Women Leaving & Re-entering the Work Force
2009 U.S. Census Bureau Research
In 2009, the Census Bureau published a report looking at opting out, based on the American Community Survey 3-year data file for 2005-2007. The researchers found that, despite many media stories to the contrary, most working mothers return to the workforce within a year after having a child.1
- No large differences appear in employment status between women with children who were at least one year old and women who had no children in the household.2
- There was some variability by occupation.3
- The researchers hypothesized that two groups of women may opt out: women whose earnings are so low they may not be able to afford child care and women whose family earnings allow them to forgo personal earnings. However, women at the highest household income levels ($200,000) were only slightly more likely to stop working than women in the middle household income levels ($100,000-$199,999). Women with the lowest household income levels were the most likely to opt out.4
Further analysis of this data set showed that stay-at-home mothers were on average younger, poorer, and less educated than other mothers.5
- 43.9% of stay-at-home mother in 2007 were under 35 years old, compared with 38.2% of other mothers6
- 45.0% of families with stay-at-home mothers had income of less than $50,000, compared to 25.7% of other families7
- 24.2% of families with stay-at-home mothers had income of $100,000 and more, compared to 32.5% of other families8
- 18.7% of stay-at-home mothers had less than a high school diploma, compared to 8.3% of other mothers9
- 7.4% of stay-at-home mothers had master’s degrees or higher graduate degrees, compared to 11.9% of other mothers10
2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics Research
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released research in February 2007 called, "Trends in Labor Force Participation of Married Mothers of Infants." This study found that the labor force participation rate of married mothers of infants hit its peak in 1997, began to decline for a wide variety of demographic groups, and has been relatively stable since 2000. 11
Looking closely at the decline of labor force participation according to income level reveals that women with husbands in the highest 20% of earners had a 5.9% decrease in their labor force participation rates between 1994 and 2005. Women with husbands in the lowest 20% of earners decreased more – 13.1%. For women with husbands in the middle 20% of earnings, their labor force participation rate between 1994 and 2005 actually increased, by 2.4%.
The authors speculated that while some wealthier mothers of infants may choose not to work, the high cost and low availability of child care may prevent some poorer mothers from working even if they wanted to.12
Women with Young Children in the Labor Force
- 60.7% of women with children under 3 years old were in the labor force in 2010. 13
Part-Time Work of Mothers
- 30.2% of employed women with children under 3 years old worked part-time in 2010.14
- 29.8%: 2 years old15
- 31.5%: 1 year old16
- 29.1%: under 1 year old17
- 26.3% of all employed women with children under 18 worked part-time.18
- 6.0% of all employed men with children under 18 worked part-time. 19
- 19.7% of all employed workers work part-time in 2010.20
- 13.4% of employed men work part-time21
- 26.6% of employed women work part-time22
Snapshot of Women with Children Under 18
More than 10 million women with children under 18 were not in the labor force in 2009 (10.4 million women, compared to 1.8 million men).23
- Total women with own children under 18: 36,507,00024
- 24,079,000 are employed25
- 2,043,000 unemployed26
- 10,385,000 not in labor force27
Labor Force Participation Rates of Women and Men, By Age
In 2010, the labor force participation rate of women 16 and older was 58.6%, and for men 16 and older it was 71.2%.28
Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers
A study of maternity leave and mothers’ employment from 2008 looks into women’s employment patterns.
- During the time period between 2000 and 2002, 79.4% of women who worked during pregnancy had returned to the workforce within a year of their first childbirth. 29
- Among mothers returning to work, those who move to a different employer often do so for higher pay and/or reduced work hours. 30
- Between the years of 2000 and 2002, 17.0% of women who worked during pregnancy and returned to work within a year of childbirth did so at a different employer. 31
- Of those who went to a different employer, 33.2% reported that they worked fewer hours than before their first childbirth, 53.4% worked the same number of hours, and 13.6% worked more. 32
- Of those who went to a different employer, 35.2% reported that they received higher pay at a new employer after their first childbirth, 30.9% received the same pay, and 34.1% received lower pay than before their first birth. 33
When Women Choose To Leave Their Jobs
There is a misunderstanding that women find it easy to leave their jobs to stay home with their children. Through our work with our clients, including exit interview and assessment projects, we find that most women are conflicted about leaving their jobs and find it very difficult to do so. They have spent much time and money investing in their professional development, and their jobs are a large part of their ongoing personal and professional identification. If they do leave, often it is because employers are not making available or not making obvious a way to conceivably combine work with the rest of their lives.34
The Effect of Children on Women’s Labor Force Participation
A study by economist Heather Boushey for the Center for Economic and Policy Research in 2005 analyzed whether a women with a child at home would be any less likely to be in the labor force that she was at earlier points in the last two decades, simply because there was a child in her household. Findings include the following:
- Women’s labor force participation rates have not fallen due to the presence of children at home35
- Women’s labor force participation rates have fallen due to the early 2000s recession36
- Labor participation rates for highly-educated women in their thirties are, for the most part, unchanged37
Trade-Offs
73% of executive women surveyed in Catalyst’s Women in U.S. Corporate Leadership study said they were comfortable with the trade-offs they have made between career and personal goals.38
Sources
1 Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Barbara Downs, Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers (2009); "Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers" presented at the Population Association of America, 2009 Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan.
2 Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Barbara Downs, Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers (2009); "Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers" presented at the Population Association of America, 2009 Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan.
3 Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Barbara Downs, Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers (2009); "Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers" presented at the Population Association of America, 2009 Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan.
4 Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Barbara Downs, Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers (2009); "Opting-Out: An Exploration of Labor Force Participation of New Mothers" presented at the Population Association of America, 2009 Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan.
5 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
6 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
7 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
8 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
9 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
10 Rose M. Kerider and Diana B. Elliott, "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2007," Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau (September 2009).
11 Sharon R. Cohany and Emy Sok, "Trends in labor force participation of married mothers of infants," Monthly Labor Review (February 2007).
12 Sharon R. Cohany and Emy Sok, "Trends in labor force participation of married mothers of infants," Monthly Labor Review (February 2007).
13 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child, and marital status, 2009-2010 annual averages" (2011).
14 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child, and marital status, 2009-2010 annual averages" (2011).
15 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child, and marital status, 2009-2010 annual averages" (2011).
16 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child, and marital status, 2009-2010 annual averages" (2011).
17 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child, and marital status, 2009-2010 annual averages" (2011).
18 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 5: Employment Status of the Population by Sex, Marital Status, and Presence and Age of Own Children under 18, 2009-2010 Annual Averages" (2011).
19 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 5: Employment Status of the Population by Sex, Marital Status, and Presence and Age of Own Children under 18, 2009-2010 Annual Averages" (2011).
20 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Employed and Unemployed Full- and Part-time Workers by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2010," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).
21 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Employed and Unemployed Full- and Part-time Workers by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2010," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).
22 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Employed and Unemployed Full- and Part-time Workers by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2010," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).
23 Hilda L. Solis and Keith Hall, "Table 5: Employment Status by Sex, Presence and Age of Children, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, March 2009," Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010).
24 Hilda L. Solis and Keith Hall, "Table 5: Employment Status by Sex, Presence and Age of Children, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, March 2009," Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010).
25 Hilda L. Solis and Keith Hall, "Table 5: Employment Status by Sex, Presence and Age of Children, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, March 2009," Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010).
26 Hilda L. Solis and Keith Hall, "Table 5: Employment Status by Sex, Presence and Age of Children, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, March 2009," Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010).
27 Hilda L. Solis and Keith Hall, "Table 5: Employment Status by Sex, Presence and Age of Children, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, March 2009," Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010).
28 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 2: Employment Status of the Civilian Noninstitutional Population 16 Years and Over by Sex, 1973 to Date," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).
29 U.S. Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003.
30 U.S. Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003.
31 U.S. Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003.
32 U.S. Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003.
33 U.S. Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003.
34 Catalyst expertise.
35 Heather Boushey, "Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth," Center for Economic and Policy Research (November 2005).
36 Heather Boushey, "Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth," Center for Economic and Policy Research (November 2005).
37 Heather Boushey, "Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth," Center for Economic and Policy Research (November 2005).
38 Catalyst, Women in U.S. Corporate Leadership: 2003 (2003).
UPDATED August 3, 2011
