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Tables of
W orking Life
for Women, 1 9 5 0
Bulletin No. 1204
U. S. D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
James P. Mitchell, Secretary
BUREAU OP LABOR STA TISTIC S
Ewan Clague, Commissioner
Tables
of
W o r k i n g
Life
for W o m e n ,
1950
From the Monthly Labor Review,
June, August, and October 1956
issues, and additional material
Bulletin No. 1204
U. S. D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
James P. Mitchell, Secretary
BUREAU OF LABOR STA TISTIC S
Ewan Clague, Commissioner
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25( D. C. - Price 30 cents
Preface
A s a p a rt o f the U . S. D ep a rtm en t o f L a b o r ’s program fo r analyses o f
em ploym en t, u nem ploym ent, and la b or force, the Bureau o f L a b o r Statistics
is publishing this com prehensive analysis o f the len gth and p a ttern o f w orkin g
life fo r w om en. Bureau o f L a b o r S tatistics’ B u lletin 1001, T a b les o f W o rk in g
L ife : L e n g th o f W o rk in g L ife fo r M en , published in 1950, was a pioneering
d evelop m en t in the techniques fo r a n a lyzin g the changing structure o f w o rking
life in the U n ited States. T a b les o f W o rk in g L ife fo r W om en , w hich takes
on added significance because o f the recent ra p id increase in the num ber o f
w o rk in g wom en, p rovid es a basis fo r the analysis o f factors th a t affect the
w o rk careers o f w om en — m arriage, the b irth o f children, and w id o w h o od and
divorce.
T h is stu dy o f the p a ttern o f w o rk life fo r w om en was prepared b y S tu art
H . G arfin kle o f the B u reau ’s D ivisio n o f M a n p o w e r and E m p lo y m en t S ta
tistics and is based upon his d o ctora l dissertation presented at A m erican
U n iv e rs ity .
(n
i)
CONTENTS
I.
Page
— In trod u ction _____________________________________________________________________________
1
S tation ary p op u lation ____________________________________________________________________
2
L ab or force participation ra te s_________________________________________________________
3
T h e station ary fem ale labor force______________________________________________________
5
— W o rk life expectan cy and accession and separation ra te s_______________________
7
W o rk life expectan cy of the fem ale p op u lation ______________________________________
W o rk life expectan cy of the labor force_______________________________________________
II.
7
9
Accession and separation ra te s_________________________________________________________
III.
11
— Changes in patterns of w orking life, 1940 and 1 9 5 0 ____________________________
14
Socioeconom ic ch an ges___________________________________________________________________
14
S tation ary labor force____________________________________________________________________
15
Fem ale w ork life exp ectan cy____________________________________________________________
17
L ab or force life exp ectan cy_____________________________________________________________
19
Technical appendix: M eth od s of deriving tables of w orking life for w om en __________
21
Tables
1.— Station ary fem ale population b y m arital status and presence of children, 1 9 5 0 .
1
2 . — L abor force participation rates b y m arital status and presence of children, 1950_
2
3.
— Stationary fem ale labor force b y m arital status and presence of children, 1 9 5 0 .
4.
— A verage rem aining lifetim e for all w om en and average num ber of years of work
5.
— A verage rem aining lifetim e and average num ber of years of work rem aining for
6.
— A v e ra g e rem aining lifetim e and average num ber of years of work rem aining for
7.
— A verage rem aining lifetim e and average num ber of years of work rem aining for
rem aining, at specified ages, b y m arital status, 1 9 5 0 ____________________________
w orking w om en, 1 9 5 0 ________________________________________________________________
single w orking w om en, 1 9 5 0 _________________________________________________________
3
8
10
10
w orking w om en, m arried once, living w ith their husbands, and who have
never h ad a child, 1 9 5 0 ______________________________________________________________
10
8.
— E stim a ted annual accessions to the fem ale labor force b y selected dem ographic
factors, 1 9 5 0 ___________________________________________________________________________
— E stim a ted annual separations from the fem ale labor force b y selected dem o
11
9.
graphic factors, 1 9 5 0 _________________________________________________________________
— Station ary population, labor force participation rates, and labor force for evermarried w om en , b y presence of children, 1950 and 1 9 4 0 ______________________
— Station ary fem ale population, labor force participation rates, and labor force,
b y m arital status, 1950 and 1 9 4 0 ___________________________________________________
— A verage rem aining lifetim e for all wom en and average num ber of years of work
rem aining, at specified ages, b y m arital status, 1950 and 1 9 4 0 ________________
— A verage rem aining lifetim e and average num ber of years of work remaining
for working w om en, 1950 and 1 94 0 ________________________________________________
12
1 0.
1 1.
12.
1 3.
16
18
20
20
Appendix Tables
A - l . — Station ary fem ale population
b y m arital status and presence of children,
1 9 4 0 _______________________________________________________
A - 2 . — L abor force participation rates b y m arital status and presence of children,
29
1 9 4 0 ___________________________________________________________________________________
A - 3 . — Station ary fem ale labor force b y m arital status and presence of children,
30
1 9 4 0 ___________________________________________________________________________________
A - 4 . — E stim a ted annual accessions to and separations from the labor force b y
31
selected dem ographic factors, 1 9 4 0 _______________________________________________
A - 5 . — A verage num ber of years of w ork remaining, all w om en, 1 9 4 0 _________________
32
32
A - 6 .— A verage num ber of years of work rem aining, single w om en, 1 9 4 0 --------------------
33
(V )
C o n te n ts — C o n tin u e d
Charts
1. Stationary fem ale population and labor force, 1 95 0 ___________________________________
2. Stationary ever-m arried fem ale population and labor force, b y presence of
children, 1 9 5 0 ________________________________________________________________________________
3. A verage num ber of years of w ork rem aining for w om en, b y m arital status, 1950_
Page
4
5
9
4. E stim a ted annual num ber of accessions and separations for the fem ale labor
force, b y age group, 1 9 5 0 __________________________________________________________________
5. Selected labor force accession and separation rates for w om en, 1 9 5 0 _______________
12
11
6. Selected labor force separations related to marriage and childbirth, 1940 and 1950 _
15
7. Station ary ever-m arried fem ale labor force, b y presence of children, selected
ages, 1940 and 1 9 5 0 _________________________________________________________________________
8. Station ary fem ale labor force b y m arital status, selected ages, 1940 and 1 9 5 0 ___
(V I)
17
19
Tables of
Working Life
for Women,
T
able
1.
—Stationary female population by marital status
and presence of children, 1950
Ever married by pres Ever married by child
ence or absence of
status
husband
Year of All Single
age
women wom
en
1 9 5 0
1
3
4
5
6
7
14............. 96,457 95, 782
675 401 274 675
15______ 96,401 94,473 1,928 1,490 438 1, 639
16______ 96 337 90,653 5, 684 4,689 995 3, 854
17........... 96, 266 83,270 12, 996 11,177 1,819 7,990
18______ 96,189 72, 911 23, 278 20, 554 2,724 12, 697
19............. 96,108 60,068 36,040 32,400 3,640 17,107
20______ 96, 021 47, 530 48,491 44,030 4,461 20,069
21______ 95,931 36,742 59,189 53, 862 5,327 22,064
22............. 95,837 28, 559 67, 278 61,290 5,988 22, 714
23............. 95, 737 22,690 73,047 66, 619 6,428 22, 306
24______ 95, 635 18, 553 77,082 70,376 6,706 21,327
25............. 95, 529 15, 571 79,958 73,082 6,876 19, 966
26______ 95, 419 13,454 81, 965 74, 998 6, 967 18,321
27______ 95,305 11,818 83,487 76,391 7, 096 16, 773
28______ 95,185 10, 566 84, 619 77,342 7,277 15,324
29______ 95, 058 9,696 85,362 77, 936 7,426 13, 973
30______ 94, 923 9,018 85, 905 78,345 7, 560 12,814
31______ 94,781 8, 530 86,251 78, 488 7, 763 11,848
32______ 94, 630 8,233 86, 397 78,448 7,949 11,116
33.......... 94,467 8,030 86,437 78, 225 8,212 10,863
3 4 ........... 94, 295 7,921 86,374 77,909 8,465 10,938
35............ 94, 111 7,811 86,300 77, 584 8, 716 11, Oil
36______ 93, 915 7,701 86, 214 77,162 9,052 11,082
37______ 93, 703 7,590 86,113 76, 641 9, 472 11,151
38______ 93, 475 7,478 85, 997 76,107 9,890 11,217
39............. 93, 229 7, 458 85, 771 75,478 10,293 11,188
40______ 92, 963 7,437 85, 526 74,835 10,691 11,156
41______ 92, 675 7,414 85,261 74,092 11,169 11,121
42............. 92,363 7,389 84,974 73, 248 11, 726 11,084
43______ 92,025 7,362 84,663 72, 387 12,276 11,043
44______ 91, 659 7, 333 84,326 71, 508 12,818 10,999
45______ 91, 264 7,301 83,963 70, 529 13,434 10, 952
46______ 90, 836 7, 267 83, 569 69,446 14,123 10,900
47______ 90, 376 7,230 83,146 68,346 14,800 10, 845
48______ 89,880 7,190 82,690 67, 227 15,463 10, 786
49______ 89. 349 7,148 82,201 66,090 16, 111 10,722
50______ 88, 783 7,103 81,680 64. 936 16, 744 10,654
51............. 88,176 7,054 81,122 63, 681 17, 441 10, 581
52_____
87. 526 7, 002 80, 524 62, 406 18,118 10, 503
53........... 86,829 6, 946 79,883 61,031 18, 852 10, 420
54.......... 86, 081 6,886 79,195 59, 555 19, 640 10, 330
55______ 85,280 6,822 78,458 57,902 20, 556 10,234
56... ... 84, 421 6, 754 77,667 56, 231 21,436 10,130
57______ 83,498 6,680 76,818 54, 541 22, 277 10, 020
58______ 82, 507 6,601 75,906 52,831 23,075 9, 900
59______ 81, 442 6,515 74, 927 51,100 23,827 9, 773
60______ 80,298 6,424 73,874 49,200 24, 674 9, 636
61______ 79,074 6,326 72,748 46,922 25,826 9,489
62............ 77, 763 6, 221 71, 542 44, 571 26, 971 9,332
63______ 76, 365 6,109 70, 256 42,224 28,032 9,164
64______ 74,880 5,990 68, 890 40,025 28,865 8, 896
65 a n d
over 1,108,266 88,661 1,019, 605 371,136 648, 469 132, 550
I —Introduction
C e r t a i n d e m o g r a p h i c f a c t o r s — marriage, birth
of children,widowhood, and divorce— affect the size
and composition of the female work force. Mar
riage and the birth of children have been found
to be the principal factors causing women to leave
the work force or to be out of the work force at
certain ages, according to statistical tables of
working l f for women recently developed by the
ie
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Because women have become an increasingly
significant proportion of our labor force— nearly
one-third of a l workers in 1955 were women—
l
a knowledge of their patterns of working l f and
ie
the relationship between work, marriage, and
child raising i essential to an understanding of
s
the problems of women workers. It i equally
s
vital in economic analysis of this significant seg
ment of the Nation’ human resources. It i
s
s
useful in analyzing labor force trends among
women under various economic conditions; in
estimating potential expansion of the female
labor force under a mobilization situation; in
estimating prospective losses in certain occupa
tions resulting from marriage and retirement;
and in providing a basic tool for pension system
planning.
To provide an analytical framework for the
study of working characteristics of women, the
B L S statistical tables of working l f for women
ie
were prepared.1 Perhaps the two most significant
conclusions that ma y be drawn from these data
are: (1) that marriage and the presence of children
are the most important factors tending to keep
women out of the work force; and (2) that women
are apt to seek reemployment when their children
reach school age and their family responsibilities
2
Total
With
Mar
ried, Other Never With chil
hus mari moth chil dren
dren 5 years
band tal
pres status er under 5 and
years over
ent
8
270
1,705
4,419
10,010
17,696
26,922
35, 217
41,376
44,924
47,405
49,174
50,654
52,179
52,887
52,071
49,481
46,231
43,198
40, 280
37, 573
34, 520
31, 554
28,590
25,627
22, 558
19, 585
16, 626
13, 766
11,430
9, 276
7,053
5,265
3,825
2,646
1,644
817
9
119
i 125
i 587
i 571
11,237
1,500
1,908
3,188
5,817
8,350
10,818
12,990
14, 535
16,408
19,318
23, 610
28,172
32,033
35, 294
37,863
40, 769
43, 578
46,372
49,153
52,025
54, 785
57, 514
60,124
62,190
64,051
65, 958
67, 404
68,476
69,258
69,835
70, 209
70, 541
70,021
69, 463
68,865
68,224
67, 537
66, 798
66,006
65,154
64, 238
63,259
62, 210
61,092
59, 904
887,056
1 The estimates shown for women aged 15 through 19 with children over 5
are overstated because of the method of computation. They are obtained by
subtracting the number of women who have children under 5 from the num
ber who have ever borne a child—the only feasible way to derive these data.
Because the number with children under 5 excludes child deaths while the
number with children ever borne includes all child deaths, the number with
children over 5 is overstated.
> Data for age 65 and over represent the cumulative total of women in the
hypothetical birth group of 100,000 who are still alive at each year of age after
65.
N o t e .—Figures derived from data of U. S. Bureau of the Census and Na
tional Office of Vital Statistics. Minor incongruities arise in the figures
because of the methods of computation and because most of the data for single
years of age had to be adapted from data for 5-year age groups.
1 For similar tables previously developed for men, see Tables of Working
Life: Length of Working Life for Men, BLS Bull. 1001, August 1950. Also
see Changes in Working Life of Men, 1900 to 2000, Monthly Labor Review,
March 1955 (p. 297).
(i)
2
are somewhat diminished. This tendency of
women to reenter the work force at later ages i
s
heightened by the need to support themselves as
more of them become widowed or divorced.
Stationary Population
In order to determine how such factors as age,
marriage, and presence of children affect the pro
pensity of women to work outside the home, the
entire female population must f r t be described
is
in terms of these important demographic char
acteristics. A so-called “stationary population”
(table 1)— adapted from the actuarial technique
of measuring l f expectancy— was chosen as a
ie
convenient tool to show the effect of these factors.
The stationary population i an estimate of
s
the number of women surviving at each age
(beginning at age 14) from a hypothetical group
of 100,000 g r babies born alive. This estimate i
il
s
based on the assumption that the actual 1950
death rates of women in the United States at
each age had been experienced by those in the
hypothetical group. B y using this statistical
device instead of actual population data, i i
t s
possible to isolate the effects of mortality; thus,
differences in the numbers of women at each age
shown in table 1 are due solely to the effects of
mortality. In the actual population, because of
variations in the level of births and in immigra
tion from year to year, there might be, for example
more 40-year-old women than 30-year-old w o m e n ;
but the use of the stationary population eliminates
the effect of such variations on the size of the
age groups. The composition of this population
classified by marital and child status i based
s
upon the assumption that marriage rates, birth
rates, and death rates of the selected year— in
this case, 1950— remain constant throughout the
lifetime of any group of 100,000 g r babies born
il
alive annually for an indefinite period.
In the preparation of table 1 the stationary
,
population i classified into several categories
s
according to marital and child status in each age
group. The proportions of the stationary popu
lation who are single (column 3) and married
(column 4) are derived by applying the actual
1950 percentages. The married women (
“ever
married” in the table) are classified into those
with husbands present (column 5) and those who
are not living with their husbands (
“other marital
status” in the table) because of separation, divorce,
or widowhood (column 6). They are further
classified on the basis of motherhood: those who
never had children (column 7); those with children
under 5 years of age (column 8); and those with
children 5 years of age and over (column 9).
The statistics in table 1 relate the age of each
surviving group to such demographic characteris
tics as marriage, birth of children, and widowhood
and divorce. It i , in a sense, a demographic l f
s
ie
history of the hypothetical group of 100,000 g r
il
T
able
2.
—Labor force participation rates by marital status
and presence of children, 1950
Year of
age
All
wom
en
Sin
gle
wom
en
1
2
Ever married by pres
ence or absence of
husband
3
14_________
15_________
16.... ............ .
17_________
18_________
19_________
20_________
21_________
22_________
23................ .
24_________
25_________
26__.............
27...........
28_________
29_________
30_________
31________ _
32_________
33________
34_________
35_________
36_________
37________ _
38_________
39............. .
40_________
41_________
42_________
43_________
44_________
45_________
46_________
47_________
48..................
49_________
50_________
51...............
52...............
53_________
54________
5 ________
5
56..................
57_________
58...................
59_________
60_________
61_________
62_________
63.............
64_________
65 and over1.
4.1
6.4
13.0
22.3
40.1
47.3
46.9
45.3
43.6
41.0
38.3
35.5
33.2
32.1
31.5
30.9
30.6
30.7
30.9
31.2
31.8
32.4
33.0
33.7
34.5
35.3
35.9
36.2
36.3
36.2
36.0
35.7
35.3
34.8
34.2
33.4
32.4
31.4
30.5
29.5
28.5
27.5
26.4
25.4
24.4
23.4
22.4
21.4
20.4
19.3
18.0
7.8
Ever married by
child status
Mar
With
ried, Other Never chil
Total hus marital mother dren
band status
under 5
years
present
4.1
6.3
12.8
22.7
45.7
60.7
66.0
71.0
74.0
77.0
78.5
79.5
80.3
80.4
80.3
80.0
79.3
78.7
78.1
77.6
77.1
76.6
76.3
76.0
75.9
75.8
75.8
75.6
75.3
74.9
74.5
74.0
73.4
72.7
71.8
70.9
69.9
68.8
67.7
66.5
65.2
63.8
62.3
60.7
59.0
57.2
55.2
53.0
50.6
47.8
44.5
19.7
1 footnote 2, table 1
See
.
4
8.2
12.8
16.6
19.9
22.8
25.2
27.5
28.9
30.4
29.6
28.2
26.0
25.4
24.9
25.1
25.2
25.6
25.9
26.4
27.0
27.7
28.4
29.3
30.2
31.2
32.1
32.4
32.9
32.9
32.8
32.7
32.4
32.0
31.5
30.9
30.1
29.1
28.1
27.3
26.3
25.3
24.3
23.3
22.3
21.4
20.5
19.5
18.7
17.8
16.8
15.7
6.8
5
4.2
10.5
14.4
17.9
20.8
23.3
25.6
26.9
28.3
27.2
25.6
23.3
22.4
21.8
21.8
21.8
22.0
22.3
22.7
23.2
23.8
24.4
25.1
25.8
26.7
27.4
27.6
27.8
27.6
27.4
27.1
26.6
26.0
25.3
24.5
23.5
22.5
21.3
20.0
18.7
17.4
16. 0
14.6
13.4
12.3
11.3
10. 2
9.0
8.1
7.2
6.6
4.5
6
14.0
20.8
27.2
32.4
37.6
42.0
46.0
49.4
52.2
54.2
55.6
56.8
57.8
58.8
59.7
60.5
61.2
61.9
62.6
63.2
63.8
64.4
65.0
65.6
66.2
66.4
66.3
65.7
65.1
64.0
62.9
61.8
60.6
59.2
57.8
56.4
54.9
53.4
51.9
50.4
48.9
47.3
45.7
43.7
41.5
39.3
37.1
34.9
32. 5
30. 5
28. 5
7.8
7
8.2
14.1
20.6
25.8
32.6
38.9
51.5
53.0
53.5
53.7
54.0
54.0
54.5
54.5
54.3
53.5
52.3
51.3
50.8
50.2
49.8
48.9
48.3
47.8
47.2
46.7
46.2
45.6
44.8
44.0
43.0
42.0
41.0
40.0
38.6
37.5
36.2
35.0
33.7
32.5
31.2
30.0
28.8
27.5
26.3
25.0
23.8
22.8
2 .7
1
20. 5
19.2
8.3
With
chil
dren
5 years
and
over
8
5.6
7.6
9.2
10.0
11.5
12.8
13.3
13.4
13.3
13.1
12.6
12.2
11.9
11.7
11.5
11.3
11.2
11.1
11.1
11.1
11.2
11.2
11.4
11.5
11.8
12.0
12.3
12.6
12.9
13.3
13.7
14.1
14.6
15.1
15.2
9
'S3
'£ 5.3
16.0
25.0
29.0
31.6
36.6
37.8
38.8
38.6
37.6
36.6
35.8
35.2
34.4
33.6
32.8
32.1
31.7
31.9
32.3
32.7
33.0
33.0
32.9
32.7
32.5
32.0
31.7
31.2
30.4
29.8
29.0
28.4
27.8
27.0
26.4
25.6
24.8
24.0
23.2
22.6
21.6
20.8
20.0
19.2
18.3
17.5
16.7
15! 8
14.8
6.4
3
babies born alive in 1950. B y age 14, over 96,000
are alive and nearly a l of them are single. Be
l
tween ages 14 and 20, half of the group get mar
ried; the highest marriage rates are attained at
ages 18 and 19. The proportion of women who
are single drops from 87 percent at age 17 to 50
percent at age 20. About 90 percent of the mar
ried women at age 20 are living with their hus
bands and the remainder are separated, widowed,
or divorced. Three-fifths of the married women
at this age have children.
T
able
3.
—Stationary female labor force by marital status
and presence of children, 1950
Year of
age
All
wom
en
Sin
gle
wom
en
1
2
Ever married by pres
ence or absence of
husband
3
Mar
With
ried, Other Never chil
Total hus marital mother dren
band status
under 5
present
years
4
14................... 3, 955 3,900 55
15.................- 6,170 5, 923 247
16.............. 12, 524 11, 580 944
17............— - 21, 467 18, 881 2, 586
18............— - 38, 572 33, 265 5,307
19............. 45, 459 36,377 9,082
20----- --------- 45,034 31,687 13,347
21............— . 43, 457 26, 359 17,098
22_________ 41, 785 21,347 20, 438
23___ ____- 39, 252 17, 618 21, 634
24_________ 36, 628 14, 865 21, 763
25............— - 33, 928 13,139 20, 789
26............— . 31, 699 10,880 20,819
27............. — 30, 593 9,808 20, 785
28— .......— . 30,029 8, 790 21, 239
29............. .... 29,420 7,909 21, 511
30— ............ . 29,046 7,076 21,970
31............— - 29,098 6, 713 22,385
32_________ 29,287 6,503 22, 784
33............. — 29, 496 6,158 23,338
34_________ 29, 986 6,034 23,952
35.................. 30, 420 5,911 24, 509
36..............— 31,065 5,804 25, 261
37............. .... 31, 703 5,697 26,006
38................... 32, 507 5,676 26,831
39............. 33,185 5, 653 27, 532
40_________ 33,374 5,637 27, 737
41............. — 33, 641 5,605 28,036
42_________ 33, 528 5,564 27, 964
43............. 33,313 5, 514 27, 799
44___ _____ 32,997 5,463 27, 534
45.................. 32, 581 5,403 27,178
46............— 32,065 5,334 26, 731
47.......... ........ 31,451 5,256 26,195
48............. 30, 739 5,162 25, 577
49............. .... 29, 843 5,068 24, 775
50.................. 28, 766 4, 965 23,801
51................... 27, 687 4,853 22,834
52_________ 26, 695 4,740 21,955
53................... 25,615 4,619 20,996
54................... 24, 533 4,490 20,043
55.................. 23, 452 4, 352 19,100
56............. . 22, 287 4,208 18,079
57................... 21, 208 4,055 17,153
58............... . 20,132 3,895 16, 237
59................... 19,057 3, 727 15,330
60............. . 17, 987 3, 546 14, 441
61_________ 16, 922 3, 353 13, 569
62................... 15, 864 3,148 12, 716
63_________ 14, 738 2, 920 11,818
64_________ 13, 462 2, 666 10,802
65 and over2. 86, 445 17, 466 68,979
1 See footnote 1, table 1.
2 See footnote 2, table 1.
418489— 57------- 2
Ever married by
child status
5
17
156
673
1,997
4,283
7, 553
11,293
14, 467
17,314
18,148
18,030
16,883
16, 792
16, 614
16,895
17, 018
17,348
17, 570
17,813
18, 569
18, 545
18,896
19, 377
19, 792
20,284
20, 697
20,650
20,672
20,299
19, 911
19, 444
18, 841
18,135
17,386
16, 580
15,630
14, 610
13, 539
12, 521
11, 458
10, 398
9,319
8,250
7,361
6, 575
5, 845
5,121
4,332
3,710
3,101
2,638
17,122
6
38
91
271
589
1,024
1,529
2,054
2,631
3,124
3,486
3, 733
3,906
4,027
4,171
4,344
4,493
4,622
4,815
4,971
5,310
5,407
5, 613
5,884
6,214
6,547
6,835
7,087
7,364
7, 665
7,888
8,090
8,337
8, 596
8,809
8,997
9,145
9,191
9,295
9, 434
9, 538
9,645
9,781
9,829
9,792
9,662
9,485
9,320
9, 237
9,006
8, 717
8,164
51,857
7
55
231
794
2,063
4,140
6,656
9,637
11,695
13,121
12, 829
12,013
10, 706
9, 993
9,291
8, 772
8,067
7,338
6, 693
6,243
5, 998
5, 964
5,833
5,810
5,799
5,822
5,782
5,658
5, 579
5,397
5, 254
5,121
4,946
4,838
4,663
4,476
4,311
4,094
3, 882
3, 710
3, 548
3, 367
3,171
3,019
2,847
2, 679
2,499
2,354
2, 212
2,073
1,926
1, 761
11,197
8
15
130
406
1,001
2,035
3,203
4, 685
5,988
6,404
6,485
6,154
6,183
6, 298
6, 520
6, 453
6,130
5,708
5, 309
4, 924
4, 575
4,191
3,865
3, 537
3,247
2, 946
2,580
2, 243
1, 874
1, 585
1,349
1,033
802
602
435
273
With
chil
dren
5 years
and
over
9
U
120
1117
1166
1391
507
718
1,328
2,401
3,264
3,929
4, 643
5,196
5, 947
6,991
8, 502
9,984
11, 232
12, 416
13, 413
14,485
15, 586
16, 670
17, 762
18,804
19, 499
20,214
20,693
20,960
21,064
21,199
21, 091
20, 930
20, 666
20,192
19, 707
18,952
18, 245
17,448
16, 676
15, 929
15,060
143,06
13, 558
12,831
12,087
11,357
10,643
9,892
9,041
57, 782
Between ages 20 and 35, childbearing i the most
s
significant demographic characteristic of women.
The number and proportion of women with pre
school children reaches a maximum in their late
twenties with well over half of a l women in ages
l
24 to 30 having preschool children. After age 35,
the birthrate and the number of women with pre
school children diminish sharply. Age 35 also
marks the period when an increasing number of
women become widows. W o m e n in the other
marital status group comprise less than 10 per
cent of the ever-married population up to 35, but
16 percent at age 45. Thereafter this group
grows rapidly because of widowhood. B y age 64,
42 percent of a l women in the ever-married popu
l
lation are in the other marital status group.
After age 50, death rates rise rapidly. In the
36-year period between ages 14 and 50, mortality
reduces the stationary population by about 7,000,
but in the 15 years between ages 50 and 65, the
stationary population i reduced by about twice
s
this number. Despite the higher mortality rates
after age 50, almost 75,000 of the hypothetical
group of 100,000 g rl babies are s i l alive at age 64.
i
tl
Labor Force Participation Rates
The foregoing statistical description of the
demographic characteristics of a l women in the
l
stationary population provides a framework for
the analysis of the characteristics of working
women. To discover to what extent family re
sponsibilities affect the propensity of women to
work outside the home, i i necessary to deter
t s
mine what proportion of women in each of the
age, marital, and motherhood categories are work
ing. Table 2 presents such labor force participa
tion rates, or worker rates, for each of the cate
gories used in table 1 for the period 1950. A
worker rate i the proportion of a l the persons
s
l
in a particular demographic classification who are
in the labor force— that i , working for pay or
s
profit or looking for such work.2 For example,
the worker rate of 26 percent shown in the table
for 46-year-old married women with husbands
present means that 26 out of 100 women in this
category are in the labor force.
2 For a more complete discussion of labor force definition, see Concepts
and Methods Used in Current Labor Force Statistics, Current Population
Reports, Series P-23, No. 2, U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, 1954.
4
All three of the major demographic factors used
in this analysis— age, marital status, and presence
of children— significantly affect the propensity of
women to work. Considering age only, the worker
rate quickly reaches i s peak at age 19, and then
t
declines through age 30, when i starts to rise
t
again. Beginning at about age 41 or 42, the rates
decline again and continue to f l thereafter.
al
A n examination of overall labor force participa
tion rates of the female population at each age
by marital and child status shows that age i
s
not the controlling factor. Actually, in the
middle years— 18 through 44— the influence of
age alone on worker rates i not of primary
s
importance. The range of variation in worker
rates for each of the marital and child status
groups i considerably less than for the combined
s
worker rates for a l women. Marriage and having
l
children are the major determinants of labor force
activity.
Because single women generally work to
support themselves and because in most cases
their home responsibilities are less than those of
married women, the worker rate for single women
in each age group i much higher than for married
s
women. It reaches a peak of about 80 percent in
the late twenty age group— a rate close to that
for single men at that age. (Both of these rates
are below those for married men at the same age,
probably because both men and women who at
this age are unable to work tend to remain single.)
The continuous decline between ages 19 and 30 in
the worker rates for a l women, which occurs
l
despite the increasing worker rate for single
women and those in other marital status, i simply
s
due to the increasing proportion of married women.
Beginning at age 20, presence or absence of
young children also increasingly affects the overall
worker rates. The worker rates for married
women with and without young children illustrate
the influence of this factor in keeping women out
of the labor force; at age 20, the rate for married
women without children i over 4 times as high
s
as for married women with children under 5
.
Labor force participation rates for married women
reach an i i i l peak of about 30 percent at age
nta
2 2 ,when about one-third of the married women
have no children, but drop to 22 percent between
the ages of 25 and 30 when the proportion of
married women with no children declines to about
20 percent.
Chart 1. Stationary Female Population and Labor
force, 1950
Changes in female worker rates which occur
between ages 30 and 40 provide additional
evidence that age i less important than the
s
presence of children in determining the worker
rates for a l women. Worker rates for a l women
l
l
rise from about 31 percent at age 30 to 36 percent
5
centage points below those for women without
children.
Although the factor of age on worker rates i
s
heavily outweighed, in the middle-age range, by
the effects of marital status and presence of
children, i has a major influence at both ends
t
of the age range— among girls under 18 and
women over 45. The overall worker rates for
gi l under 18 are low, rising to only 22.3 percent
rs
at age 17— primarily because most girls at this
age are in school, and partly because those who
are not in school tend to have more limited
employment opportunities than older women.
Beginning at about age 40, worker rates for a l
l
women and for each of the subcategories, except
for those with children under 5 begin to decline
,
steadily. One of the most important factors in
this decline i that higher proportions of older
s
women are unable to work for physical reasons.
Another i that women past middle age, unlike
s
younger women, tend not to reenter the labor
force, or find difficulty in getting a job, and
eventually stop trying.
The effect of economic pressures on worker
rates i indicated by a comparison of worker rates
s
for married women with no children and women
in other marital status, many of w h o m have young
children. The worker rates for married women
with no children are lower than for women in
other marital status at every age except those
prior to age 22, probably because many women
who are not living with their husbands have to
work even when they have young children.
The Stationary Female Labor Force
at age 40, because about 60 percent of the married
women at age 30 have children under 5 while at
,
age 40 only about 20 percent have children
under 5 Worker rates for married women with
.
children under 5 which range narrowly between
,
10 and 15 percent, indicate that the presence of
children of preschool age i the predominant
s
factor in keeping women, regardless of their age,
out of the labor force. The presence of older
children i also important in keeping women out
s
of the labor force— the worker rates for women
with children over 5 are generally 10 to 20 per
The actual number of women, by age, marital
status, and presence of children, who are in the
stationary labor force i determined by multiply
s
ing the total number of women in these respective
categories in the stationary population (table 1
)
by their corresponding labor force participation
rates (table 2). The result i the stationary female
s
labor force by age, marital status, and presence
of children (table 3). B y combining the effects
of the size of female population groups and
worker rates, the composition of the stationary
female labor force for 1950 i obtained.
s
As noted e r i r the stationary population i
ale,
s
based on an assumption that 100,000 g rl babies
i
6
are born each y e a r fo r an in defin ite period o f
tim e and th a t the m arriage rates, birthrates, and
death rates o f 1950 w ill rem ain constant through
out their lifetim e. I n com pu tin g the sta tion a ry
labor force, one m ore assumption is m ade— that
the w ork er rates fo r each m a rita l and child status
group w ill rem ain at 1950 levels throu ghou t the
lifetim e o f these wom en. T h e figures in ta b le 3
m a y be considered as the num ber o f su rvivors o f
the h yp o th etica l 100,000 girl babies a t each age
and in each m a rita l and presence-of-children
classification w h o w ould be in the la b o r force.
A lth o u gh single w om en h a ve re la tiv e ly high
w ork er rates a t e v e ry age, th e y com prise a m a jo r
it y o f the w om en w orkers o n ly up to age 22
(ch art 1). Th ereafter, m arried w om en furnish
the grea ter num ber in the fem ale la b o r force,
although th eir w ork er rates are much lo w er than
those fo r single w om en. O v e r three-fourths o f
all w om en w orkers a t age 30 com e fro m the ranks
o f the m arried w om en.
B egin n in g a t about age 30, the decline in the
proportion o f m arried w om en w ith preschool chil
dren g re a tly affects the size and characteristics o f
the fem ale labor force (ch art 2). A t age 30,
alm ost three-fifths o f the m arried w om en in the
sta tion a ry popu lation h ave children under 5, but
this group o n ly accounts fo r about one-fourth o f
the w o rk fo rce because o f ,th eir r e la tiv e ly lo w
w ork er rates. B y age 40, w om en w ith children
under 5 h ave decreased to about one-fou rth o f
the m arried popu lation, w h ile those w ith children
o v e r 5, w ho h a ve re la tiv e ly h igh er w o rk er rates,
had increased to tw o-th irds o f the m arried p opu
lation. A s a result, 70 percen t o f the m arried
la b o r force at age 40 consists o f m arried w om en
w ith children o v e r 5. A lso, as w ou ld be expected,
the increase in th e num ber o f w om en w ith chil
dren o v e r 5 brings abou t an increase in the size
o f the fem ale w o rk force.
T h e increase in the size o f the o th er m a rita l
status group also begins to affect the la b o r force
a fter age 40. A t this age, the o th er m a rita l sta
tus group comprises abou t one-eighth o f the m ar
ried fem ale population, and one-fourth o f the
m arried w ork force. B y age 55, abou t one-fou rth
o f all m arried w om en are w idow ed, divorced, o r
separated, bu t m ake up 50 percen t o f the m arried
w ork force. D esp ite the num erical increase in
th e size o f this group o f w om en, w ho h a ve a much
grea ter ten den cy to be in th e la b o r fo rce than
m arried w om en w ith husbands present, the effects
o f oth er factors such as d isa b ility and v o lu n ta ry
w ith d ra w a l fro m the w o rk force cause the con tin
ued decline in th eir w ork fo rce p a rticip atio n a fter
age 55.
I I — W o r k L ife E x p e c ta n c y a n d
A c c e s s io n a n d
S e p a r a tio n R a t e s
A l t h o u g h there is no ty p ic a l p a ttern o f w ork in g
life fo r w om en, estim ates o f the num ber o f years
o f w ork lik e ly to be perform ed b y each age grou p
in the fem ale popu lation can be d evelop ed on the
basis o f experience. In m a k in g such estim ates,
it m ust b e assumed th a t each age grou p in the
fem ale popu lation w ill experience, du ring the re
m ain ing years o f life, the la b o r fo rce p a rticip ation
rates shown fo r each age a t a particu lar tim e— in
this analysis, 1950.
Work Life Expectancy of the Female Population
W o r k life ex pectan cy fo r w om en a t a n y age,
e. g., 20-year-old w om en, is d erived b y cu m u lating
the sta tion a ry fem ale la b o r force 3 a t all ages
o v e r 20 to obtain the a ggregate num ber o f m anyears th a t 20-year-old w om en in the sta tion a ry
popu lation can be expected to w ork during the
rest o f th eir lives. T h is a ggregate d ivid ed b y the
sta tion a ry popu lation a t age 20 w ill y ie ld average
w o rk life expectan cy fo r 20-year-old w om en.
Because the a verage num ber o f years o f w ork
rem ainin g fo r w om en is com pu ted fro m the ex
perience o f all w om en, in clu ding those in the
la b or force fo r a y e a r or tw o and those n ever in
the la b or force, the w ork life p oten tia l fo r w om en
estim ated in this w a y is abou t one-fou rth o f their
life expectancy. F o r exam ple, the a verage life
expectan cy o f w om en a t age 20 is an addition al
54 years, and a verage rem ainin g years o f w ork
life is 15 years.
(See table 4 and chart 3.)
T h ereafter, w ork life expectan cy decreases b y
about one-third o f a y e a r fo r each y e a r o f age.
B y age 30, w ork life expectan cy and average
rem aining years drop to 11 and 44 years, re
s p e ctively— still about one-fou rth o f the rem ainin g
years o f life. B y age 40, about on e-fifth o f the
35 rem ainin g years o f life w ou ld be spent in the
w ork force; a t 60, h ow ever, the average w o rk life
p oten tia l is 2 years, about one-tenth o f the re
m ain ing years o f life.
I t m ust be em phasized th a t w ork life expectan cy
is in no sense a measure o f the len gth o f tim e m ost
w om en w ill spend in the la b o r force, because the
a verage includes w om en w ho w ork all their adult
3 For definition of tlie stationary female labor force, see page 5.
lives and w om en w ho n ever w o rk a t all, w om en
w ho m a rry and those w ho rem ain single, and
those w ho h ave children and those w ho do not.
T h e measure o f w ork life p o ten tia l is useful fo r
eva lu a tin g the w o rk life p o ten tia l o f the fem ale
popu lation under differen t social and econom ic
circumstances. F o r exam ple, w ork life expect
an cy in 1950— a period o f re la tiv e ly high econom ic
a c tiv ity — can be com pared w ith th a t fo r 1940— a
period o f considerably m ore u nem ploym en t and
lo w e r econom ic a c tiv ity . W o r k life p o ten tia l o f
w om en in differen t countries can be com pared in
order to evalu ate the re la tiv e econom ic contribu
tion o f w om en in term s o f expected m an-years o f
w ork.
Effect of Marriage on Working Life.
F o r you n g
single wom en, chances o f m arriage and o f h avin g
children are the m ost im p orta n t factors in de
term inin g w ork life expectancy. T h e o verrid in g
effect o f m arriage and o f b irth o f children on the
w ork life patterns o f w om en can be illu strated
b y com paring the w o rk life expectan cy o f single
w om en w ith th a t o f all w om en w ho h a ve ever
been m arried, a t three differen t ages: age 14,
w hen alm ost all w om en are single; age 20, the
average age a t w hich w om en m a rry ; and age 30,
a fter w hich re la tiv e ly fe w w om en m arry. F o r
this com parison, estim ates o f the a verage rem ain
in g years o f w ork h ave been prepared fo r single
w om en a t each age, allow in g fo r the chances o f
m arriage a fter th a t age. T h e w o rk life p o ten tia l
o f single w om en a t a n y age is com pu ted to include
those years o f w o rk w hich th e y m a y p erfo rm a fter
m arriage.
Because v irtu a lly all w om en are single a t age
14, the w ork life expectan cy o f single w om en a t
th a t age is about the same as the w ork life
expectan cy o f all w om en — 16 years (ch art 3).
E v e n a t age 20, the 15-year w ork life expectan cy
o f single w om en is about the same as fo r all wom en.
B etw een ages 20 and 30, the w ork life p oten tia l
o f single w om en increases because the chances o f
m arriage decrease fo r those rem aining unm arried
at each succeeding age. F o r single w om en at age
30, w ork life p oten tia l is tw ice as h igh as fo r
m arried w om en a t the same age— 21.6 years as
com pared w ith 9.7. T w o reasons fo r this sharp
difference are: (1) their labor fo rce attach m ent is
lik e ly to be continuous because th eir chances o f
m arriage a fter age 30 are v e r y lo w ; and (2) a large
p roportion o f such w om en are in the labor force
()
7
8
b o th 'b eca u se o f econom ic necessity and because
th e y h a ve few er housekeeping responsibilities than
m arried w om en o f the same age. T h is differen tial
continues throughout the rest o f the age span.
A t age 64, the rem ainin g life tim e fo r all w om en is
16 years and a t th at age, single w om en on the
a verage w ill spend about one-fifth o f their rem ain
in g lifetim e in the w ork force, w hile m arried
w om en w ill spend less than one-tenth o f their
rem ainin g lifetim e a t w ork. I t should be rem em
bered that this figure is n ot a w ork life expectan cy
fo r those at w ork— it is the w ork life p o ten tia l
expressed in term s o f an a verage num ber o f
m an-years o f w ork rem ainin g fo r the fem ale
population, w hich includes m a n y persons w ho are
n ot in the w ork force.
Effect oj Presence of Husband on Working Life.
In addition to the differences in w o rk life poten tial
betw een m arried and single wom en, there are
differences w ith in the ever-m arried group betw een
m arried w om en liv in g w ith their husbands and all
oth er w om en w ho h a ve ever been m arried, i. e.,
w idow ed, divorced, or separated. F o r technical
reasons, it is difficult to com pu te w o rk life expect
ancy fo r m arried w om en liv in g w ith th eir hus
bands; h ow ever, rou gh estim ates in dicate th a t
w ork life expectan cy fo r ever-m arried w om en is
n ot significan tly d ifferen t fro m th at fo r m arried
w om en liv in g w ith th eir husbands because m ost
m arried w om en are in the la tte r ca tego ry up to
age 40. T h erefore, in the fo llo w in g discussion,
the com parison is m ade
betw een w idow ed,
divorced, or separated w om en — called “ oth er m a ri
ta l status” — and all w om en w ho h ave eve r been
m arried. T h e estim ates o f the len gth o f w ork in g
life fo r w om en in the oth er m a rita l status group do
n ot take in to account the possibilities o f rem ar
ria g e; th e y are based on the assumption th a t
w om en once in the other m a rita l status group
rem ain in th a t status fo r the rest o f their lives.
E ver-m a rried w om en gen erally h ave an average
w o rk life p o ten tia l h alf as lo n g as w om en in
oth er m arital status. A t age 20, fo r exam ple, all
m arried w om en on the average w ill spend about
12 m an-years, or about one-fifth o f their rem ainin g
lifetim e, in the w ork force, com pared w ith 24 m anyears, or o v e r tw o-fifth s o f th eir rem ainin g life
tim e, fo r w om en in oth er m a rita l status. A t age 40,
m arried w om en on the average w ill spend 7 years
o f their rem ainin g life tim e in the w o rk force, w hile
w om en in oth er m a rita l status can expect to spend
alm ost 13 years o f their rem ainin g life a t w ork.
A lth o u gh w ork life expectan cy fo r the oth er m ari-
T able 4.—Average rem
aining lifetim for all wom and a
e
en
verage num of years of w
ber
ork rem
aining, a specified ages, by
t
m
arital status, 1950
Year of age
14
______ ____
15______________ _____
16 _ _______________
17____________________
18____________________
19__ . _____ _______
20................ ............ ..........
21____________________
22 _ _________ ____
23______ _____________
24____________________
25....... ...............................
26.............. ........................
27_____ ______________
28____________________
29.......................................
30_________________—
31___ _______________
32_______________ ____
33____________________
34___ ________________
35_______ ____ ________
36____ _______________
37______ _____________
38____________________
39____________________
N o t e .—
Average number of years of work
Average
remaining
remaining
lifetime
All
Ever
Other
for all
Single
women women women married marital
(in years)
status
59.49
58.52
57.56
56.60
55.64
54.68
53.73
52.78
51.83
50.88
49.94
48.99
48.04
47.10
46.16
45.22
44.28
43.34
42.41
41.48
40. 55
39.63
38. 71
37.79
36.88
35.97
15.8
15.8
15.7
15.6
15.4
15.0
14.5
14.1
13.6
13.2
12.8
12.4
12.1
11.8
11.5
11.2
10.9
10.6
10.3
10.0
9.7
9.4
9.1
8.8
8.5
8.2
16.0
16.0
15.8
15.6
15.5
15.2
15.1
15.4
16.0
16.9
17.8
18.3
19.0
20.1
20.4
20.9
21.6
21.9
21.6
21.4
21.1
20.6
20.1
19.6
19.0
18.3
13.2
13.2
13.0
12.9
12.7
12.5
12.2
12.0
11.7
11.4
11.1
10.9
10.6
10.4
10.1
9.9
9.7
9.4
9.2
8.9
8.7
8.4
8.1
7.9
7.6
7.3
25.8
25.6
25.4
25.2
24.9
24.5
24.1
23.7
23.2
22.7
22.2
21.7
21.1
20.6
20.0
19.4
18.9
18.3
17.7
17.1
16.5
15.9
15.3
14.6
14.0
13.4
Year of age
40_________ ____ ______
41____________________
42____________________
43____________________
44_________________ _
45____________________
46____________________
47____________________
48____________________
49____________________
50____________________
51____________________
52____________________
53____________________
54____________________
55____________________
56____________________
57___________ _________
58 ......................................
59________ ____ _______
60____________________
61____________________
62_______ ____________
63____________________
64 .....................................
Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office of Vital Statistics.
Average number of years of work
Average
remaining
rp.mn.inin g
lifetime
All
for all
Single
Ever
Other
women women women married marital
(in years)
status
35.06
34.17
33. 28
32.39
31. 51
30.64
29.78
28.92
28.07
27.23
26.40
25. 57
24. 75
23.93
23.13
22.33
21. 55
20. 77
20.00
19. 25
18.50
17.77
17.05
16.34
15.64
7.8
7.5
7.1
6.8
6.5
6.1
5.8
5.5
5.2
4.9
4.5
4.3
4.0
3.7
3.4
3.2
2.9
2.7
2.5
2.3
2.0
1.8
1.7
1.5
1.3
17.6
16.9
16.2
15.5
14.8
14.1
13.4
12.8
12.1
11.4
10.8
10.2
9.6
9.0
8.4
7.8
7.2
6.7
6.1
5.6
5.1
4.6
4.2
3.7
3.3
7.0
6.7
6.4
6.1
5.8
5.4
5.1
4.9
4.6
4.3
4.0
3.7
3.5
3.2
3.0
2.8
2.6
2.3
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.5
1.3
1.2
12.8
12.1
11.5
10.9
10.3
9.7
9.2
8.6
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.1
4.6
4.2
3.8
3.4
3.0
2.6
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.4
9
ta l status group is n ea rly tw ice as lo n g as fo r all
m arried w om en a t age 40, it is o n ly tw o-th irds o f
the w ork life expectan cy o f single w om en a t the
same age.
Work Life Expectancy of the Labor Force
W o r k life expectan cy o f the fem ale la b or force
pertains to the average num ber o f years th a t
w ork in g w om en in specific age and m a rita l status
groups w ill spend in the la b or force. T h is concept
differs sh arply fro m the w o rk life expectan cy o f
the fem ale popu lation discussed in the previous
section. T h e la tte r is an a verage referrin g to all
those in the popu lation in clu ding those a t w ork
and those n ot a t w ork. T h e measure o f w ork
life expectan cy o f the la b or fo rce is, o f course,
alw ays su bstan tially larger a t corresponding ages
than the w ork life expectan cy o f the w h ole fem ale
population.
T h e len gth o f tim e th a t w ork in g w om en w ill
continue to w o rk is o f grea t interest in pension
planning, and in determ in ing personnel policies,
as w ell as in m easuring the socioeconom ic status
o f the fem ale population. T h e m easurem ent o f
w ork life, h ow ever, is much m ore com plicated fo r
w om en than fo r men 4 because the w ork careers
o f w om en ty p ic a lly are in terru pted b y periods o f
hom em akin g and childraising. F o r men, w ork
careers are gen era lly continuous and it is reason
able to assume th a t the age-to-age decreases in
the w ork er rates reflect m a in ly the effect o f dis
abilities and retirem ents. Because men ty p ic a lly
sta y in the labor force u ntil disabled or retired,
their w ork life expectan cy can be com pu ted from
the pattern o f w orker rates b y age.
W o m en o v e r 50 years o f age liv e lon ger than
m en, b u t spend less tim e in the labor force and
therefore spend a considerably lon ger p eriod o f
their lives outside the la b or force.
(See table 5.)
T h e life expectan cy o f the fem ale w o rk force a t age
50 is about 26 years, as com pared w ith a w o rk life
ex pectan cy o f 14 years, lea vin g about 12 years in
retirem ent. T h is com pares w ith a life expectan cy
o f 23 years fo r 50-year-old m ale workers, a w ork
life ex pectan cy o f 17 years, and a 6-year period o f
retirem ent.
(T h ese figures are averages— th e y
include persons w ho stop w ork in th eir fifties as
w ell as those w ho w ork u ntil th e y die.) E v e n at
age 60, w ork in g w om en can still expect to liv e 18.5
years and to w o rk about 9 years, le a v in g alm ost 10
years in retirem ent, com pared w ith 60-year-old
men w ho h ave a life and w ork p o ten tia l o f about 16
and 10 years, resp ectively, and 6 years o f expected
retirem ent.
T h e second group o f w ork in g w om en fo r w hom
it is possible to estim ate the len gth o f w ork in g life
are the single w om en o v e r age 35, because these
w om en h ave re la tiv e ly sm all chances o f m a rryin g
and the m a jo rity are lik e ly to continue to w o rk
u ntil th e y die or retire. A t age 35, a single w ork in g
w om an can expect to liv e about 40 years and to
w ork about 27 years, lea vin g a period o f 13 years
in retirem en t (ta b le 6). T h e retirem en t life ex
p ecta n cy fo r single w om en is o v e r tw ice as lo n g as
fo r m en a t age 35. B y age 50, the a verage re tire
m ent life expectan cy fo r single w om en has declined
to 11 yea rs— still about tw ice as lo n g as fo r m en o f
the same age. T h e gap continues to n arrow and
b y age 60, the retirem en t life expectan cy fo r single
4 For a discussion of methods of estimating the length of working life for
men, see Tables of Working Life: Length of Working Life for Men, BLS
Bull. 1001, August 1950; see also Changes in Work Life of Men, 1900 to 2000,
Monthly Labor Review, March 1955 (p. 297).
10
w om en is o n ly 9 yea rs— abou t one and a h alf
tim es as h igh as fo r men.
A s has been shown in the previou s discussion,
the age p a ttern o f w ork er rates fo r w om en reflects,
in addition to disabilities and retirem ent, separa
tions from the labor force because o f m arriage, the
b irth o f children and the en try or re en try o f
w om en in to the labor force as their children
becom e older. F o r this reason, n either the age
p a ttern o f w ork er rates fo r all w om en nor the
p a ttern fo r m arried w om en can be used to measure
the effects o f d isa b ility and retirem en t in estim at
in g w o rk life expectancy.
I t is possible, h ow ever, to estim ate the len gth o f
w ork in g life fo r certain groups o f w om en whose
w o rk careers are m ore or less continuous and fo r all
wom en o v e r age 50, a fter w hich age v e r y few
w om en enter or reen ter the w o rk force. Because
a fe w w om en enter the w o rk force even a t this
re la tiv e ly la te age, the w o rk life expectan cy o f
50-year-old w ork in g w om en shown in ta b le 5 is
slig h tly overstated.
W o r k life expectan cy can also be estim ated fo r
w ork in g w om en w ho rem ain single. T h e pa ttern
o f w ork er rates o v e r age shows that m ost single
w om en w ho begin a w ork career and rem ain single,
continue to w o rk until th e y becom e disabled or
retire much in the same m anner as do men.
W o r k life expectan cy fo r these w om en is about 40
years a t age 20, considerably less than fo r m en o f
the same age despite the lon ger life expectan cy o f
wom en.
A th ird group o f w om en w hich has a m ore or less
continuous w o rk career are w om en w ho h a ve been
m arried o n ly once, w ho are liv in g w ith their
husbands and w ho do n ot h ave children. A g e -to age declines in w ork er rates fo r these w om en are
n ot a ffected b y the b irth o f children, b y the re en try
in to the w ork force o f w om en whose children reach
school age, or b y the incidence o f d ivo rce or
w idow h ood.
i Data are for all women; similar figures are not available for working
women.
N
. —Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office of
Vital Statistics.
W o r k life expectan cy fo r 20-year-old m arried
w ork in g w om en whose w o rk careers are n ot in ter
ru pted b y the birth o f children or b y d ivo rce or
w id ow h ood is about 31 years.
(See table 7.) I t
is considerably less than the 43 years fo r m en o f
the same age and the 40 years expected from w ork
in g w om en w ho rem ain single all their lives. A t
age 35, it is about 20 years, som e 7 % years less than
fo r single w om en w ho must w ork to support
themselves. A t age 50, w o rk life ex pectan cy fo r
these w om en is 11.8 years, still 3.6 years less than
fo r single w om en and 2 years less than fo r all
wom en.
W o r k life expectan cy fo r w om en w ho h ave been
m arried o n ly once, w ho are liv in g w ith th eir
T able 6.—Average remaining lifetim and average num
e
ber
T able 7.—Average rem
aining lifetim and average num of
e
ber
T able 5.—Average rem
aining lifetim and average num
e
ber
of years of w remaining for working wom , 1950
ork
en
Year of age
50____ _____ __________ ____ _______
55_____________ ___________________
60................... .............................................
Average Average Average
remaining numberofof number of
years
lifetime 1 work re years in
(in years) maining retirement
26.4
22.3
18.5
13.8
11.3
8.9
12.6
11.0
9.6
ote
of years of w
ork remaining for single working wom
en,
1950
Year of age
15________________________________
20________________________________
25_______________________________
30________________________________
35...............................................................
40_...............................................................
45______ __________________ _______
50_______ ______________________
55......................................................... .......
60.................................... -................... .
Average Average Average
remaining number of number of
lifetime 1 years of years in
(in years) work re retirement
maining
58.5
53.7
49.0
44.3
39.6
35.1
30.6
26.4
22.3
18.5
45.4
40. 5
35.7
31.2
26.7
23.2
19.0
15.4
12.1
9.1
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.1
12.9
11.9
11.6
11.0
10.2
9.4
1 Data are for all women; similar figures are not available for working
women.
N
.—Basic data from U . S. Bureau of the Census and National Office of
Vital Statistics.
ote
years of w rem
ork
aining for w
orking wom m
en, arried once,
living w their husbands, and w h ve never had a
ith
ho a
child, 1950
Year of age
20________________________________
25________________________________
30________________________________
35________________________________
40________________________________
45________________________________
50________________________________
55________________________________
60_________________________ ____
Average Average
Average number of number of
remaining years of years in
lifetime 1 work re retirement
maining
53.7
49.0
44.3
39.6
35.1
30.6
26.4
22.3
18.5
31.1
26.3
22.8
19.8
16.9
14.1
11.8
10.3
8.9
22.6
22.7
21.5
19.8
18.2
16.5
14.6
12.0
9.6
1 Data are for all women; similar figures are not available for working
women.
N
. —Basic data are from U . S. Bureau of the Census and National
Office of Vital Statistics.
ote
11
husbands and w ho do n ot h ave children is p ro b a b ly
v e r y sim ilar to th a t fo r m arried w om en w ho h ave
com pleted their fam ilies. F o r exam ple, i f a
m arried w om an reenters the w ork force at age 35
and has no m ore children, her w ork life expectancy
w ou ld p ro b a b ly be about the same as th a t fo r
m arried w om en w ho h ave no children. N e ith e r o f
these categories o f w om en is affected b y the
m ajor factors w hich cause w om en to drop out o f
the labor fo rce— g e ttin g m arried and h avin g
children. M o re o v e r, both groups o f w om en
ty p ic a lly h ave w ork in g husbands, and are in a
b etter position to stop w ork in g than are w om en
w ith ou t husbands. F o r exam ple, w om en w ith
husbands m a y stop w ork in g fo r m in or disabilities,
w hile w om en w ith o u t husbands w ou ld be forced to
continue w ork in g under the same circumstances.
Chart 4. Estimated Annual Number of Accessions
and Separations for the Female Labor Force, by
Age Group, 1950
Accession and Separation Rates
T h e same dem ographic factors w hich a ffect the
size, com position, and w orkin g life p oten tia l o f the
fem ale la b or force also influence the m ovem en t of
w om en into and out o f the w ork force. In order
to m ake use o f the pattern o f labor force en try and
separation in a n alyzin g the fem ale labor force,
rates h ave been com puted to relate m ovem en t
in to the labor force to such dem ographic factors
as age, children grow in g older, and loss o f husband,
and m ovem en t out o f the labor force to such fa c
tors as age, m arriage, childbirth, and death .6 A n
application o f these rates is shown a t the end o f
this p a rt (p.13).
T
able
8. —Estim
ated
annual accessions to th fem labor
e
ale
force by selected dem
ographicfactors, 1950
[Per thousand in the stationary female population]
Age group
14-19_________________
20-24________ _____ ______
25-29._____ _________
30-34..........................................
35-39__________________
40-44.....................................
45-49______________ .
50-54..................................
55-59............ ................
Total
accessions
86.3
23.1
10.1
9.3
9.4
7.5
4. 7
3.0
3.0
Accessions related to—
Age
85.1
16.9
3.5
.4
.2
Children
reaching Loss of
school age husband
0.5
4.8
6.0
7.7
7.3
4.9
l! 8
0.7
1.4
.6
1.2
1.9
2. 6
2. 9
3.0
3^0
C h a rt 4 shows the re la tive volu m e o f accessions
and separations in each age group o f the fem ale
* The method of computing the accession and separation rates is described
in the technical appendix.
418489—57-----3
sta tion a ry popu lation in 1950. M o s t w om en w ho
enter a w ork career begin w ork b etw een ages 14
and 19. E v e n at this yo u n g age, som e w om en are
beginn in g to lea ve the w ork force as th e y m a rry
and h ave children. In the age group 20 to 29,
there are still substantial numbers o f w om en enter
in g the labor force, bu t such entries are m ore than
offset b y the large num ber o f separations associ
ated w ith m arriage and the birth o f children. As
a consequence, the fem ale w ork force actu ally de
clines betw een ages 20 and 30. B etw een ages 30
and 40, losses due to m arriage and ch ildbirth are
small, and labor force reentries— m ost o f them
associated w ith children reaching school age—
actu ally exceed losses, w ith the result th a t the
labor force increases. A fte r age 40, the effect o f
w id ow h ood in bringing w om en in to the labor
force is appreciable, bu t the effects o f oth er factors
causing w om en to lea ve the labor force outw eigh
the entries.
Accessions.
A ges 16, 17, and 18 are the m ost com
m on years fo r entering the labor force, w ith 11
percent o f the 16-year-olds, 21 percent o f the 17year-olds, and 9 percent o f the 18-year-olds b e
gin n ing a w ork career at those ages. T h e acces
sion rate drops ra p id ly a fter 18. (See table 8 and
chart 5.)
12
Chart
5. Selected Labor Force Accession
Separation Rates for Women, 1950
and
A n o th e r im p orta n t fa cto r causing w om en to go
to w ork is separation fro m husbands. Accessions
associated w ith separation, w idow h ood, or d ivo rc e
becom e in creasin gly significant in the ages o v e r 30
p rim a rily because o f the high incidence o f w id o w
hood.
Separations.
W h ile the p a ttern o f la b or fo rce
accessions fo r w om en is som ew h at sim ilar to th a t
fo r m en in th a t m ost persons o f both sexes begin
their w o rk careers p rior to the age o f 20, the
p a ttern o f separations is strik in g ly differen t.
Som e w om en are a lrea d y beginning to le a v e the
w o rk fo rce betw een ages 14 and 19 because o f
m arriage and birth o f children.
O ne-sixth o f
those w ho had begun a w ork career had a lready
le ft the w ork force b y age 19. T h e highest sepa
ra tion ra te occurs in the age group 20 to 24 as a
result o f the high m arriage and birth rates in th a t
age span.
(See table 9.)
V irtu a lly all separations fro m the la b or fo rce up
to age 35 are due to the com bin ed effects o f m a r
riage and b irth o f children, w ith the la tte r cause
accounting fo r abou t three-fourths o f the separa
Since m a n y w om en tend to enter or reen ter the
labor force as their children reach school age, esti
m ated la b or force entries associated w ith this
fa cto r— m a n y o f w hich are reentries— occur in
greatest vo lu m e betw een ages 25 and 39 (ta b le 8),
reaching a peak o f alm ost 8 percent o f the popu
la tion fo r the age group 30 to 34. T h e peak in the
accession ra te associated w ith children reaching
school age occurs a p p rox im a tely 10 years after
the peak in labor force separation due to m arriage
and b irth o f children, ro u gh ly in d ica tin g the a ver
age len gth o f tim e th a t w om en spend ou t o f the
la b or force. | Such accessions, m ost o f w hich are
reentries, co n tin u ejto occur in significant vo lu m e
up to age 50— about 5 years a fter the end o f the
fe r t ilit y period fo r m ost w om en.
tions due to b o th o f these causes, i. e., three w o rk
in g w om en w a it u ntil th eir first child is born b e
fo re le a vin g the la b o r force fo r e v e ry one w h o
lea ves im m ed ia tely a fte r m arriage. T h e financial
responsibilities o f you n g m arried couples are p ro b
a b ly a m a jo r fa cto r in keepin g these w om en at
w ork. A b o u t 80 percen t o f the separations fro m
the la b or force associated w ith m arriage take place
betw een ages 19 and 25. A lm o s t 90 percen t o f
the la b or force separations due to the birth o f
children occur betw een ages 18 and 29; the m a x i
m um num ber o f separations associated w ith this
cause is reached a t ages 20, 21, and 22, sh ortly
a fter the m edian age o f first m arriage.
T able 9.—Estim
ated annual separations from th fem
e
ale
labor force by selected dem
ographic factors, 1950
[Per thousand in the stationary female labor force]
Age group
14-19__________
20-24__________
25-29__________
30-34__________
35-39__________
40-44__________
45-49__________
50-54...................
55-59....................
Total
separations
58.3
107.6
62.3
18.1
9.2
25.5
37.9
49.6
63.3
Separations related to—
Marriage Childbirth Death
13.1
28.6
12.1
36.4
71.7
43.6
12.7
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.7
2.4
3.5
5.3
7.7
11.4
Other
8.0
6.4
5.4
3.7
6.9
21.9
32.6
42.0
51.9
13
L a b o r force separations due to death rise con
s ta n tly o v e r the age range fro m about 1 per thou
sand in the age grou p 20 to 24 to 11 per thousand
in the age grou p 55 to 59.
A la rge p rop ortion o f the separations are a ttr ib
u table to several forces, a ctin g sin gly or in com b i
n ation, and u nrelated to m arriage, ch ildbirth , and
death. Losses from these o th er factors account
fo r the large vo lu m e o f la b o r force exits beginn in g
a t about age 45, b u t some occur even in the teens
and ea rly tw enties. A m o n g the factors are illness
and disa b ility, which, in the case o f w om en w ho
h a v e oth er means o f support, m a y be m ore lik e ly
to result in la b o r force dropouts than w ould be the
case fo r m ale fa m ily breadw inners. A n o th e r
fa cto r w hich m a y account fo r some la b o r force
w ith draw als in m id d le life is the im p ro ved earning
p o w er o f the husband, or the settlem en t o f finan
cial obligation s such as hom e m ortgages. Som e
w om en m a y stop w ork in g a fter th eir children
h a v e finished college.
Because w om en, w ho are usually secondary
w a ge earners, are n ot under the same econom ic
pressure to keep w ork in g as men, and are subject
to grea ter age discrim in ation in em p loym en t than
men, th e y tend to “ re tire ” a t an earlier age than
m en. A com parison o f the rates o f la b o r force
w ith draw als fo r m en and w om en betw een ages 55
and 60 illustrates this p oint. F o r m en in this age
range, there are about 2 w ith draw als fo r e v e ry
100 in the labor force and fo r w om en, 5 p er 100.
Separations associated w ith age and the oth er
m iscellaneous factors reach a significant volu m e
beginn in g a t about age 40, w hen the ra te fo r these
factors is 22 per thousand.
Application of Separation Rates.
T h e rates o f
accessions and separations can be applied in la b o r
force analysis in several w ays. O ne use to w hich
tables o f w orkin g life fo r w om en, as w ell as those
fo r m en, can be put, is in the estim ation o f re
placem en t needs fo r certain occupations.
By
a p p ly in g separation rates to the age distribu tions
fo r various occupations, differen tia l replacem ent
needs due to differen t age distribu tion s can be
estim ated. F o r exam ple, r e la tiv e ly few er w orkers
p ro b a b ly w ill be needed to replace teachers le a v
in g the la b or force (47 per thousand), com pared
w ith necessary replacem ents fo r stenographers,
typists, and secretaries (59 per thousand).
Th ese
estim ates, o f course, are based en tirely on d iffer
ences in age distributions and take no account o f
the characteristics o f the occupation, or o f occupa
tion al separations due to shifts fro m one occupa
tion to another.
I t is also assumed th a t birth
and m arriage rates are sim ilar in both occupations.
O ccu pational replacem ent needs fo r 10-year p eri
ods can be estim ated b y m u ltip ly in g the separation
ra te b y 10 if one assumes th a t the n ew entrants
in to
the
occu pation
distribution.
w ill
m ain tain
the
1950
I l l — C h a n g e s in P a t t e r n s o f
W o r k in g L ife , 1940 a n d 1950
h e
c o m b in e d
effect of the changes in marriage
and birth rates and socioeconomic environment
on the female labor force can be appraised b y
comparing data for 1940 and 1950 for each of the
various demographic groupings of women as
shown in the tables of working life for women.
T
In the two preceding parts of this study, m ar
riage and the presence of children were found to
be the principal factors affecting the labor force
participation of women. W h ile this is always
true, changes in social and economic circumstances
also affect wom en’s labor force participation rates
both directly and because of their influence on
the demographic characteristics of the female
population.
Socioeconomic Changes
Between 1940 and 1950, the female labor force
increased from about 14 to about 18 million.
A bo u t half of this rise resulted from the increase
in the number of women over 14 years of age in
the population and half resulted from an increase
in the proportion of these women in the labor
force— from about 1 in 4 in 1940 to 1 in 3 in 1950.
This increase in female labor force participation,
during a decade when both marriage and birth
rates rose sharply, clearly shows that the propor
tion of women working outside the home is
significantly affected b y economic and social
changes.
The most important of these changes was the
continuing need for workers following W o rld W a r
II. D urin g the war, large numbers of women
entered the labor force because of patriotic moti
vation and the inducement of jobs at good wages.
M a n y continued to work at the end of the w ar
because the sharply increased demand for civilian
goods and services and the continuing high level
of economic activity created further opportunity
for the employment of women. M oreover, ac
quired skills and work experience made them
better qualified for the jobs which were open.
Another factor contributing to the increase in
labor force activity of women between 1940 and
1950 was that economic activity in 1940 was at
a low level. A b ou t 15 percent of the total work
force was unemployed in 1940 compared with
about 5 percent in 1950; because of the higher
level of unemployment in the earlier year, m any
Women who were available for work did not even
look for jobs.
Increased social and business acceptance of
working women also contributed to the rise in the
female work force between 1940 and 1950. M a n y
jobs which were once thought to be appropriate
only for men later became acceptable for women.
B y 1950, a working wife was generally not con
sidered a reflection on the husband’s ability to
support his family. Other factors contributing
to the rise in the female work rates were that
m any women were able, because of the high level
of employment, to satisfy their desire for a higher
level of living b y remaining at work. Others had
vested interests in pension plans and remained at
work as long as they could in order to qualify for
private pensions and social security benefits.
Changes in the age pattern of marriage and
birth rates also affect the size and composition of
the female work force. In 1950, higher marriage
rates at lower ages cut the num ber of single women
in the labor force, but this was more than offset
b y the increased num ber of married women who
were working. M oreover, comparison of the
labor force separations associated with marriage
revealed that marriage was far less important as a
cause for leaving the labor force in 1950 than it
was in 1940.
The effect of the high birthrates in 1950 was to
increase the num ber of young married women
whose labor force activities were limited b y the
presence of small children. However, high m ar
riage rates and increased worker rates for women
with children in 1950 caused an increase in the size
of the married labor force during this period.
Another reason for the increase in the size of the
married labor force in 1950 was that separation
rates associated with the birth of children were
higher in that year than in 1940, indicating that in
1950 most married women continued to work until
their first child was born. Although the pattern
of separations associated with marriage and the
birth of children is so strikingly different in the
two periods, the combined effect of separations
for these two causes was very similar in 1940 and
1950. (See chart 6.)
(14)
15
Stationary Labor Force
Analysis of changes in labor force participation
for married women with children 5 years of age
and over in 1940 and 1950 illustrates how changes
in socioeconomic factors affect the work force.
Since most women in this category rely on their
husbands’ income for support, their propensity to
work is affected not so much b y economic need
as it is b y the social and economic circumstances
of the time. M o st of the increase in the female
labor force between 1940 and 1950 was among
married women with children over 5 (chart 7).
Am ong married women with children 5 years of
age and over, the largest increase in the size of the
labor force occurred between ages 40 and 50. For
example, at age 45, the labor force more than
doubled as a result of a 75-percent rise in their
worker rate combined with a rise of about 10
percent in their number in the population.
(See
table 10.) W hile the increases in the labor force
for women with children age 5 and over were very
striking, the limiting effects of the responsibilities
for the care of children were still very evident in
1950, for only about 1 in 3 of these women aged 30
to 45 were in the work force.
As women with children 5 years of age and over
grow older, their children require less immediate
attention, and their propensity to work is increas
ingly affected b y employer attitudes toward
hiring married women and b y the economic
situation. The relative increase between 1940
and 1950 in worker rates for these women— about
40 percent at age 35 and about 80 percent at age
50— reflected the more favorable 1950 employ
ment situation.
Chart 6. Selected L a b o r Force Separations R elated to M a r ria g e a n d Childbirth^ 1 9 4 0 a n d 1 9 5 0
M ARRIAG E
Rale (Per 1,000 in Female Labor Force)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUR
EAU O f LABO STA
R
TISTIC
S
CHILDBIRTH
M ARRIAG E AND
CHILDBIRTH (TO TA L)
16
T able
10.—Stationary population, labor force participation
rates, and labor force for ever-m
arried w en, by presence
om
of children, 1950 and 1
940
Ever-married
women
Never mother With children With children
under 5 years 5 years and over
1950
Year
of age
1950
1940
1940
1940
1940
1950
181
16,747
35,108
32, 656
22, 722
13,131
5,296
119
1,500
1,818
23,610
40, 769
54,785
65,958
70,209
68,224
64, 238
17
932
8, 576
23, 401
39,090
51,417
59, 228
62, 262
59,051
54,678
5.3
36.6
36.6
32.8
32.7
32. 5
29.8
26.4
22.6
18.3
41.8
33.4
27.7
23.5
20.0
16.9
14.4
12.4
10.4
i1
4
1,146
507
3,049 3,929
2, 575 8,502
1,658 14,485
887 19,499
344 21,199
19, 707
15, 929
12,087
390
2, 862
6,488
9,200
10, 264
10,032
8, 979
7,326
5,704
1950
Stationary population
15____
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45____
50
55
60
1,928
48,491
79,958
85,905
86,300
85, 526
83, 963
81, 680
78,458
73,874
1,221
33,833
66,117
76,122
78,896
79,104
77,887
75,456
71,878
66,555
1,639
20,069
19,966
12, 814
11,011
11,156
10,952
10, 654
10,234
9,636
1,033
16,123
22,408
20,032
17,123
14, 594
13, 355
13,189
12, 818
11,887
270
26,922
49,174
49,481
34, 520
19,585
7,053
817
Labor force participation rates
15
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45____
50
55
60
12. 8
27.5
26.0
25.6
28.4
32.4
32.4
29.1
24. 3
19. 5
2.0
18.0
22.4
23.1
22.8
21.6
19.9
18. 3
16.3
14.0
14.1
51.5
54.0
52.3
48.9
46.2
42.0
36.2
30.0
23.8
1.9
28.2
39.7
42.1
41.6
40.4
38.5
36.7
34.2
30.6
5.6
12.8
12.6
11.3
11.2
12.0
13.7
2.2
6.8
8.7
7.9
7.3
6.8
6.5
Stationary labor force
15
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45____
55
fifi
50
247
13,347
20, 789
21,970
24. 509
27, 737
27,178
23, 801
19,100
14,441
24
231
6,090 9,637
14, 817 10,706
17,500 7,338
17,981 5,833
17,051 5,658
15,514 4,946
13, 816 4,094
11, 704 3,171
9,341 2,354
20
4,554
8,906
8,437
7,123
5,900
5,138
4,837
4,378
3,637
15
3,203
6,154
6,130
4,191
2, 580
1,033
i The estimates shown for women aged 15 with children over 5 are over
stated because of the method of computation. See table 1, footnote 1 (p. 1).
N
.— Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office
of Vital Statistics.
ote
M arried women with children under 5 years of
age (preschool) were a second group for whom
worker rates rose sharply between 1940 and 1950—
from a level of about 6 to 12 percent— because of
greater job opportunities and more liberal social
attitudes. Despite this increase, it is important
to note again that the presence of children was b y
far the most important factor determining the
level of the rates. In both 1950 and 1940, the
rates for these women were far below those of any
other demographic group.
F o r women with preschool children, the increase
in the size of the labor force between 1940 and
1950 was strongly affected b y changing demo
graphic circumstances as well as b y changes in
their worker rates. The number of these 25-yearold women in this stationary population, for
example, was about 40 percent higher in 1950 than
in 1940 as a result of the higher 1950 marriage
and birth rates.
This increase in stationary
population, combined with the rise in the worker
rate from 8.7 to 12.6 percent, resulted in a two
fold increase in the female labor force between
1940 and 1950. E ven with this sharp increase in
their numbers, however, this group comprised less
than 20 percent of the total female work force at
that age.
M arried women who had never had a child had
the greatest absolute increase in worker rates
between 1940 and 1950, even though this group
at all ages except 20 had the highest worker rates
among married women in 1940. T h e level of
labor force participation for these women w as not
restricted b y the responsibility of caring for
children, and since m any of them relied upon their
husbands’ income for support, their decisions
about employment were frequently made on the
basis of ready availability of jobs.
T he effect of changes in worker rates and
changes in the marriage rates can be illustrated
for the women who were never mothers b y com
paring the 1940 and 1950 stationary labor force
at age 20. A s a result of the high 1950 marriage
rate, there were 24.4 percent more of these women
in 1950 than in 1940. This increase in population,
together with an increase from 28.2 to 51.5 percent
in the worker rate, resulted in a labor force for
these women in 1950 that was over twice as high
as it was in 1940.
Y ou n g single women, whose propensity to work
was probably determined b y economic need more
than for any other group of women, had the
smallest changes in worker rates between 1940
and 1950 (table 11). T heir worker rates at ages
under 35 were generally about the same in 1940
and 1950; at ages over 35, however, they declined
more sharply in 1940 than in 1950— probably
because the adverse effects of minor disabilities
and age on employment were mitigated b y the
improved 1950 economic situation.
Even though the 1940 and 1950 worker rates
did not change for younger single women, the
lower age of marriage substantially affected the
size of the stationary labor force of single women.
A t age 20, the num ber of women in the population
who were still single declined about 20 percent
between 1940 and 1950, and the single labor force
also declined about the same amount. Th e
effect of these declines on the total female work
17
Chart 7. Stationary E v er-M arried Fem ale L a b o r Force, b y Presence o f Children, Selected A g e s ,
1940 and 1950
force was more than offset, however, b y the in
creased worker rates for married women (chart 8).
Another group of women whose worker rates
were largely determined b y economic need were
those in the other marital status group (i. e., the
widowed, separated, and divorced). F or these
women, the worker rates at ages under 40 were
actually higher in 1940 than in 1950, probably
indicating that their economic need was greater
in the earlier period. A fter age 40, they were
higher in 1950 than in 1940, with the greatest
increases occurring at the older ages as was also
true for single women.
P robably because most
women in this other marital status group depend
on their own earnings for support, their rates were
higher both in 1940 and 1950 than the rates for
married women with no children. Although their
rates were lower than those for single women in
both periods, they were closer to those for single
women than any other group.
Fem ale W o rk Life Expectancy
One of the most significant summary measures
of the social and economic well-being of a nation
is the average remaining lifetime or life expectancy
at birth. This measure when compared with work
18
T able 11.—Stationary fem population, laborforce partici
ale
pation rates, and labor force, by m
arital status,
and
1
940
Year
of age
All women
1950
1940
Married, hus
band present
Single
1950
1940
Other marital
status
1950
1950
1940
1940
Stationary population
15____
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45____
50____
55____
60........
96,401
96,021
95,529
94,923
94, 111
92,963
91,264
88, 783
85,280
80,298
438
93,944 94,473 92, 723 1,490 1,068
93,204 47, 530 59,371 44,030 30, 788 4,461
92, 214 15,571 26,097 73,082 60,497 6,876
91,055 9,018 14,933 78,345 68,890 7, 560
89,655 7,811 10, 759 77,584 69, 744 8, 716
87,893 7,437 8,789 74,835 68,950 10,691
85,590 7,301 7,703 70, 529 64, 802 13,434
82,466 7,103 7,010 64,936 59,610 16,744
78, 213 6,822 6,335 57,902 52,615 20, 556
72,421 6,424 5,866 49,200 43,793 24,674
153
3,045
5, 620
7,232
9,152
11,154
13, 085
15, 846
19,263
22,762
Labor force participation rates
15........
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45........
50____
55____
60____
6.4
46.9
35.5
30.6
32.4
35.9
35.7
32.4
27.5
22.4
3.1
47.8
38.6
32.2
29.2
26.7
24.3
22.1
19.5
16.6
6.3
66.0
79.5
79.3
76.6
75.8
74.0
69.9
63.8
55.2
3.1
64.8
79.7
78.8
76.2
73.0
68.6
62.9
56.0
45.7
10.5
25.6
23.5
22.0
24.4
27.6
26.6
22.5
16.0
10.2
0.8
14.7
18.7
18.5
17.0
15.0
12.8
10.8
8.8
7.6
20.8
46.0
56.8
61.2
64.4
66.3
61.8
54.9
47.3
37.1
10.0
51.0
62.0
66.1
66.5
61.8
55.3
46.5
36.8
26.5
9
4, 537
11,333
12,717
11, 894
10,158
8, 278
6,448
4, 615
3,309
91
2,052
3,906
4, 627
5,613
7,088
8,302
9,192
9, 723
9,154
15
1,553
3,484
4,783
6,087
6,893
7, 236
7,368
7,089
6,032
Stationary labor force
15____
20____
25____
30____
35____
40____
45____
50____
55____
60____
6,170
45,034
33,928
29,046
30,492
33,374
32, 581
28, 766
23,452
17,987
2,912 5,923 2,888
156
44, 552 31,687 38,462 11,283
35, 573 13,139 20, 799 16,883
29, 320 7, 076 11,767 17,365
26,179 5,911 8,198 18, 896
23,467 5, 637 6, 416 20, 654
20, 798 5,403 5, 284 18, 761
18,225 4,965 4,409 14, 611
15,252 4, 352 3, 548 9, 264
12,022 3, 546 2,681 5,030
N
.—Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office
of Vital Statistics.
ote
life expectancy of the female population provides
an even better indicator of our economic and
social well-being. H igher worker rates for women
over 30 years of age in 1950 as compared to 1940
resulted in a lengthening of potential work life by
about one-fourth. This increase was three times
as great as the gain in life expectancy for women.
The work potential of a girl b a b y rose from 12.1
years in 1940 to 15.4 years in 1950, an increase of
27 percent; similarly, the average remaining life
time at birth for the female population rose from
about 65.9 to 71 years, an increase of about 8
percent. Thus, assuming constant 1950 death
and worker rates at each age, a girl b a b y could be
expected to spend about 22 percent of her lifetime
in the labor force as compared with 18 percent in
1940. The greater relative increase in the work
potential was mainly due to the higher labor force
participation rates for married women, particu
larly those with children.
H igher worker rates for married women also
brought about a sharp change between 1940 and
1950 in the number of years women could expect
to work after marriage. Assuming continuation
of 1940 death, marriage, and worker rates at each
age, of the 12.1 man-years that would be worked
b y women, 5.4 years would be worked before
marriage, and 6.7 years after marriage. U n d er
1950 rates, earlier marriages reduced the manyears of work before marriage to 4.6 years and
the rise in worker rates for married women in
creased their work life expectancy after marriage
to 10.8 years.
Comparison of the average remaining years of
work life in 1940 and 1950 at each age also points
up some of the more important changes that have
occurred in the female work force during that
decade. The 1950 work life potential for women
exceeded that for 1940 at all ages. A t age 20, for
example, this figure rose from 11.9 years in 1940
to 14.5 years in 1950— an increase of 22 percent
(table 12). Because most of the increase in labor
force participation occurred at ages over 30, the
relative increase in work life expectancy was
greatest at the older ages. A t age 40, for exam
ple, the increase between 1940 and 1950 in ex
pected work life was 47 percent as compared with
the 22-percent increase at age 20.
Higher marriage rates in 1950 and other changed
socioeconomic factors significantly affected the
work life potential of single women, which includes
the man-years of work done b y these women after
marriage. F or example, the work life potential
of women who were single at age 20 was only 1
year higher in 1950 than in 1940, largely because
women who were still single at age 20 in 1940
could expect to spend many more years of their
life as single women than they could in 1950. In
1950, about half of the 20-year-old women were
already married, while in 1940 only 37 percent
had married b y age 20. In both years, work life
expectancy for single women at age 30 was greater
than at age 20, because the chances of marriage
and leaving the labor force were considerably
lower for 30-year-old women than for women at
age 20.
The difference in work life expectancy of single
women between ages 20 and 30 was much greater
in 1950 than in 1940. Single women 20 years of
age had a work life expectancy of 15.1 years, and
30-year-old women, 21.6 years in 1950 as com-
19
Chart 8. Stationary F em ale L a b o r Force b y M a r it a l Status, S elected A g e s , 1 9 4 0 a n d 1 9 5 0
THOUSANDS
50
1940 5 0
'4 0 '5 0
’4 0 ’5 0
'4 0 ’5 0
20
25
30
15
’4 0 ’5 0
’4 0 5 0
35
Age
’4 0 ’5 0
'4 0 ’5 0
’4 0 ’5 0
40
45
50
55
'4 0
1950
60
^UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
pared with expectancies of 14 years and 15.9
years, respectively, in 1940. This greater differ
ence in 1950 as compared with 1940 resulted
partly from higher worker rates for single women
at ages over 30 in 1950, and partly from the larger
number of single women who could be expected
to marry and stop work after age 30 in 1940.
The work life potential of ever-married women
(including those widowed, divorced, and separated)
was about 1% times as high in 1950 as in 1940 at
all ages as a result of the higher worker rates
generally experienced b y these women in 1950.
Labor Force Life Expectancy
W o rk life expectancy for 50-year-old working
women was virtually the same in both 1940 and
1950— about 14 years— despite the fact that both
life expectancy and the economic situation had
improved since 1940 (table 13). It should be kept
in mind that average work life expectancy of the
female labor force is significantly different from
the measure of w ork life expectancy of the female
population which was discussed in the preceding
section. Limitations of data and the complicated
20
T able 12.—Average rem
aining lifetim for all w en and
e
om
average num
ber of years of w
ork rem
aining, a specified
t
a
ges, by m
arital status, 1950 and 1940
Average number of years of work remaining
Average
remaining
lifetime
Year of
for all
Ever
Other
Single
married
marital
age women (in All women women
years)1
status
1950 1940 1950 1940 1950 1940 1950 1940 1950 1940
15.........__
20______
25______
30______
35______
40______
45______
50— ........
55______
60______
58.5
53.7
49.0
44.3
39.6
35.1
30.6
26.4
22.3
18.5
55.0
50.4
45.9
41.4
37.0
32.7
28.5
24.4
20.5
16.9
15.8 12.9 16.0 13.0 13.2
14.5 11.9 15.1 14.0 12.2
12.4 9.7 18.3 15.2 10.9
10.9 8.1 21.6 15.9 9.7
9.4 6.6 20.6 15.3 8.4
7.8 5.3 17.6 13.5 7.0
6.1 4.2 14.1 11.2 5.4
4.5 3.1 10.8 8.6 4.0
3.2 2.2 7.8 6.3 2.8
2.0 1.4 5.1 4.0 1.8
8.8
8.5
7.5
6.5
5.4
4.4
3.5
2.6
1.9
1.2
25.6
24.1
21.7
18.9
15.9
12.8
9.7
7.0
4.6
2.6
23.1
22.0
19.4
16.4
13.3
10.3
7.5
5.2
3.3
1.8
1 Data are for all women; similar figures are not available for working
women.
N
.—Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office
of Vital Statistics.
ote
T able 13.—Average rem
aining lifetim and average num
e
ber
of years of w rem
ork
aining for w
orking w en, 1950 and
om
1
940
Year^of age
Average remaining
lifetime
(in years) 1
1950
50_________
55_________
60_________
26.4
22.3
18.5
1940
24.4
20.5
16.9
Average number
of years of work
remaining
1950
13.8
11.3
8.9
1940
14.0
11.3
8.4
Average number
of years in
retirement
1950
12.6
11.0
9.6
1940
10.4
9.2
8.5
1 Data are for all women; similar figures are not available for working
women.
N
.— Basic data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and National Office of
Vital Statistics.
ote
pattern of work life for women make it impossible
to estimate the average remaining work life except
for working women over 50 years of age. It is
only after that age that it is reasonable to assume
that women who stop work will not return to
work at a later age and that very few will begin a
work career after that age.
The fact that work life expectancy for 50-yearold women workers in 1940 was as high as in 1950
resulted from the differing economic situations in
those years and from the higher proportion of
single women in the over-50 female labor force in
1940. W om en who reached ages 50 and over and
still had a job in 1940 were predominantly those
who had to remain at work because of economic
need. F or those women, retirement possibly took
place only when they became disabled or were
otherwise forced to retire. F o r this reason, their
work life was relatively long. In 1950, many
women 50 years and over were at work because
jobs were readily available and their earnings sup
plemented those of the prim ary fam ily bread
winners. Frequently, these women voluntarily
left the labor force and thus decreased the work
life expectancy of working women 50 years of age
and over.
F or 50-year-old women, retirement life expect
ancy— i. e., the average length of time workers
can expect to live after retirement— rose about 2
years (from 10.4 to 12.6) between 1940 and 1950.
W hile expected work life remained unchanged,
life expectancy rose 2 years. A t age 60, work life
expectancy in 1950 had risen about one-half year
above the 1940 figure— substantially less than the
1.5 years’ improvement in life expectancy at this
age— with the result that retirement life expect
ancy rose from 8.5 years in 1940 to 9.5 years in
1950.
Technical A p p e n d i x
M e t h o d s o f D e riv in g T a b le s o f
W o r k in g L ife fo r W o m e n
This appendix describes the sources and methods
of deriving the Tables of W orking Life for W om en.6
It is divided into three m ajor sections. The
first describes the derivation and sources of the
data presented in tables 1, 2, 3, A - l , A -2 , and A -3 ,
which show the stationary population, the labor
force participation rates, and the stationary labor
force for women classified b y marital status and
b y presence and absence of children.
The second section deals with the derivation of
rates of entry into the labor force and rates of
separation from the labor force. T he third sec
tion describes the methods for estimating various
measures of work life expectancy.
S ta t io n a r y F e m a l e P o p u la t io n b y M a r i t a l S ta t u s a n d P r e s e n c e a n d A b s e n c e o f C h ild r e n
(t a b le s 1 a n d A - l )
Year oj Age (x) {colum 1)
n
ing to the distributions shown in the 1950 census.9
The raw data were smoothed in order to eliminate
the effects of age misreporting and other chance
variations.
The age interval is the interval between two
successive birthdays.
A s a check on the reasonableness of these figures,
first marriages b y age were obtained from a report
of the National Office of V ital Statistics.1 The
0
first marriages shown at each age in this report
for 1950 were related to the 1950 female popula
tion to obtain first marriage rates b y age. These
rates agreed in general with the rates obtained by
taking the first differences in the percent of women
who were single at each age from the Census data
except at the higher ages where the N ational Office
of V ital Statistics data showed higher marriage
rates than the Census data. Since no Census age
group showed more than 92 percent married, it
was assumed that this would be a maximum. The
rates obtained from the vital statistics report
cumulated to well over 92 percent, indicating
that such rates could not represent the experience
of a cohort of women such as is desired for life
table purposes.
Stationary Fem Population {Lx {colum 2)
ale
)
n
This is an estimate of the num ber of women
surviving at each age from a hypothetical group
of 100,000 girl babies born alive. The figures are
based on an assumption that the actual death
rates at each age experienced b y women in 1950
would apply throughout the lives of the hypothet
ical 100,000 born alive in that year. The station
ary female population for 1950 is taken directly
from United States Life Tables.7 The data for
1940 are also from United States Life Tables.8
Stationary Single Population {Lx {Column S) and
s)
Stationary Ever-Married Population {Lx ) {col
m
umn 4)
The 1950 stationary female population for each
year of age was distributed into single and all
other women who have ever been married aceord-
The distribution of the 1940 stationary female
population into single and ever-married women
«1950 data appear in the text of Pts. I, II, and III; 1940 data appear at the
end of the appendix.
7 United States Life Tables, 1949-51, Vital Statistics, Special Reports,
Vol. 41, No. 1 (table 3).
8 United States Life Tables and Actuarial Tables, 1939-41, Sixteenth
Census of the United States: 1940 (table 3).
8 U. S. Census of Population: 1950, Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 2, Ch. D,
Marital Status (table 5).
18 Demographic Characteristics of Recently Married Persons, Vital Sta*
tistics, Special Reports, Vol. 39, No. 3 (table 5).
(21)
22
was obtained from the 1940 Census.1 Irregular
1
ities in the proportions of women who were single
at older ages made it impossible to use the Census
data at these ages. F or this reason, the pattern
of first marriages in the older ages was taken from
W ilson Grabilhs article on Attrition Tables for the
Single Population.1 T he use of GrabilPs higher
2
first-marriage rates for the older ages also had the
effect of raising the proportion of women who had
ever been married somewhat above that shown by
the Census data.
Married, Husband Present {Lx) {column 5) and Other
Marital Status {L°x) {column 6) Stationary
Population
The ever-married stationary female population
at each year of age was classified into those living
with their husbands (married, husband present)
and all other ever-married w om en— married,
husband absent, widowed, divorced, and sepa
rated— (other marital status).
F or 1950, this distribution was obtained b y
single years of age from the 1950 Census.1 These
3
distributions were hand smoothed and applied to
the stationary ever-married population to obtain
the “married, husband present” group and the
“ other marital status” group.
A somewhat more indirect method was used for
the 1940 table. T he ratio of married women
(which included married, husband present; and
married, husband absent) to ever-married women
was obtained for each year of age for the age range
18 to 34.1 These ratios were used to obtain
4
single-year-of-age ratios of married women, with
husband present to ever-married women from data
which were available in 5-year age groups. After
age 35, the ratios of married women with husband
present to ever-married women from the Census
were obtained b y 5-year age g ro u p s1 and
5
smoothed into a single year pattern b y means of
n 1 4 Census Reports, Population, Vol. IV, Pt. 1 United States Summary
90
,
(tables 6and 7).
1 Journal of the American Statistical Association, September 1 4 , Vol.
2
95
4 , No. 2 1
0
3.
1 U. S. C
3
ensus of Population: 1 5 , Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 2 Ch.
90
,
D, Marital Status (table 5).
w1 4 C
9 0 ensus Reports, Population, Vol. IV, Pt. 1 United States Sum
,
mary (table 7).
is Ibid, (table 9).
graphic interpolation. These ratios were applied
to the stationary ever-married population to
obtain the stationary population for married
women with husband present. The other marital
status population was obtained b y deducting the
married, husband present, stationary population
from the ever-married group.
Stationary Female Population by Child Status,
Never Mother {L™c ) {column 7), Women With
n
Children Under 5 years {L™c<5) {column 8) Wom
en With Children 5 years and over {L™c>5) {col
umn 9)
In both 1940 and 1950, the Decennial Census
included a tabulation of the number of women at
each age who had ever borne a child. B y relating
the number of these w om en—designated in this
report as ever-mothers— to all women, it was
possible to compute the proportion of women in
each age who had ever borne a child. These pro
portions were applied to the stationary female
population to obtain the stationary ever-mother
population. The married, never-mother popula
tion— the women who, up to each age, had never
borne a child— was obtained by subtracting the
stationary ever-mother population from the evermarried population.
The proportion of women in 1950 who had ever
borne a child was available in 5-year age groups
from the 1950 Census.1
6 A single year of age
pattern for these data was obtained b y the use of
data for white women who had ever borne a child
which were available for each year of age.1
7
A s a check on the pattern of first birthrates at
each age implied from the Census data on women
who have ever had a child, the num ber of first
births occurring at each year of age, as reported b y
the N ational Office of V ital Statistics,1 was related
8
to the Census estimates of female population for
the corresponding age, thus obtaining an alternate
set of first birthrates. T h e cumulative total of
these rates at any particular age provides an esti
mate of the proportion of women at that age who
have ever had a child.
The ever-mother proportions obtained from the
1 U. S. Census of Population: 1 5 , Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 5 Ch.
3
90
,
C, Fertility (table 1).
Ibid, (table 8).
is Vital Statistics of the United States, 1 5 , Vol. II (table 23).
90
23
two sources were charted b y age. T he rates
corresponded at the younger ages, bu t the vital
statistics data showed a considerably higher evermother ratio at older ages. T he vital statistics
data implied an ever-mother proportion of over
92 percent for all wom en— considerably higher
than past experience w ould support. The Census
data at ages over 40, on the other hand, showed a
very low proportion of women who had ever borne
a child— about 75 percent— probably because of
the effect of the depression of the 1930’s and
W o rld W a r I I . Because of those considerations,
the Census data on ever mothers were arbitrarily
adjusted u pw ard to a maximum of about 80
percent for ages over 40.1
9
The stationary married population with children
under 5 was estimated from grouped data on the
proportions of women w ith children under 5
shown in the Census B u reau ’s Special R eport on
Fertility for 1950.2 These proportions for 5-year
0
age groups were charted and hand smoothed into
a single-year-of-age pattern. The single-year-ofage pattern for women in the 15-19 year-old age
group was based upon ever-mother data which
was available by single year of age.
The stationary married female population with
children 5 years of age and over was obtained as
the difference between the married women who
had ever borne a child and those with children
under 5.
The distribution b y child status for 1940 was
based on Census ever-mother data which was
available by 5-year age groups.2 Because the
1
Census data excluded substantial numbers of
women not reporting on child status, an adjust
ment was made to correct for this bias b y compar1 This figure used by P. K. Whelpton as a medium assum
9
ption of the
proportion of women who would ever have a child in his Cohort Fertility
published in 1 5 .
94
2 U. S. Census of Population: 1 5 , Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 5 Ch. C,
0
90
,
Fertility (table 34).
2 14 C
1 9 0 ensus Reports, Population, Differential Fertility 1 4 and 1 1 ,
90
90
Women by Number of Children Ever Born (tables 1 2 and 3).
, ,
ing the proportion of women with children under
5 at each age for women reporting their evermother status and for women not reporting such
status.2
2
V ita l statistics data on the num ber of first
children born in 1938,2 which were available b y
3
single year of age of mothers, were related to the
female population in each year of age to establish
a single year of age pattern of first birthrates.
These rates were used to adjust the estimates
derived from Census grouped age data in order to
obtain single year of age estimates of the propor
tion of women at each age who had ever borne a
child.
In order to provide a single-year-of-age pattern
consistent with other Census data, of the propor
tions of women who had ever borne a child in
ages 15-19, the proportions of women with
children under 5, which were available from
unpublished Census data, b y single year of age,
were used to estimate the ever-mother data. The
data on women with children under 5 were
adjusted to take account of those children who
had died before the Census w as taken.
Estimates of the stationary married female
population w ith children under 5 years of age
were obtained b y applying the proportion of
mothers who had children under 5 to the married
stationary population. These data which were
obtained from the 1940 Decennial C en su s2 were
4
available in 5-year age groups and were converted
to single year data b y the use of unpublished
single-year-of-age Census data on native white
women with children under 5. T h e num ber of
women with children 5 years of age and over was
derived b y subtracting the number of women
w ith children under 5 from those who had ever
borne a child.
2 Ibid. (pp. 4
2
08-410).
2 Vital Statistics of the United States, 1 3 , Pt. 1 (table 5).
3
98
2 1 4 Census Reports, Population, Differential Fertility 1 4 and 1 1 ,
4 90
90
90
Women by Number of Children Under 5Years Old (tables 1and 2).
24
Labor Force Participation Rates by Marital Status and Presence of Children
(tables 2 and A-2)
Th e worker rates for 1950 were obtained as
follow s:
Rates for all w o m e n (W x) (column 2) b y single
year of age were available from the 1950 Census.2
5
These worker rates were charted and hand
smoothed in order to eliminate the effects of misreporting and other factors causing irregularities.
W o rk er rates for single women (W | ) (column 3),
ever married women ( W f ) (column 4), married
women with husband present ( W x) and for women
in the other marital status group ( W x) (column 6)
were also available in 5-year age groupings.2 The
6
5-year rates were smoothed into single-year-of-age
patterns.
W o rk er rates for ever-married women b y pres
ence and absence of children were available through
age group 55-59 from the 1950 Census. Rates
were obtained for married women who had never
borne a child (never m others)2 ( W “ cn) (column 7)
7
and for those who have ever borne a child 2 and
8
for those with children under 5 ( W “ c<5) 2 (column
9
8 ).
W o rk er rates for ages 60 and over were esti
mated from declines in rates for all married women
after age 60.
W o rk er rates for mothers with children 5 years
of age and over ( W “ c>5) (column 9) were obtained
b y taking the difference at each age between the
labor force for women who had ever borne a child
and the labor force for those who had children
under 5 years of age and dividing the resulting
labor force b y the corresponding population group
with children 5 years of age and over.
L a b o r force participation rates for 1940 in table
A -2 were obtained as follow s:
Rates for all women (W x) (column 2) were
available, b y single years of age, directly from the
1940 Census.3
0
Rates for single women (W | ) (column 3) were
also available from the 1940 Census 3 in various
1
age groupings. These were adjusted to single
* u, S. Census of Population: 1 5 . Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 1 Ch.
5
90
,
A, Employment and Personal Characteristics (table 1).
2 Ibid, (table 10).
«
2 U. S. Census of Population: 1 5 . Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 5
7
90
,
Ch. C, Fertility (tables 2 and 26).
4
2 Ibid, (tables 2 and 26).
8
4
2 Ibid, (tables 4 and 47).
«
6
8 1 4 Census Reports, Population, Labor Force, Employment and
0 90
Personal Characteristics (table 2).
8 Ibid, (table 7).
1
year rates b y the use of other 1940 Census data
and b y hand smoothing.3
2
W o rk er rates for ever-married women (W J1
)
(column 4) were obtained from Em ploym ent and
Personal Characteristics 3 in 5- and 10-year age
3
groups. The rates were smoothed into a singleyear-of-age pattern and adjusted so that the
single and ever-married labor forces and worker
rates were consistent with those for total women.
W o rk er rates for married women with husband
present ( W x) (column 5) and for those in the
other m arital status group ( W x) (column 6) were
obtained from Em ploym ent and Personal C h ar
acteristics 3 and Em ploym ent and Fam ily C h ar
4
acteristics of W o m e n 3 b y 5- and 10-year age
5
groups. T h ey were adjusted into a single year of
age pattern b y hand smoothing.
W ork er rates for women who had never borne
children ( W x
n) (column 7) (never mothers) were
estimated b y the use of several relevant sets of
data. W o rk er rates for married women who had
no children under 10 were available in varying age
groups to age 64 3 as were worker rates b y selected
6
age groups for the wives of heads of families w ith
out children under 10 and without children under
18.3 A fter adjusting the data on wives of heads
7
of families for an assumed 3-year difference be
tween the ages of husbands and their wives, the
differences between these two rates at correspond
ing ages were smoothed into a single year pattern.
These differences were added to the worker rates
for married women with no children under 10 to
obtain estimated worker rates for married women
with no children under 18.
U p to age 35, these rates m ay be considered as
equivalent to rates for women who have never
had a child. After age 35, the married female
work force who have no children under 18 cannot
be so considered because increasingly large num
bers of women over 35 have children over 18 years
of age. The estimates of worker rates over age
35 for the “never mother” group were made b y
3 14 C
2 9 0 ensus Reports, Population, Labor Force, Employment and
Family Characteristics of Women (table 2).
3 Op. cit. (table 7).
3
3 Op. cit. (table 7).
*
3 Op. cit. (table 2).
5
314 C
0 9 0 ensus Reports, Population, The Labor Force, Employment and
Family Characteristics of Women (table 2).
3 1 4 Census Reports, Population, Families, Employment status (table
7 90
11).
relating them to the pattern of decline in the
worker rates after age 35 for single women.
W orker rates for married women with children
under 5 ( W “ c<5) (column 8) were obtained from
Em ploym ent and F am ily Characteristics of
W om en 3 b y age groups, and were adjusted into
8
single year patterns b y hand smoothing.
W orker rates for married women with children
5 years of age and over (W f c>5) (column 9) were
obtained as follows:
L a b o r force data for married women who had
never had a child were subtracted from all married
working women to obtain the married labor force
for those who had ever borne a child (ever moth
ers). L a b o r force data for married women with
children under 5 were subtracted from the evermother group to obtain the married labor force
with children over 5. The labor force data were
divided b y the corresponding population to obtain
worker rates.
Stationary Female Labor Force by Marital Status and Presence of Children
(tables 3 and A-3)
L a b o r force data for both the 1950 and 1940
tables were obtained b y multiplying the popula
tion figure in table A - l b y the corresponding
worker rate in table A -2 . One group— married
women with children over 5— was obtained by
subtracting the labor force for women with chil
dren under 5 from the labor force for women who
had ever borne a child. In some instances, minor
inconsistencies appear between the worker rate
and the labor force tables because labor force data
were forced to add to group totals. The symbols
used are the same as for the corresponding sta
tionary population groups except the letter “ W ”
follows the capital “L . ”
Labor Force Accessions and Separations Associated With Various Demographic Factors
(tables 8, 9, and A-4)
L a b o r force accessions and separations for 1950
are shown in the text of this bulletin. D a ta for
1940 are presented at the end of this appendix.
Separations associated with marriage were com
puted b y applying the first marriage rate for single
women to the single labor force to obtain the num
ber of marriages occurring at each year of age
among single women in the labor force. This
computation gives the number of single women
workers who leave the single labor force. H o w
ever, some single women who m arry continue to
work after marriage and become a part of the
stationary married labor force. In order to esti
mate the numbers in the single labor force who
m arry and leave the labor force, the following
formula was used:
/
W m lc n \
W here x is attained age in years.
M R Xis the first marriage rate for single women.
W “ lcn is the worker rate for women married
once, husband present, who have never borne a
child.
5 Op. cit. (table 2).
8
W | worker rate for single women.
The first marriage rates at each age for all
women were computed from the first differences
in the percent single at each age in the stationary
single population. The first marriage rates for
single women were computed by dividing these
first differences b y the percent single at each age.
The computation of the number of separations
was based upon the following m ajor assumptions:
1 . The marriage rate for the single female labor
force is the same as the rate for the single popula
tion.
2 . The worker rates for women married once,
with husband present, who have no children
approximates the worker rates of newly married
women.
Separations associated with childbirth were esti
mated from the following formula:
Sv=BR
/,
W ?A<8\
V
w x j
mcn
W here x = a g e in years.
B R is the birthrate for the married nevermother population.
W x c<5 is the worker rate for ever-married
m
women with children under 5.
26
W ™ 1 is the worker rate for the ever-married
1
never-mother population.
Th e rates so obtained were applied to the evermarried, never-mother labor force to get separa
tions associated with the birth of a first child.
First birthrates used in this computation were
obtained as the first differences in the proportion
of all women who have never had a child. These
first differences were related to the proportions
of women in each age who have never had a child
to get the first birthrate for never mothers. The
following m ajor assumptions were made in this
computation.
1 . Birthrates are the same for the married,
never-mother labor force as they are for that
population group.
2 . The worker rate for married women with
children under 5 is a reflection of the level of
labor force activity of mothers immediately after
their first child is born.
Separations due to death for all m arital status
groups were computed b y applying death rates
for all women to each of the m arital status
stationary population as shown in table A - l . N o
allowance was made for differences in death rates
b y marital status.
Entries or reentries of women into the labor force
associated with children reaching school age were
computed b y using the following formula:
A ? = [ ( L ^ 6 - ( L “ c>5) ( 1 - D E J ] [ W ^ > 5- W ' w<5]
)
W h ere x is attained b y age in years.
L “ c>5 is the stationary ever-married female
population with children 5 and over.
D R X is the death rate.
W f c<5 is the worker rate for ever-married
women with children under 5.
W xlc>5 is the worker rate for ever-married
women with children 5 years of age and over.
N o allowance was made in these estimates for
the women who reenter the population group
“ with children under 5” b y having a child 5
years or more after a previous child was born.
The m ajor assumption implicit in these estimates
is that the worker rates for women with children
5 years of age and over can validly be used to
indicate the labor force status of women whose
children attain school age.
Labor force entries or reentries associated with
the loss of a husband were computed for 1940 b y
the following formula:
A>h= [ ( L * +1) - ( L £ ) (1 — D R X ] [ W j — W j + l ]
)
W here x is attained age in years.
L x is the stationary female population with
husband present.
D R Xis the death rate.
W£ is the worker rate for women in the other
m arital status group.
W x is the worker rate for married women with
husband present.
The formula for 1950 w as modified slightly to
take data on worker rates, b y duration of marital
status into account. T he form ula was the same
except the worker rate for women in other marital
status from 2 to 4 years 3 was substituted for the
9
rate for all women in other m arital status.
Accessions and separations associated with age
for the single population were obtained from ageto-age changes in the stationary single labor force
after allowing for deaths and for separations
associated with marriage.
Accessions associated with age and separations
for all other causes for the married population were
computed from age-to-age changes in the station
ary married population after allowing for separa
tions due to death and to the birth of children,
for entries or reentries associated with children
reaching school age and with the loss of a husband.
Because the accessions and separations derived in
this w a y are residuals, there are occasional vari
ations in the single year of age pattern of acces
sions and separations which are attributed to
chance variations. F or this reason, the figures
were combined into 5-year age groupings.
W o r k Life Expectancy ( )Ies 4, 5, 6, 7,12, and 13)
1
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining— All
Women, 19If)
Th e computation of w ork life expectancies were
essentially the same for both 1940 and 1950. The
tables showing the computations relate to 1940.
T able A - 5 illustrates the computation of the
average num ber of years of w ork remaining for
all women in 1940.
U. S. Census of Population: 1 5 , Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 2 Ch.
90
,
E, Duration of Current Marital Status (tables 1 , 2 , 2 , and 30).
5 0 5
27
The stationary population (column 2) is the
same as the stationary population for all women
and was taken directly from the United States
L ife and Actuarial T ab le for 1939-41.
The labor force participation rate (column 3) is
the same as the rate for all women shown in table
A -2 . The derivation of this column is described
in the section on labor force participation rates.
Stationary labor force (column 4) w as derived
b y multiplying column 2 b y column 3.
The number living of 100,000 born alive at the
beginning of the year of age (column 5) was also
taken directly from the United States Life and
Actuarial Tables for 1939-41.
The number of years of work expected in all
subsequent ages from those living at each age
(column 6) was computed b y summing all of the
stationary labor forces in column 4 at all older ages.
The figure opposite age 64, for instance, is the
num ber in the stationary labor force at age 65
and over plus those in the labor force at age 64.
The average num ber of years of w ork expected
from women at specified ages (column 7) was
obtained b y dividing the item in column 6 b y the
item in column 5.
The basic assumption necessary in making the
estimates of the average number of years of work
remaining for all women is that each age group
in the female population will experience, during
their remaining years of life, the labor force
participation rates shown for all women at each
older age.
The Average Number of Years of Work Remaining
for Women at Work
These figures were derived b y dividing the items
in column 6 in table A - 5 b y the num ber at work
at the beginning of each year of age which is
obtained by interpolation between the stationary
labor forces at ages x-1 and x.
The principle assumptions made in preparing
these estimates are as follows:
1 . Age-to-age declines in worker rates for all
women after age 50 show the extent of retirement
from the labor force.
2 . A ll women who stop working after the age of
50 never return to work, and no women enter the
work force after that age.
415 C
0 9 0 ensus of Population, Vol. IV, Special Reports, Employment and
Personal Characteristics and Duration of Current Marital Status.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining—
Ever-Married Women
T he computation for this group was the same
as for all women except that worker rates for ever
married were used in column 3. The following
m ajor assumptions apply to this computation:
1 . D eath rates at each year of age are the same
for married women as for all women.
2 . The married population at each age will
experience during the rest of their lives the worker
rates that were experienced b y all married women
at each age shown in the 1940 and 1950 Censuses.
3. W om en who m arry at any age take on the
labor force characteristics of married women in
that age.
Exam ination of 1950 Census data showed that
women who had been married less than 2 years
had considerably higher worker rates than all
married women at comparable ages. B y the time
these women had been married 2 to 4 years, their
rates were virtually the same as for all married
women.4 Since worker rates for women who had
0
just been married were somewhat higher than for
those who had been married for a few years, the
work life expectancy of newly married women was
biased downward because of the third assumption.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining for
Ever-Married Women at Work
F or this computation also, the method was
exactly the same as for all women except that the
worker rates for ever-married women were used
rather than the rates for all women. The m ajor
assumptions are the same as in computing work
life expectancy for all women at work.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining for
Single Women in 1940
T ab le A -6 shows the method of computation.
Stationary single population (column 2). This
column is the same as is shown in table A - l .
L a b o r force participation rate for single women
(column 3) is the same as the labor force partici
pation rate for single women shown in table A -2 .
Stationary labor force, single women (column 4),
was obtained b y m ultiplying column 2 b y column
3.
N u m b er of years of work expected in all subse
quent ages from single women who remain single
28
out of 100,000 born alive (column 5) was computed
from column 4 b y cumulating the numbers in the
stationary labor force from the oldest age, down
the age range.
The first marriage rate for single women (col
umn 6) was the same as was used in estimating
separations from the single labor force associated
with marriage.
(See p. 25.)
Expected marriages in each age from 100,000
girl babies born alive (column 7) was obtained b y
multiplying column 2 b y column 6 at correspond
ing ages.
Expected num ber of years of work for evermarried women (column 8) is the average work
life expectancy for married women discussed
previously.
(See p. 27.)
N u m ber of years each cohort of newly married
women will w ork (column 9). Figures in this
column were obtained b y multiplying column 7
b y column 8. The figures represent the total
number of years that will be worked b y each
cohort of newly married women until they die or
retire.
N u m ber of years of work expected from all
cohorts of married women subsequent to each
age (column 10). The figures in this column
were obtained b y adding the figures in column 9
down the age range from age 64 to age 14.
Total number of years of work expected in all
subsequent ages from each cohort of single women
(column 11). This is the sum of the items for
each age in column 5 plus column 10.
N u m be r living of 100,000 born alive and single
as the beginning of year of age (column 12).
This column was obtained from column 2 b y
interpolating between consecutive ages of the
stationary single population.
Average number of years of work expected from
single women at specified ages (column 13).
This was obtained b y dividing the total number
of years of work expected as indicated in column
11 b y the number living of 100,000 born alive
and single in column 12.
The estimates of the work life expectancy for
single women were based upon the following
m ajor assumptions: (1) The single population at
each age will be subject during the rest of their
lives to the 1950 death rates at each age for all
women, (2) the 1950 marriage rates at each age
will remain unchanged during the rest of their
lifetime, (3) the labor force participation rates at
each age for single women in 1950 will apply to
each age group of women that remains single, (4)
the work life expectancy of women m arrying at
each age is the same as for all married women at
that age.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining for
Single Working Women
The computation of this measure was similar to
that for the female population. A separate table
was not prepared to show the computation, but the
procedure can be described b y referring to table
A -5 .
Column 2 is the same as in table A -5 .
Column 3 would be the worker rates for single
women. F or ages prior to age 27— the age at
which the worker rate reaches a m axim um — the
worker rate is held constant at the maximum
level. Column 4 would be obtained b y multi
plying column 2 b y column 3. Colum n 5 would
be called “ number at work of 100,000 born alive
at beginning of year of age.” It would be
obtained b y interpolating in column 4 between
ages x-1 and age x. Colum n 6 would be derived
as in table A -5 . Colum n 7 would be called
“ num ber of years of work remaining for working
wom en.” It would be obtained b y dividing the
item in column 6 b y the corresponding item in
column 7.
The following m ajor assumptions were made in
this computation: (1) D eath rates for single
women at each age are the same as for all w om en;
(2) worker rates at each age for women who re
main single are the same as for all single women
in corresponding ages; (3) the work career of
young single women who enter the labor force,
and who remain single, is continuous until they
die or retire. In the computation, this assump
tion involves holding the worker rate constant at
the maximum level from age 14 to the age when
it reaches the maximum level.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining for
Women in the Other Marital Status Group
The computation for this group was exactly the
same as for all women (table A - 5 ) except that the
worker rates for the other marital status group
were used in place of the worker rates for all
women. The assumptions upon which this com
putation was based are essentially the same as
29
those for all married women but with one addi
tional assumption. W om en who enter the other
marital status group remain in that group— that
is, no allowance is made for the possibility of
remarriage.
Average Number of Years of Work Remaining for
Working Women, Married Once, Living With
Their Husbands, and Who Have Never Had a
Child
The computation of the measure was exactly
the same as for single women except that worker
rates for these women were used instead of the
T able
rates for single women. W ork er rates were ob
tained from the 1950 Census.4 The following
1
m ajor assumptions were made in preparing these
estimates: (1) D eath rates for these women are
the same as for all women; (2) young women in
this category who begin to work, continue to work
until they die or retire; (3) the worker rates for
the women who remain in this category all their
lives are the same at each age as for women who
leave this category at older ages b y having a child
or because of widowhood or divorce.
4 U. S. Census of Population, 1 5 , Vol. IV, Special Reports, Pt. 5
1
90
,
Ch. C, Fertility (tables 2 and 27).
5
A - l .—Stationary fem
ale population by m
arital status and presence of children, 1 4
9 -0
(1)
(2)
(3)
Year of age
All
women
Single
women
(4)
(5)
(6)
Ever married by presence or absence of
14_________________________
1 ____________ ____
5
1 _________________
6
1 _________________
7
18_________________
1 _________________
9
20_____ ____ ______
21_________________
22_________________
23-_____ ___________
24_________________
25_________________
26_________________
27_________________
28_________________
29_________________
30_________________
31_________________
32_________________
33________________________
34________________________
35_________________
36_________________
37_________________
38_________________
39_________________
40________________________
41_________________
42_________________
43_________________
44________________________
45_________________
46_________________
47_________________
48_________________
49_________________
5 __________
0
5 ___________
1
52______________
53________________________
5
4
55 - _ _____
5 __________
6
5 _________________
7
5
8
5 ____ ___
9
60__ ___
6 _ __________
1
6 _____________ .
2
6
3
6 __________
4
6 and over 2
5
_________
1See footnote 1 table 1 (p. 1).
,
Married,
husband
present
Other
marital
status
Lm
X
Lx
9 ,0 9
44
9,94
3 4
9 ,8 2
32
9,66
3 8
9 ,5 6
3 3
9 ,3 7
37
9 ,2 4
3 0
9 ,0 4
32
9 ,8 1
2 3
9 ,6 3
23
9 ,4 7
22
9,24
2 1
9 ,9 8
19
9 ,7 4
1 7
9,52
1 4
9 ,3 4
10
9 ,0 5
15
9,78
0 9
9,50
0 3
9 ,21
0 5
8 ,9 9
9 5
8 ,6 5
9 5
8 ,3 5
9 3
8 ,0 1
90
8,60
8 5
8,21
8 8
8,83
7 9
8 ,44
7 8
8 ,0 2
75
8,53
6 9
8 ,1 7
80
8,50
5 9
8 ,0 0
54
8 ,4 4
4 5
8 ,8 1
33
8 ,1 9
36
8 ,4 6
2 6
8,77
1 1
8 ,91
0 2
8 ,0 4
09
7 ,1 3
97
7,2 3
8 1
7 ,1 3
79
7 ,1 7
60
7 ,9 2
45
7,76
3 2
7,41
2 2
7 ,0 9
13
6 , 51
9 7
6,0 6
8 1
6,3 0
6 7
89 5
8 ,3 3
9,77
3 6
9 , 73
2 2
9 ,2 7
0 5
8 ,2 4
5 5
7,51
7 4
6 ,5 9
8 3
5 ,3 1
97
5 ,6 5
00
4 ,7 2
2 0
3 ,8 9
54
3 ,3 6
0 1
2 ,0 7
69
2,74
2 2
2 ,0 9
09
1,0 4
8 3
1 ,3 3
64
1 ,9 3
43
1 ,8 1
30
1,8 5
2 5
1,0 3
2 0
1 ,3 5
13
1,79
0 5
1 ,2 4
0 7
9 70
, 9
9 37
, 9
99
,0 3
8 79
, 8
88
,4 6
820
, 7
85
,0 3
786
, 2
7 73
, 0
7 59
, 6
742
, 3
7 23
, 9
75
,1 3
71
,0 0
66
,8 4
6 76
, 1
6 56
, 6
6 43
, 1
63
,3 5
623
, 5
66
,1 5
6 01
, 7
592
, 7
586
, 6
5 74
, 5
565
, 3
5 59
, 0
536
, 7
7 ,0 8
23
(8)
(9)
Ever married by child status
u iu s u a u u
Total
X to X + l
(7)
22
8
12
,2 1
3 55
, 6
842
, 3
1 ,9 5
59
2 ,8 8
43
3 ,8 3
33
4 ,4 9
21
5 ,1 9
02
5 ,7 4
6 8
6 , 11
2 1
6 ,1 7
61
6 ,2 4
9 7
7 ,6 5
1 7
7,58
3 0
7 ,9 1
46
7 ,1 2
62
7 ,9 7
69
7 ,6 5
7 7
7 ,2 8
8 4
7 ,6 4
8 2
7 ,8 6
8 9
7 ,0 1
96
7 ,2 1
91
7 ,2 3
9 5
7 ,1 8
98
7 ,1 4
90
7 ,9 8
8 9
7,72
8 8
7,50
8 4
7,2 1
8 7
7 ,8 7
78
7 ,4 1
77
7 ,0 2
72
7,58
6 3
7 ,0 6
6 1
7 ,4 6
55
7,8 3
4 5
7 ,2 5
4 0
7,58
3 0
7 ,7 0
2 6
7 ,8 8
17
7 ,9 0
04
6 ,9 2
94
6,81
8 8
6,74
7 5
6,55
6 5
6 ,2 5
58
6 ,9 6
33
6,57
2 0
6 ,9 4
0 9
87 1
1 ,3 5
2See footnote 2 table 1 (p. 1).
,
Never
mother
L mcn
23
4
16
,0 8
3 6
,1 2
7 57
, 4
1 ,4 1
41
2,53
2 0
3 ,78
0 8
3,79
8 2
4 ,8 8
56
5 ,0 4
21
5 ,8 4
69
6 ,4 7
0 9
6 ,3 6
31
6 ,4 9
5 3
6 ,9 6
6 6
6 ,0 5
86
6 ,8 0
89
6 ,41
9 5
6,72
9 5
6 ,9 4
95
6 ,8 7
9 9
6 ,7 4
9 4
6 ,4 5
99
6 ,2 0
9 3
6 ,8 1
8 7
6 ,4 8
81
6 ,9 0
75
6 ,4 4
7 6
6 ,8 6
68
6 ,2 8
6 8
6 , 51
5 9
6 ,8 2
40
6 ,9 4
3 1
6 ,0 4
30
6 ,9 6
1 9
6 ,8 3
0 1
5 ,6 0
9 1
5,3 5
8 8
5 ,9 9
6 8
5,52
5 7
5 ,1 3
43
5,6 5
2 1
5,0 6
1 0
4 ,3 9
97
4,66
7 6
4 ,8 2
50
4,73
3 9
4 ,6 2
1 5
3 ,3 5
9 8
3 ,1 9
72
3 ,77
4 6
27 65
8, 9
3
9
13
5
43
0
85
8
154
, 8
2 3
,3 5
34
,0 5
39
,6 0
4 21
, 6
4 70
, 7
527
, 1
560
, 2
55
,9 8
626
, 3
6 52
, 4
69
,8 6
722
, 3
7 56
, 4
793
, 2
89
,2 4
8 77
, 2
9 5
,1 2
9 56
, 6
98
,9 1
1 ,3 2
08
1, 70
0 7
1 ,1 4
15
1,54
1 3
1,8 6
1 9
1,2 2
2 5
1,6 0
2 8
1 ,0 5
38
1, 57
3 5
1 ,0 8
41
1,52
4 4
1,23
5 0
1 ,8 6
54
1,4 8
6 6
1,2 6
7 1
1,9 6
7 3
1,67
8 2
1,2 3
9 6
1 ,9 4
93
2 , 53
0 6
2,25
1 1
2 ,9 2
1 5
2,72
2 6
2 ,6 3
3 3
2 , 51
4 5
2,3 8
5 7
2,27
6 2
59 60
2, 2
22
8
13
,0 3
22
,6 7
5 58
, 2
95
,2 9
1 ,8 6
28
1 ,1 3
62
1 ,3 5
82
2 ,21
0 4
2,54
1 8
2 ,2 5
27
2 ,4 8
20
2 ,2 5
26
2 ,8 1
14
2 ,2 0
14
2 ,6 5
03
2 ,0 2
03
1 ,4 8
92
1 ,8 8
82
1 ,3 8
81
1,73
7 2
1 ,1 3
72
1,58
6 2
1 ,0 2
62
1 ,5 7
5 1
1 ,0 7
50
1 ,5 4
4 9
1,2 7
4 5
1 ,9 5
32
1 ,6 9
3 7
1, 59
3 1
1 ,3 5
35
1 ,2 4
36
1,2 3
3 8
1,2 8
3 4
1 ,21
3 2
1 ,1 9
38
1 ,1 2
35
1 ,1 6
31
1 ,0 6
35
1,9 8
2 8
1 ,8 8
21
1,6 7
2 5
1,4 2
2 8
1,2 4
2 9
1,0 7
2 9
1 ,8 7
18
1 ,6 2
14
1,4 5
1 0
1 ,1 8
14
1,8 3
0 7
15 8 3
4, 5
With children With children
under 5years
5years and
over
r me <C5
-j^mc ^>5
X
11
8
90
0
272
, 8
6 4
,4 5
1 ,4 5
12
1,77
6 4
2 ,9 3
17
2 ,5 8
6 1
3 ,3 9
0 7
3 ,21
3 9
3 ,1 8
50
3 ,67
5 0
3 ,4 9
57
3 ,8 3
44
3 ,8 2
38
3 ,6 6
2 5
3 ,0 0
13
2 ,1 8
92
2 ,0 4
77
2 ,8 4
43
2 ,7 2
2 2
2 ,7 4
0 1
1,7 3
8 7
1 ,8 2
60
1 ,8 7
48
1 ,1 1
33
1 ,5 4
1 3
9 97
, 2
835
, 2
61
,8 0
5 26
, 9
35
,9 1
25
,8 0
13
,8 7
98
8
i7
i3
8
i 12
2
i 20
9
i 50
6
92
3
2 4
,1 0
3 4
,3 2
4 1
,8 7
652
, 6
8 56
, 7
1 ,4 8
10
1 ,3 7
41
1 ,3 3
79
2 ,4 2
05
2 ,4 1
30
2,53
6 1
2 ,6 4
99
3 ,8 1
25
3 ,0 4
67
3 ,0 0
99
4 ,8 9
10
4 ,4 1
41
4 ,9 4
68
4 ,21
9 6
5 ,4 7
11
5 ,1 0
39
5 ,9 0
43
5,55
6 4
5 ,9 0
75
5 ,2 8
92
6 ,23
0 9
6 ,8 1
09
6 ,48
1 4
6,75
1 9
6 ,2 2
2 6
6 ,6 6
1 9
6 ,0 5
19
6 ,4 6
05
5,76
9 7
5 ,0 1
95
5 ,21
8 8
5 ,4 1
76
5 ,5 9
6 8
5 ,6 3
56
5,6 8
4 7
5 ,6 4
33
5 ,5 6
2 2
5 ,3 2
15
5 ,1 2
01
61 42
7, 6
30
T
able
A - 2 .— Labor force pa rticipa tion rates by m arital status and presence o f children , 1940
(1)
(2)
(3)
Year of age
All
women
Single
women
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
Ever married by presence or absence of
Married,
husband
present
Total
x to x+1
Wx
14__.....................................
15__................... ...............
16.......... ..............................
17. ...................-..................
18___________________ 19------ -----------------------20____________ ________
21_ ............................-.........
22........................................
23-_............... - ..................
24_ ..........-..........................
25.........................................
26.......... ...............................
2 7 -_ _______ __________
28--_............. -.............
29.........................................
30_________ _____ _____
31_____________ _______
32____________________
33____________ ______ 34_____________ _______
35.........................................
36._................................—
3 7 -_ ............... - ...............
38........................................
3 9 - - ...................................
40—__________________
41_______ _____ ________
42_____________ _______
43___ ____ ____________
44— ................... - ...................
45.......................... ..............
46................... ...................47____________________
48____________________
49_____________________
5 0 - .....................................
51........................................
5 2 ____________ ____ ___
53........................................
54 ........................
55 ________________
______
5 6 ...........................— —
5 7 .....................................
58 - ................................
59.........................................
60.............. ...........................
6 1 ______ ____ _________
62____________________
63____________________
64 __ _______________
65 and over 1.....................
1 See footnote 2, table 1 (p. 1)
Wm
w i
1.6
3.1
8.8
18.0
35.4
45.2
47.8
47.7
46.7
44.0
41.0
38.6
36.6
35.0
33.9
33.0
32.2
31.4
30.8
30.2
29.7
29.2
28.7
28.2
27.7
27.2
26.7
26.2
25.7
25.2
24.7
24.3
23.9
23.5
23.1
22.7
22.1
21.5
21.0
20.5
20.0
19.5
19.0
18.5
18.0
17.4
16.6
15. 7
14.7
13.6
12.5
6.0
1.6
3.1
9.0
19.1
40.4
55.8
64.8
71.3
76.9
79.2
79.4
79.7
79.8
79.8
79.7
79.3
78.8
78.3
77.8
77.3
76.8
76.2
75.6
75.0
74.4
73.7
73.0
72.3
71.5
70.6
69.6
68.6
67.5
66.4
65.3
64.2
62.9
61.6
60.3
58.9
57.5
56.0
54.5
53.0
51. 2
48. 7
45.7
43.2
40.6
37.8
34.9
17.0
Other
marital
status
.8
2.6
5.2
8.6
12.9
14.7
16.2
17.7
18.4
18.7
18.7
18.8
18.8
18.8
18.6
18.5
18.3
18.1
17.8
17.4
17.0
16.7
16.3
15.9
15.4
15.0
14.5
14.0
13.6
13.1
12.8
12.4
12.1
11.8
11.4
10.8
10.3
9.8
9.4
9.1
8.8
8.5
8.2
8.0
7.9
7.6
7.0
6.2
5.6
5.0
2.8
10.0
15.0
22.0
33.0
45.0
51.0
54.0
57.1
59.1
60.6
62.0
63.1
64.1
64.9
65.6
66.1
66.6
66.7
66.8
66.7
66.5
65.8
64.8
63.8
62.8
61.8
60.7
59.5
58.2
56.8
55.3
53.7
52.0
50.2
48.4
46.5
44.6
42.7
40.8
38.8
36.8
34.8
32.8
30.9
28. 7
26.5
24.4
22.3
20.1
17.9
6.2
(9)
Ever married by child status
Never
mother
•yymcn
W o
W x
2.0
4.0
7.0
11.0
16.0
18.0
19.5
21.0
21.8
22.2
22.4
22.4
22.4
22.6
22.9
23.1
23.0
23.0
23.0
22.9
22.8
22.6
22.4
22.2
21.9
21.6
21.2
20.9
20.5
20.2
19.9
19.6
19.4
19.9
18.8
18.3
17.8
17.4
17.1
16.7
16.3
15.9
15.5
15.1
14.6
14.0
13.3
12.4
11.5
10.5
5.0
(8)
1.9
4.4
8.6
15.4
24.3
28.2
31.0
34.4
36.5
38.2
39.7
41.0
41.8
42.2
42.2
42.1
42.1
42.1
42.0
41.8
41.6
41.4
41.1
40.9
40.7
40.4
40.1
39.7
39.3
38.9
38.5
38.0
37.7
37.4
37.0
36. 7
36.3
35.8
35.3
34.8
34. 2
33.5
32. 7
32.1
31.6
30.6
29. 2
27.5
25.6
23.2
12.8
With children With children
under 5 years 5 years and
over
■ Yym < 5
o
•Yymo >5
2.2
2.9
3.6
4.4
5.5
6.8
7.9
8.7
8.9
8.8
8.7
8.5
8.3
8.1
8.0
7.9
7.7
7.5
7.4
7.3
7.3
7.1
7.0
6.9
6.9
6.8
6.6
6.6
6.6
6.5
6.5
6.3
6.2
6.0
6.0
2.6
8.2
15.9
38.6
41.8
39.3
37.9
36.8
35.6
33.4
30.8
29.6
28.8
28.3
27.7
27.0
26.2
25.3
24.4
23.5
22.9
22.2
21.4
20.7
20.0
19.4
18.7
18.1
17.4
16.9
16.5
16.0
15.5
15.1
14.4
13.9
13.5
13.1
12.8
12.4
12.1
11.7
11.4
11.0
10.4
9.8
9.1
8.4
7.8
3.3
31
T a b l e A - 3 . — Stationary female labor force by m arital status and presence o f children , 1940
(l)
(2)
(3)
Year of age
All
women
Single
women
(4)
(6)
(5)
14..
15..
16..
171819-
LW X
.
202122..
232425_
26_
27_.
28..
2930_
31323334_
35.
3637.
4 041 _.
424344454647_.
48_.
495051525354555657_
5860...................
61....................
62__________
63__________
64_ ......... ........
65 and over 2_.
i See footnote 1, table 1 (p. 1).
LW®
I , 505
2,912
8.256
16,863
33,112
42, 206
44, 552
44.372
43,352
40, 759
37,860
35,573
33,631
32,119
30,994
30,122
29, 320
28,511
27,883
27.256
26, 718
26,179
25,639
25,098
24, 556
24,012
23,467
22, 921
22.372
21,821
21,268
20, 798
20,325
19,847
19,365
18,879
18,225
17,569
16, 993
16,415
15,835
15,252
14,667
14,080
13,491
12,828
1 ,0 2
2 2
II, 153
10, 227
9,250
8,296
53,137
Married,
husband
present
Other
marital
status
LW“
LW “
LW°
1,502
2 8
,8 8
8,113
16, 273
31,353
38,232
38,462
36,100
32,825
28,392
24,071
20,799
18,134
16,039
14,373
12,690
11,767
10,806
1 ,0 1
00
9,278
8,705
8,198
7,767
7,342
6,991
6,702
6,416
6,135
5,913
5,685
5,454
5,284
5,109
4,935
4,762
4 592
4,409
4,228
4,050
3, 867
3,687
3,548
3,408
3,267
3,108
2,908
2,681
2,486
2,288
2,082
1,876
12, 246
2 See footnote 2, table 1 (p. 1).
24
143
586
I , 759
3,974
6,090
8,272
10,527
12,367
13, 789
14. 817
15. 649
16,299
16,804
17,196
17,500
17, 725
17,889
17,989
18,013
17,981
17,872
17,756
17,565
17,310
17,051
16, 786
16,459
16,136
15,814
15,514
15, 216
14,912
14,603
14,287
13,816
13,341
12,943
12, 548
12,148
II, 704
11,259
10, 813
10, 383
9,920
9,341
8,667
7,939
7,168
6,420
40,891
9
83
391
I, 236
2,912
4, 537
6, 279
8,095
9,547
10,629
11,333
11,892
12,303
12,557
12,669
12, 717
12, 701
12,602
12,453
12,189
II,
11, 581
11,288
10, 941
10,546
10,158
9,785
9,381
9,005
8,612
8,278
7,936
7,623
7,303
6, 929
6,448
5,996
5, 592
5,230
4,921
4, 615
4,322
4, 068
3,833
3,611
3,309
2,901
2,464
2,067
1, 725
8,055
15
60
195
523
1,062
1,553
1,993
2,432
2,820
3,160
3,484
3,757
3,996
4,247
4,527
4,783
5, 024
5, 287
5,536
5,824
894 6,087
6,291
6,468
6,624
6,764
6,893
7,001
7,078
7,131
7,202
7,236
7,280
7,289
7,300
7,358
7,368
7,345
7,351
7,318
7,227
7,089
6,937
6,745
6,550
6,309
6,032
5, 766
5,475
5,101
4,695
32,836
(8)
(9)
Ever married by child status
Ever married by presence or absence of
husband
Total
x to x+1
(7)
With children
under 5 years
Never
mother
L w mo < 5
LW“
2
0
116
475
1,428
3,135
4, 554
5,689
6,966
7,884
8,517
8,906
9,125
9,130
8,971
8,698
8,437
8,182
7,924
7,686
7,400
7,123
6,840
6,591
6,341
6 0
,1 2
5,900
5, 716
5, 534
5.378
5,261
5,138
5,045
5,006
4,952
4,898
4,837
4, 770
4,700
4,612
4, 519
4.378
4,234
4,085
3,945
3,821
3, 637
3,404
3,142
2,849
2,522
18, 729
With children
5 years and
over
L W mo > 5
4
26
11
0
285
623
1,146
1,741
2,295
2.712
2.937
3,049
3,012
2.937
2,831
2.712
2,575
2,391
2,197
20
,0 1
1,822
1,658
1,474
1,318
1,165
1 2
,0 0
887
767
656
548
446
344
250
177
11
1
59
i1
10
1
16
4
i 216
390
842
1,266
1,771
2,335
2,862
3,512
4, 232
5,002
5,786
6,488
7,152
7,768
8,302
8,791
9,200
9,558
9,847
10,059
10,188
10,264
10,303
10, 269
10,210
10,107
10,032
9,921
9,729
9,540
9,330
8,979
8, 571
8,243
7,936
7,629
7,326
7,025
6,728
6,438
6,099
5,704
5,263
4, 797
4,319
3,898
22,162
32
T a b l e A - 4 . — Estimated annual accessions to and separations fro m the female labor force by selected demographic factors , 1940
[Per thousand in the stationary female population]
[Per thousand in stationary labor force]
Accessions related to—
Age group
Total ac
cessions
14-19.............................
20-24.............................
25-29............................
30-34......................... .
35-39............................
40-44............................
45-49.............................
60-54............................
65-59.............................
88.1
25.1
8.9
8.5
6.6
4.7
4.1
3.3
Age
86.1
18.2
.4
Separations related to—
Age group
Children
reaching
school age
Loss of
husband
0.4
4.6
6.8
6.3
4.3
2.4
1.2
1.6
2.3
1.7
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.9
3.3
2.9
Total sep
arations
14-19...........................
20-24______________
25-29................... _
30-34 .
35-39 . _____
40-44____________
45-49______________
50-54 _ ___
2.9
55-59.......................
Marriage Childbirth
62.5
97.6
64.2
49. 7
45.1
42.2
43.3
50. 5
61.8
48.4
64.1
27.4
11.5
5.8
2.9
1.5
.8
.4
Death
12.5
31.5
28.5
16.8
10.8
6.7
.8
Other
1.6
2.1
2.5
3.0
3* 8
5! 1
7.1
10.1
5.9
18.4
24.6
27.5
33.8
39 6
14.6
46.8
T a b l e A - 5 . — Average number o f years o f work rem aining , all women , 1940
(1)
Year of age
20............ ......................... — ............................................ ...............
27.......................- ......................... ........................................ ..........
28.____ ___________ ___________------------ ------------------- 30___________ _____ _______ -...................................................
31................................................................. .....................................
32___________ ____ ___________________________________
33.......... ......................................................... ........................ ........
34............ .............................................................. ..........................
35.....................................................................................................
36......................................................................................................
39......................................-.................................... — ....................
4 0 -....................................................................................................
41.......................................................................................................
43.................................................................................— .................
45___________ _________________ _____ ____ __________—
46.............................................. ............................ ..........................
47................................................................................... ..................
48......................................................... ...........................................
49....... ........................................................... ........ ............ ...........50...................................................... — ......................... -...............
51.............................................. .................... .................-.................
52......................................................................................................
53....... ............................................................................................
54______________________________________ ______ _____
55......................................................................................................
56......................................................................................................
57............ ...................................... .................................................
58...................................................................................... ...............
59......................................................................................................
60................. ............................................. -.....................................
61.............................................— ......................................... .........
62................... ................... ..............................................................
63......................................................................................................
64.............................................. .......................................................
65 and over___________________________________________
(2)
(3)
Stationary
population
Labor force
participation
rate
94,049
93,944
93,822
93,686
93, 536
93,377
93,204
93,024
92,831
92,633
92,427
92,214
91,998
91,774
91, 542
91,304
91,055
90,798
90,530
90,251
89,959
89,655
89,335
89,001
88,650
88,281
87,893
87,484
87,052
86, 593
86,107
85, 590
85,040
84,454
83,831
83,169
82,466
81, 717
80,921
80,074
79,173
78, 213
77,193
76,107
74,952
73, 726
72,421
71,039
69, 571
68,016
66,370
889,353
(4)
1.6
3.1
8.8
18.0
35.4
45.2
47.8
47.7
46.7
44.0
41.0
38.6
36.6
35.0
33.9
33.0
32.2
31.4
30.8
30.2
29.7
29.2
28.7
28.2
27.7
27.2
26.7
26.2
25.7
25.2
24.7
24.3
23.9
23.5
23.1
22.7
22.1
21.5
21.0
20.5
20.0
19.5
19.0
18.5
18.0
17.4
16.6
15.7
14.7
13.6
12.5
6.0
Stationary
labor force
1,505
2,912
8,256
16,863
33,112
42,206
44,552
44,372
43,352
40,759
37,860
35,616
33,783
32,338
31,177
30,156
29,267
28, 531
27,890
27,269
26, 718
26,179
25,639
25,098
24, 556
24,012
23,467
22,921
22.372
21,821
21,268
20,798
20,325
19,847
19,365
18,879
18, 225
17,569
16,993
16,415
15,835
15, 252
14,667
14,080
13,491
12,828
12,022
11,153
10, 227
9,250
8,296
53,137
(5)
(6)
(7)
Number of
Average
Number living years of work number of
of 100,000 born expected in all
years of
alive at begin subsequent ages work ex
ning of year
from those pected from
of age
living out of women at
100,000 born
specified
alive
ages
94,099
93,996
93,883
93,754
93,611
93,456
93,290
93,114
92,928
92,732
92,530
92,320
92,106
91,886
91,658
91,423
91,180
90,926
90,664
90,390
90,105
89,807
89,495
89,168
88,826
88,466
88,087
87,688
87, 268
86,822
86,350
85,848
85,315
84, 747
84,142
83,500
82,818
82,092
81,319
80,498
79,624
78,693
77, 703
76,650
75, 530
74,339
73,074
71, 730
70,305
68, 794
67,193
1,214,481
1,212,976
1,210,064
1,201,808
1,184,945
1,151,833
1,109,627
1,065,075
1,020, 703
977,351
936, 592
898,732
863,116
829,333
796,995
765,818
735,662
706,395
677,864
649,974
622,705
595,987
569,808
544,169
519,071
494, 515
470, 503
447,036
424,115
401,743
379,922
358,654
337,856
317, 531
297, 684
278,319
259,440
241,215
223,646
206,653
190,238
174,403
159,151
144,484
130,404
116,913
104,085
92,063
80,910
70,683
61,433
53,137
12.9
12.9
12.9
12.8
12.7
12.3
11.9
11.4
11.0
10.5
10.1
9.7
9.4
9.0
8.7
8.4
8.1
7.8
7.5
7.2
6.9
6.6
6.4
6.1
5.8
5.6
5.3
5.1
4.9
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.0
3.7
3.5
3.3
3.1
2.9
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.9
1.7
1.6
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.0
.9
33
T a b l e A - 6 .— Average number o f years o f work rem a in in g, single women, 1940
(1)
(2)
(3)
Year of age
Stationary
single
population
Labor
force
participation
rate,
single
women
14________
14________
16.......... .
17________
18________
19________
20________
21________
22________
23________
24________
25________
26________
27________
28________
29___ _____
30________
31________
32________
33________
34________
35________
36________
37________
38________
39________
40________
41________
42________
43________
44________
45________
4 6 ........... .
47________
48________
49________
50___ _____
51___ _____
52________
53________
54________
55________
56________
57________
58________
59________
60________
61________
62________
63________
64________
65 and over.
93,767
92| 723
90,257
85,254
77, 541
68, 539
59,371
50, 605
42,702
35,849
30,316
26,097
22,724
20,099
18,034
16,343
14,933
13,801
12,855
12,003
11,335
10,759
10,274
9,790
9,397
9,093
8,789
8,486
8,270
8,053
7,836
7,703
7, 569
7,432
7,293
7,153
7,010
6,864
6, 716
6, 566
6,413
6,335
6,253
6,165
6,071
5,972
5,866
5,754
5,635
5,509
5,376
72,038
1.6
3.1
9.0
19.1
40.4
55.8
64.8
71.3
76.9
79.2
79.4
79.7
79.8
79.8
79.7
79.3
78.8
78.3
77.8
77.3
76.8
76.2
75.6
75.0
74.4
73.7
73.0
72.3
71.5
70.6
69.6
68.6
67.5
66.4
65.3
64.2
62.9
61.6
60.3
58.9
57.5
56.0
54.5
53.0
51.2
48.7
45.7
43.2
40.6
37.8
34.9
17.0
(4)
(5)
Number of
years of work
Station- expected in all
ary labor
subsequent
force,
ages from
single women
single
women
who remain
single out of
100,000 born
alive
1,500
2884
,;
8,114
16,275
31,350
38,231
38,461
36,102
32,825
28,392
24,071
20,799
18,134
16,039
14,373
12,960
11, 767
10,806
10,001
9,278
8,705
8,198
7,767
7,342
6, 991
6,702
6,416
6,135
5,913
5,685
5,454
5,284
5,109
4,935
4,762
4, 592
4,409
4,228
4,050
3,867
3,687
3, 548
3,408
3,267
3,108
2,908
2,681
2,486
2,288
2,082
1,876
12,246
542,491
540; 991
538,107
529,993
513, 718
482,368
444,137
405,676
369, 574
336,749
308,357
284,286
263,487
245,353
229,314
214,941
201,981
190,214
179,408
169,407
160,129
151,424
143,226
135,459
128,117
121,126
114,424
108,008
101,873
95,960
90,275
84,821
79, 537
74,428
69,493
64, 731
60,139
55, 730
51, 502
47,452
43, 585
39,898
36,350
32, 942
29,675
26,567
23,659
20,978
18,492
16,204
14,122
12,246
(6)
First
marriage
rate
1.0
2.5
5.4
8.9
11.5
13.2
14.6
15.4
15.8
15.2
13.8
12.5
11.1
9.8
8.9
8.1
7.3
6.6
6.0
5.4
4.9
4.5
4.1
3.7
3.3
2.9
2.6
2.3
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.1
1.0
.9
.8
.7
.6
.6
.5
.4
.4
.3
.3
.2
.2
.2
.2
.2
.2
(7)
(9)
(8)
(10)
(ID
Number of
Expected Expected Number of years of
marriages number of years each work ex
in each
years of
cohort of
pected
year of
work
newly
from all
per evermarried
age from
cohorts of
married
women
married
100,000
women
woman
girl babies
will work
born alive
subsequent
to each age
Total num
ber of years
of work ex
pected in
all subse
quent ages
from each
cohort of
single
women
666,612
666,612
658,358
637,960
595,069
529,053
452,367
375,467
303, 523
240,400
186,424
143,922
112, 542
88, 729
70,823
57,230
46,476
37,870
31,003
25,446
20,897
17,203
14,206
11,689
9, 584
7,846
6,420
5,258
4,296
3,516
2,889
2,363
1,915
1, 559
1,277
1,031
827
661
521
411
327
249
188
146
106
81
58
44
31
19
9
1,207,603
1,106,456
1,167,953
1,108,787
1,011,421
896, 504
781,143
673,097
577,149
494, 781
428,108
376,029
334,082
300,137
272,171
248,457
228,084
210,411
194,853
181,026
168,627
157,432
147,148
137,701
128,972
120,844
113,266
106,169
99,476
93,164
87,174
81,452
75,987
70, 770
65,762
60,966
56,391
52,023
47,863
43,912
40,147
36, 538
33,088
29,781
26,648
23,717
21,022
18, 523
16,223
14,131
938
2,318
4,874
7, 588
8,917
9,047
8,668
7, 793
6,747
5,449
4,184
3,262
2, 522
1,970
1,605
1,324
1,090
911
771
648
555
484
421
362
310
264
229
195
165
145
125
108
91
82
73
64
56
48
40
39
32
25
25
18
18
12
12
12
11
11
8.8
8.8
8.8
8.7
8.6
8.5
8.3
8.1
8.0
7.8
7.5
7.3
7.1
6.9
6.7
6.5
6.3
6.1
5.9
5.7
5.4
5.2
5.0
4.8
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.0
3.8
3.7
3.5
3.3
3.1
3.0
2.8
2.6
2.5
2.3
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.7
1.6
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
.9
.8
8,254
20,398
42,891
66,016
76,686
76,900
71,944
63,123
53,976
42, 502
31,380
23,813
17,906
13,593
10,754
8,606
6,867
5, 557
4, 549
3,694
2,997
2, 517
2,105
1,738
1,426
1,162
962
780
627
536
438
356
282
246
204
166
140
110
84
78
61
42
40
25
23
14
13
12
10
9
(12)
(13)
Average
Number
number
living of
of years
100,000
of work
born alive expected
and single from single
at begin women at
ning of
specified
year of age
ages
94,289
93,245
91,490
87, 756
81,398
73,040
63,955
54,988
46,654
39,276
33,082
28,206
24,410
21,412
19,066
17,188
15,638
14,367
13,328
12,429
11,669
11,047
10, 516
10,032
9, 594
9,245
8,941
8,638
8,378
8,162
7.944
7,770
7,636
7, 500
7,362
7,223
7,082
6,937
6,790
6,641
6,490
6,374
6,294
6,209
6,118
6,022
5,919
5,810
5,694
5, 572
5,442
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING O FFIC E: 1957
12.8
13.0
13.1
13.3
13.6
13.8
14.0
14.2
14.4
14.7
15.0
15.2
15.4
15.6
15.7
15.8
15.9
15.9
15.8
15.7
15.5
15.3
15.0
14.7
14.4
14.0
13.5
13.1
12.7
12.2
11.7
11.2
10.7
10.1
9.6
9.1
8.6
8.1
7.7
7.2
6.8
6.3
5.8
5.3
4.9
4.4
4.0
3.6
3.3
2.9
2.6
