Full text of Results from the Survey of Working Women

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Results from the Survey of Working Women
these issues relate to their job and career
decisions—in particular, women’s reasons for
exiting the labor force.

Factors that Affect Women’s Career
Decisions
In 1993, the Women’s Bureau conducted the
first large-scale, nationally representative
survey about working women’s employment
challenges and concerns. Since then, economic
and social forces have continued to alter the
landscape for working women and households
have become increasingly reliant on women’s
economic contributions.i Additionally, there
have been important developments in women’s
educational attainment, wage disparity, family
structure, and technology .ii In light of these
changes, in 2016 the Women’s Bureau
conducted the Survey of Working Women to
identify the employment challenges today’s
working women confront, and to examine how

The survey collected information on work and
family situations for 2,713 respondents. Gallup
conducted household-based telephone
interviews with 1,202 working women over age
18; 499 low-income working women over age
18; 508 women ages 24 to 54 who left the labor
force and remained out of the labor force at the
time of the survey; and 504 working men over
age 18. The survey oversampled low-income
women, as they may have challenges and
experiences that differ from those of other
working women. Men were included as an
important comparison group. The survey was
weighted to reflect the differential sampling
rates of these groups.
The survey results show that women are more
likely than men to leave the labor force.
However, temporary labor force exits are
common for all groups of workers. One
important phenomenon that warrants further
study is “off-ramping” (here defined as leaving
the labor force for three months or more,1 but
eventually returning). Nearly 40 percent of
working women off-ramped at some point in
their careers, as did about one in four men.

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including stopping work due to retirement.

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Figure 1. Percent of working women, low
income working women, and working men
who ever left the labor force for more than 3
months
Working women

38%

Low income
working women

33%

Working men

26%

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016
Survey of Working Women

Both men and women indicated that they offramped primarily for employer initiated
separations or for personal or family reasons2.
Women were more likely to cite personal or
family reasons, while men were more likely to
cite employer initiated separations for offramping. Working women were four times as
likely to cite a personal or family reason for offramping than they were to cite employerinitiated separation. Meanwhile, men’s reasons
were more evenly distributed between personal
or family and employer-initiated separations.
Low-income women primarily cited family and
personal reasons for off-ramping, but were
more likely than working women overall to cite
an employer initiated separation. This may
reflect higher rates of disability, unemployment,
and turnover in low-wage jobs.
Figure 2. Percent of working women, low
income working women, and working men
selecting a family and personal reason or an
employer initiated separation for off-ramping
Working women

19%

Low income working
women

27%

Working men

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016
Survey of Working Women

Among survey respondents who off-ramped
women for personal or family reasons, women
were nearly twice as likely as men to report
leaving to care for family members. About 61
percent of women indicated that taking care of
a family member was an important reason for
their departure, compared with 31 percent of
men. In contrast, 55 percent of working men
selected a personal medical reason or pursuit of
additional education as a reason for offramping, compared with 42 percent of women.
More than one-third of women who off-ramped
to care for a family member cited the cost of
childcare as an important reason for leaving the
labor force.
Not only are women more likely to leave the
labor force to care for family members, they are
also more likely to pass up promotions or ask
for reduced responsibilities at work. Married
mothers of young children are especially likely
to pass up promotion opportunities. Married
women were nearly twice as likely as single
women to turn down a promotion or ask for
reduced responsibilities.
Figure 3. Percent of working women, low
income working women, and working men
who turned down a promotion or asked for
reduced work responsibilities to care for a
family member
Working women

24%

81%
73%

54%
46%

Low income working
women

Working men

26%

18%

Personal or family reasons
Employer initiated separation

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016
Survey of Working Women

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Personal and family reasons exclude retirement
and disability.

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Figure 4. Percent of working women who
turned down a promotion or asked for reduced
work responsibilities to care for a family
member by marital status
Single/Never married

Figure 5. Percent of working women and men
who turned down a promotion or asked for
reduced work responsibilities to care for a
family member by presence and age of
children
Women with children
under 5

15%

43%

Men with children under 5
Married

Divorced

Widowed
Domestic
partnership/Living with a
partner

23%

29%

23%

Women with children
under 18
Men with children under
18

33%
25%

21%

19%

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016
Survey of Working Women

Mothers of children under age 5 were the most
likely to pass up promotions. Forty-three
percent stated that they had done so,
compared with 33 percent of women with
children under age 18 and 17 percent of women
without children. Fathers were also more likely
to pass up promotions than men without
children. However, the age of the child did not
make much of a difference: about 23 percent of
fathers with children under 5, and 25 percent of
fathers with children under 18 passed up a
promotion or asked for reduced responsibilities.
This is twice as high as men without children: 12
percent. Yet in every category, women were
more likely than men to pass up promotion
opportunities or ask for reduced
responsibilities.

Women with no children
under 18
Men with no children
under 18

17%
12%

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016
Survey of Working Women

Retaining women at work is an important
economic concern. To understand what men
and women value in their decision to take a job,
the survey asked women to reflect on which job
characteristics were important to them in
choosing their most recent job. The most
important reason cited by all workers was
feeling that they would be good at the job.
Many also wanted to have a job they felt
passionate about. However, work schedule was
a more important consideration for women,
particularly women with young children. Nearly
4 in 5 stated that the days or hours they were
required to work was an important
consideration in selecting their most recent job.
Mothers of young children were also more
likely to cite as important considerations the
job’s amount of paid time off and the job’s
reputation for being family friendly. Men were
more likely to cite a job’s opportunities for
advancement and earnings potential as
important considerations.

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Figure 6. Importance of select job characteristics when selecting their most recent job

Source: US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2016 Survey of Working Women

Overall, this survey shows that men and women value being engaged with their work. However, offramping remains a common experience among men and women. Women are more likely to exit the
labor force for family reasons, while men are more evenly divided in off-ramping for medical or
educational reasons and family responsibilities. Having schedules that improve work-life fit and allow for
better balancing of work, personal, and family responsibilities is a viable path to increasing the retention
of men and women at work, as work schedule was one of the most important factor in job selection for
most workers. Over a third of workers also cited availability of paid family and medical leave and paid
time off as important qualities they looked for in a job. Provision of childcare and childcare subsidies
may also improve retention or enable parents to return to work, as over a third of working women cited
the cost of childcare as a reason for off-ramping. This survey provides valuable information to employers
and policymakers to design solutions for the common issues facing today’s working families.
The Survey of Working Women provides valuable information to employers and policymakers to design
solutions for the common issues facing today’s working families. The survey results help elucidate the
issue of workforce off-ramping and the effect of caregiving on careers. But there is much more to
research and understand about men and women’s workforce interruptions including the long term
financial ramifications to the workers as well the experience of on-ramping back into the labor force.
i

U.S. Department of Labor, “Working Mother Issue Brief.” 2016.
https://www.dol.gov/wb/resources/WB_WorkingMothers_508_FinalJune13.pdf
ii
Mateyka, Peter J., Melanie A. Rapino, and Liana Christin Landivar. 2012. “Home-Based Workers in the United
States.” Current Population Reports, P70-132. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
Ryan, Camille L. and Kurt Bauman. 2016. “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015.” Current Population
Reports P20-578. Issued March. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
Vespa, Jonathan, Jaime M. Lewis, and Rose M. Kreider. 2013. “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2012.”
Population Characteristics P20-570. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.

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