|
DATA SHEET: WOMEN AND WAGE LABOR
I. % of Women in U.S. Paid Workforce by ethnicity/race, 1900-2000
| |
All Women |
White |
Black |
Latina1 |
Asian American2 |
Native American |
| MX |
PR-US |
CH |
JP |
FL |
| 1900 |
20.6 |
16.0 |
40.7 |
n/a |
n/a |
10.4 |
30.1 |
n/a |
13.8 |
| 1920 |
23.7 |
19.5 |
38.9 |
n/a |
n/a |
12.5 |
25.9 |
11.6 |
11.5 |
| 1950 |
29.5 |
28.1 |
37.4 |
21.9 |
38.9 |
33.7 |
41.6 |
28.0 |
17.0 |
| 1960 |
37.7 |
38.0 |
42.2 |
28.8 |
36.3 |
44.2 |
44.1 |
36.2 |
25.5 |
| 1970 |
43.3 |
43.0 |
47.5 |
36.4 |
31.6 |
49.5 |
49.4 |
55.2 |
35.3 |
| 1980 |
51.1 |
52.0 |
53.3 |
49.0 |
40.1 |
58.3 |
58.5 |
68.1 |
47.7 |
| 1990 |
57.5 |
56.4 |
59.5 |
52.8 |
42.8 |
59.2 |
55.5 |
72.3 |
55.1 |
| 1996 |
59.3 |
59.1 |
60.4 |
53.4 |
47.43 |
58.6 |
n/a |
| 2000 |
60.2 |
60.2 |
65.1 |
54.6 |
55.04 |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
*n/a = not available
Sources: Teresa Amott & Julie Matthaei, Race Gender and Work: A Multi-Cultural
Economic History of Women in the United States (Boston: South End Press,
1996), 307; Bureau of Labor Statistics News (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department
of Labor, 2000), Tables No. A1 and A2; Claudia Goldin, Understanding the
Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women (NY: Oxford Press, 1990),
Table 2.1, p.17; Joyce Jacobsen, The Economics of Gender, 2nd ed. Table
15.2 (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998), 459. See Amott & Matthaei
for discussion of problems in data comparability.
|
% Married [total above] |
children <3 |
| 1890 |
4.6 |
|
| 1920 |
9.0 |
|
| 1950 |
23.8 |
|
| 1970 |
|
15% |
| 1980 |
50.1 |
|
| sp. pres |
abs |
div |
wid |
children <3 |
| 61.1 |
62 |
737 |
17.5 |
33% |
II. Some International Comparisons
| 1900 |
|
|
1995 |
|
| Country |
% of Women in Labor Force |
# Children/mother |
Country |
% of Women in Labor Force |
| Algeria |
7 |
7 |
Italy |
34 |
| China |
55 |
2.3 |
France |
48 |
| Denmark |
72 |
1.5 |
England |
53 |
| India |
30 |
5.0 |
Sweden |
59 |
| S. Africa |
46 |
5.1 |
|
|
| USA |
56 |
1.8 |
|
|
|
% if Women |
| Former USSR |
40 |
| Latin America |
30 |
| S. Asia |
20 |
III. Occupational Segregation in the U.S.
| Occupation |
% Female |
|
|
|
|
|
1970 |
1980 |
|
1985 |
1995 |
| Chemist |
17 |
29 |
Managerial |
35.6 |
48.0 |
| Lawyer |
6 |
27 |
Professional |
49.1 |
52.9 |
| Engineer |
3 |
27 |
|
|
|
| Nurse |
91 |
94 |
|
|
|
| Secretary |
98 |
98 |
|
|
|
| Teacher |
74 |
74 |
|
|
|
IV. Wage Gap: Women's Median Annual Earnings in U.S. as % of
Men's (full time)
| 1890 |
46 |
| 1930 |
56 |
| 1970 |
59.4 |
| 1980 |
60.2 |
| 1990 |
71.1 |
| 1992 |
70.6 |
1990 average earnings
MANUFACTURING
Women's as % Men's
| Sri Lanka |
88 |
| Hong Kong |
70 |
| Korea |
51 |
| Japan |
43 |
| U.S. 1993 wage ratio of females to white males |
|
wage ratios of males to white males |
| White |
70.8 |
74.0 |
| Black |
63.7 |
64.8 |
| Hispanic |
53.9 |
|
Ratio of median annual earnings by educational level, 1993
|
HS |
College |
| white male |
100 |
100 |
| black male |
75 |
83 |
| white female |
71 |
73 |
| black female |
60 |
69 |
|