
13.2

Black
Number
Percent
of
of all
families families
1,349
2,495
3,029

2 8. 3
40.3
44.1

Hispanic*
Number
Percent
of
of all
farnil ies families
**

637
935

**

21.8
23.4

* Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
** No data available.
o

In 1985, 3 out of 5 women maintaining families had children under
age 18 in the home. Labor force participation rates show these
mothers have a strong commitment to the labor force (67.8 percent).
Nearly seventy-seven percent were in the labor force when their
youngest child was school age, as were 53.2 percent of those with
preschool er s.

o

In 1970 there were about 6.7 million children in one-parent families: by 1985 almost 13 million children were in such families.
Most of these children are being raised by their mothers.

o

A record 6.3 million families with children were maintained by
mothers in 1985, and they accounted for one in five families with
children.
In 1975, there were about half as many such families,
and they constituted only one in seven of the families with
children.

o

In 1985, about 11.2 million children under the age of 18 were
living in a family maintained by a woman. More than two-fifths

- 2 -

were living with a divorced mother and more than one-fifth were
living with a never-married mother.
o

Mothers raising children by themselves often receive no support
from the absent father.
In 1983, only about half of women with
dependent children were awarded child support or had an agreement
to receive it.

o

The educational attainment for women maintaining families is below
that for all family types. They are less likely to have completed
high school or attended or graduated from college than the
householder in other family groups.
Educational Attainment of Householders in Families
March 1985
(Percentage distribution)

Type of family
All families
Married-couple
and other maleheaded
Female-headed

Less than
high school

High school
graduate

26.3

36.3

37.4

24.7

35.8
39.1

39.5
26.0

34.8

Attended
college

o

Poverty in families headed by women is a source of increasing
public concern. In 1984, the number of these families with incomes
below poverty level exceeded the number of married-couple families
in poverty. From 1980 to 1984, the number of persons in poverty in
families maintained by women increased 17 percent.

o

Families maintained by women have a poverty rate which is three
times that of all families and five times the rate for marriedcouple families.
Moreover, almost 55 percent of related children
under 18 in families with a female householder in 1984 lived below
the poverty level.
More than half of the black families and the
Hispanic families maintained by women had incomes below the poverty
level.
Of related children under 18 in these families, two-thirds
of the black children and seven-tenths of the Hispanic children
lived in poverty.

- 3 -

Ill 111

U S Department of Labor
Office of the Secretary
Women·s Bureau
200 Const1tut1on Avenue. NW
Washington. DC 20210-9990

Postage and Fees Paid
U S Department of Labor

Off1c1al Business
Penalty tor pr,vale use $300
M-020

Third Class Mail
Lab 441

o

Because average income among families maintained by women is low,
proportionately more live below the poverty line than other
families. In 1984, more than 1 of 3 families maintained by a woman
was poor, compared with 1 of 14 other families.
Median Weekly Earnings of Families> by Type
(Annual Averages)

Type

of Family

Total families with earners
Married-couple families
Families maintained by women
Families maintained by men

1985

1980

$522
5 82

$407
445

297

225
380

450

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

u.s.