Full text of Highlights, 1920-1960
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HIGHLIGHTS 1920 - 1960 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR James P. Mitchell, Secretary WOMEN'S B U R E A U Mrs. A l i c c K . Leopold, Director H I G H L I G H The Past 1920 m i l l i o n women workers T S Today - I960 22y m i l l i o n women workers The average woman worker—single and 28 years o l d The average woman worker—married and 40 years o l d Less than 1 out of every 4 women a worker More than 1 out of every 3 women a worker About 1 out of every 5 workers was a woman About 1 out of every 3 workers i s a woman Largest occupations f o r women ( i n order): Factory workers; private-household workers; farm workers; stenographers, t y p i s t s , and s e c r e t a r i e s ; teachers; saleswomen Largest occupations f o r women ( i n order): Factory workers; stenographers, t y p i s t s , and secretaries; private-household workers; saleswomen; teachers; waitresses and cooks This l i s t i n g shows the increased importance of the stenographic group and saleswomen, as w e l l as the sharp decline among farm workers. However, a variety of other occupations have been gaining i n importance f o r women—nurses and other p r o f e s s i o n a l health personnel, office workers of many kinds, research workers, techn i c i a n s , l i b r a r i a n s , s o c i a l workers, and spec i a l i s t s i n food and home management Less than 1/3 m i l l i o n women e n r o l l e d i n college Degrees granted to women: 16,642 Bachelor's 1,294 Master's 93 Doctorates A t o t a l of 18,029 degrees Almost 1 l / 4 m i l l i o n women e n r o l l e d i n college Degrees granted to women (estimated): 132,000 Bachelor's 23,600 Master's 1,000 Doctorates A t o t a l of 156,000 degrees—almost 9 times the number i n 1920 The Future - 1970 30 m i l l i o n women workers The average woman worker~married and 41 years o l d Except f o r teen-age g i r l s and women over 65. about 2 out of every 5 women w i l l be a worker About 1 out of every 3 workers w i l l be a woman N) Further expansion i n the employment of women i n occupations i n which they have long been established, such as teachers, o f f i c e workers, l i b r a r i a n s , s o c i a l workers, home economists, nurses, laboratory technicians, medical and other health workers Greater opportunities f o r women w i t h the required a b i l i t y and educational q u a l i f i c a t i o n s as mathematicians, s t a t i s t i c i a n s , s c i e n t i s t s , engineers, technicians of various kinds, and higher l e v e l o f f i c e workers with t r a i n i n g i n the use of e l e c t r o n i c data processing and other business machines Over 2 m i l l i o n women e n r o l l e d i n colleges Degrees granted to women: 234,000 B a c h e l o r ' s 45,000 Master's 1,700 Doctorates A t o t a l of 280,700 degrees—almost twice as many as i n 196O Chart 1. Women in the Population and Labor Force: 1920-Projected 197 0 (14 Y e a r s a n d O v e r ) 36,190,0001 44,013,000 r POPULATION ] 8,229,000 1920 1940 '50,549,000 L ] 13,015,000 1950 57,103,000 1 116,512,000 1960 64,074,000 L LABOR FORCE 10,396,000 1930 I 22,548,000 March 1 1970 77,444,000 [[ 29,649,000 Projocfed Sourc*: U. S. Otparlmtnt of Commcrci. Burtau of th« Ctntut. ,U. S. Otpartmtnt of Labor. Suraiu of Labor SUtlttlc* The number of women in the lobor force hos increased more roptdly than their number in the population. In 1 9 2 0 , 2 3 percent of the women were m the labor force; in 1 9 4 0 , 2 6 percent; and t o d o y , 3 5 percent. Though populotion growth has been the bosic factor in the tremendous rise in the number of women workers, other foctors such as notionol emergencies and high levels of production ond employment since World Warll hove contributed significantly to this development. Chart 2. Men and Women in the Labor Force: 1920 an^ Projected 1970 {14 Years a n d O v e r ) P«rc«nt of a l l work«rs 80% 78% . 76% 73% 68% 66% MEN u^WOMEN 1920 24% 22% 20% i 1930 i 1940 Sourer U. S. Dfpartnwnl ol Commtrte. Surtau of th§ Ctntui U S. D«paftni«nl of Labor. Surtau of Labor Statlstks. I I 27% 1950 34% 32% I 1960 1970 March Projected The proportion of women workers in the labor force has i n c r e a s e d markedly since 1 9 2 0 . In 1 9 2 0 , the approximately 8 1/4 million women workers represented I out of every 5 workersjin 1940,the 13 million women workers represented about I in 4 workers; today they represent almost I m 3, It is expected that they will represent I in 3 by 1970. Early retirement from the lobor force of older men and the trend toward higher educational attainment of the younger men ore f a c t o r s which have contributed to the changing proportions of men ond women in the labor force. Chart 3. Distribution of Women in the Civilian Labor Force: 1920-60 N u m b e r of W o m e n in the Civilian Labor Force 8,229,000 — I 10,396,000 r 1 13,840,000 18,063,000 1940 1950 22,516,000 Percent 100 45 yeori a n d over 80 25-44 years 60 40 under 25 years 20 1920 1930 1960 (March) Soutt#j U S D»pirtmtnt of Comm«rt». Bureau of th« Centuf, U S Drpartmtnt of Labor, Buriau of Labor Statistic* Important shifts in ttie age distribution of women workers have token ploce since 1920,partly because of the changing age composition of the populotion and partly because of the higher labor force p a r t i c i p a t i o n rotes of older women. The proportion of women over 4 5 yeors of age in the lobor force has more thon doubled since 1920. The proportion of young women under 2 5 in the lobor force has declined to less than holf during t h i s period. T h e p r o p o r t i o n of women in the labor force from 2 5 to 4 4 y e a r s of age has remained relatively stable. A s 0 result, the medion age of women workers has r i s e n from 2 8 to slightly over 4 0 in I 9 6 0 . Chart 4. Marital Status of Women in the Labor Force, 1920-59 P«rc«nt Percent 100 100 /Widowed,/X divorced V//^ 16%// y / Widowed,/ divorced y^ 80 80 Single j Singlel ' 32% " 23% ,Single) 60 60 ; and^ unkn 40 40 Married 61% 20 20 0 L 1920 1930 1940 1950 1959 Sourtt. US. Dtpirlment of Conimfrtt. Bureau of ihe CrniuL US. Otpartmtnt of Ubor. Buretti of Libor StaUsticl. The trend toword early marrioge» the increasing tendency of women to seek paid employment, ond chonqes in women's occupations occount for the striking increose in the proportion of morried women among women workers. The rise has been especially rapid since 1940, and has been accompanied by o simultaneous decline in the proportion of single women workers. Chart 5. Occupational Groups of Employed Men and Women: March 1960 C l t r i c a l Workers Op«rattv«s Service Workers (except household) Professional Workers Private Household WOMEN Sales Workers M a n a g e r s , O f f i c i a l s , Proprietors Form Laborers, Foremen Craftsmen, Foremen Farmers, Form M a n a g e r s Laborers (except form, mine) Sourct U S Dfpirtmtnl of Labor. Burtiu of Labor Statiitfci. Women tend to work in different oocupotions from those in which men work. While they constitute more thon two-thirds of the clerical workers, there ore few women omong the craftsmen, form managers and workers,and the unskilled laborers. Some of these differences ore undoubtedly due to differences in the nature of the work, its requirements and its suitability or attractiveness to women, but others persist largely because of conventional attitudes toword women and work. Women tend to remain concentrated in a few occupotions. While they represent more than one-third of the professionol workers, most of them ore teachers or nurses. There are still relatively few women among the scientists,engineers, physicians, lowyers and other professional groups, though their numbers hove been i n creasing in these occupations. Chart 6. Distribution of Employed Women,by Major Industry Group: March 1960 10 Percent 20 30 40 S«rvictts, (finarK«, Insuranct, r«al #»tat»; butin«ts; p«rtonal; profvssional ) Trad* Monufacturing Privof* Household Public Adminitrration Transportation, Communication, Public Utilities Agriculture Construction Mining Forestry, Fisheries Sowrtr U. & Dvpartmtnl of Lati«r. Sarttu of Lahor Statiitkt. Women workers ore highly concentrated in the rapidly growing service industries. These include finance ond insurance services and many professional and business services, as well as personal services; many women work otso in retail trade ond in monufocturing. Chart 7. Educational Attainment of Women in the Labor Force: 1940-59 (18 to 6 4 Years of A g e ) P«rc»nt P«rc«nt 50 50 ELEMENTARY COLLEGE HIGH S C H O O L 40 40 1940* B M 1952 1957 30 - 30 1959 20 20 w w 111 10 Less rhan 5 m m WM years 1-3 years Souit*. U.S. DtoM-timnt of Libor. Btirnu of Ltbor Stitiltks. 10 i M mm 1 i mm 4 sors 1-3 4 o r more years years *N<ite: Oali on educational attainment not atailibU prior to 1940. The educattonol ottamment of women in the tabor force has risen s i g n i f i c a n t l y T o d a y , a l m o s t three-fifths of the women workers have at least a high school education. About two-fifths had a high school education 2 0 years ago. T o d a y , only 3 percent of the working women have less thon 5 years of schooling; 2 0 years ago, 6 percent hod less than this. Todoy.o lorger proportion of women workers have completed ot least 4 y e o r s of c o l l e g e thon 2 0 years a g o , b u t the relative Inert-use has been much s m a l l e r t h a n that for h i g h s c h o o l graduates. Chart 11. Chart 8. Resident College Enrollment: 1920-58 Bachelors Degrees Earned: 1920-58 Thousand MitUon 400 r 4 300 "H M«n Wom«n 1919-20 1929-30 1939*40 SoHrtr U S- Otpanmtnt of Htallh. Educitien, btficf o'r Edutitien. 1949-50 Wtlfirt, 1957-58 200 Women 100 m . 1919-20 1929-30 1939-40 1949-50 1957-58 Sourec U S. Dfpartmcnt ot Health. Education, and Welfart, Oltica of tducation. More and more women ore attending ond graduoting from institutions of higher learning. Since 1920, enrollments of women in colleges and universities have olmost quadrupled. The number of baccalaureate degrees granted to women during the same period has multiplied more than 7 times. The increases in enrollments for men, however, have been even greater during most of this period. The percent of women enrollees in the total, therefore,dropped from 5 0 percent in 1 9 2 0 to 3 0 percent in 1950, when mony veterans took advontoge of the educational aid made available to them. Since then enrollments of women hove ogoin increased at a faster rote than those of men, and they now represent more than one-third of the total enrollments. Chart 11. Chart 10. Median Income of Women, by Educational Attainment: 1958 (14 Years of Age and Over) Labor Force Participation of Women, by Educational Attainment: March 1959 (18 Years of Age and Over) Paront 60 IELEMENTARY] [HIGH SCHOOTI 50 - 40 - 30 - ICOLLEGEI 0 [COUEGEJ $2 20 10 Median Incomt rin Thouundi) $5 HIGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - l«t* 5-7 than 5 y«ari ycort 8 y*art than 4 yvofi 4 Ltii 4 ymart thon 4 Or mor» y«ari y«ar] 8 y«ar> 4 y«art 4 yvari 5 Of mof« y«ari Sourci- U S Dtparlmtnl of Commtrct. Burtau of tht CtniHi S*urtt US OvDJirlmtnl at L*b«f lurtiu tf Libor SUIiilIti C h a n c e s thot o woman will seek paid employment tend to i n c r e a s e with the amount of education Educotion is on importont determinant of the average income of women. One-half of the women who had completed a she has received. In M o r c h 1959, more thon one-half of the yeor or more of graduate study hod incomes of ot least women in this country with a college degree were in ^4»38l in 1 9 5 8 . T h i s was I 1/2 times the m e d i a n in- the work force as compored with somewhat morB than come of women 4 - y e o r c o l l e g e graduates-,more than one-fourth of the women who left school prior to or 2 times that of high school groduates; and almost 5times on c o m p l e t i n g the 8th g r a d e . that of elementary s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s . Chart 12. Educational Attainment of Women In Selected Occupational Groups: March 1959 (18 Y e a r s of A g e a n d O v e r ) SELECTED OCCUPATfONAL GROUPS Profcssionol workers Manogers, officials, proprietors Clehcol workers Sales workers Service workers (except household) Operatives Percent Distribution SOME C O L L E G E HIGH SCHOOL EOUCATtON EDUCATION 73 19 17 12 22 40 65 43 29 24 14 Private-household workers 6 2 3 LESS T H A N HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION 5 40 18 42 63 72 80 Sount; U.S Dtp«/tfn«nt of Libor. BurMu of Labor Statittkt. E d u c o t i o n strongly a f f e c t s a women's occupation. Neorly 3 out of every 4 women in the p r o f e s s i o n s have had some c o l l e g e education. T h e vest majority of women in c l e r i c a l , m o n a g e r i a l and soles occupations hove hod at l e o s t o high school education. Most of the women employed in service o c c u p o t i o n s or f a c t o r y o p e r a t i o n s hove had less than o h i g h school education.