Fewer Women At Work

Amidst all the hair pulling (or rejoicing, depending on one's view) over talented, well-educated women "opting out" of the workforce to raise kids, the Washington Post's Business section recently ran Whither the Women?, an article filled with interesting facts about women's participation in the work force since World War II.

According to the article, 66 percent of adults work. Fifty-nine percent of women work; close to 74 percent of men work. According to some economists, the share of working women peaked in 2000 at just over 60 percent, providing fodder for opinion leaders on women's issues to start scratching their heads. A noteworthy example was Lisa Belkins' October 2003 New York Times Magazine piece The Opt-Out Revolution. Belkin interviewed several Atlanta mothers who reflected the United States Census statistics showing the number of children being cared for by stay-at-home moms had increased nearly 13 percent in less than a decade; at the same time, the percentage of new mothers who went back to work had fallen from 59 percent in 1998 to 55 percent in 2000.

What many missed is that since 2000, more women with children and women without children have left the work force. The share of women at work -- moms and non-moms -- has declined since 2000 not because more women are staying home to care for their families. In fact, the share of women ages 25-54 who say they are not working in order to care for children has actually declined.

Women aren't opting out of the work force -- the biggest factor, according to the Post article, is that women are simply retiring in greater percentages because of the large number of female baby boomers leaving the workforce as they age. The data shows that certainly, women take out more time, on average, to care for children and other relatives than men do; the so-called "biological gap" cited by one of the researchers.

So there's not necessarily a political or sociological "choice" at play here. No horrifying or heart-warming trend towards women choosing families over work in increasing numbers. Most women who want to work, or need to work, are doing so. And more men are caring for their children -- the share of men ages 25-54 who say they are at home to care for children has edged up slightly from 1990 to 2003. No need to pull out our hair -- or what's left of it.

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  July 19, 2006; 7:38 AM ET  | Category:  Research
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