Working Parents
Working Parents: Parents in the Labor Force
- In 2008, there were 25,778,000 married couples with children under 18 in the United States.1
- In 2007, the overall labor force participation rate of all mothers with children under 18 was 71.0%, compared to 94.3% of all fathers with children under 18. For married mothers with children under 18, the rate was 68.8%.2
- The labor force participation rate of married mothers with children under 3 years old increased from 32.7% in 1975 to 58.9% in 2007.3
Single-Parent Families
- In 2008, there were 9,753,000 single parent families with children under 18 maintained by the mother, 84.1% of all single parent families with children under 18. 70.7% of those mothers were employed.4
- There were 2,085,000 single parent families with children under 3 maintained by the mother, 90.1% of all single parent families with children under 3. 57.2% of those mothers are employed.4
- There were 1,841,000 single parent families with children under 18 maintained by the father, 15.9% of all single parent families with children under 18. 79.1% of those fathers were employed.4
- There were 232,000 single parent families with children under 3 maintained by the father, 10.0% of all single parent families with children under 3. 77.2% of those fathers were employed.4
Mothers
- According to the 2008 Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management:5
- 15% of organizations offered paid maternity leave (other than what is covered by short-term disability)
- 25% offer a lactation program or designated area
- In the past 50 years, fertility rates of American women have fluctuated sharply.6
- During the peak of the Baby Boom in the late 1950s, women were having children at a rate of more than 3.5 births per woman
- By the mid-1970s, the total fertility rate fell to 1.8 births per woman
- During the past decade, the fertility rate has fluctuated between 1.9 and 2.1 births per woman, a rate below the level required for the natural replacement of the population (which is about 2.1)
- In Fiscal Year 2008, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 6,285 charges of pregnancy-based discrimination.7
- Pregnant woman have complained of being fired when they revealed their pregnancies or employers refusing to hire them, refusing to follow pregnancy and maternity leave laws, restricting health insurance, or restricting fringe benefits
Fathers
- According to the 2008 Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, 13% of organizations offered paid paternity leave.5
- A Families and Work Institute survey found that the average maximum job-guaranteed leave for men following the birth of their child decreased from 13.1 weeks in 1998 to 12.6 weeks in 2008.8
- A 2003 study found that men who took leave for birth or eldercare were rated more negatively than their male counterparts who did not take leave. The study also indicated that male evaluators were more judgmental of male leave-takers than were female evaluators.9
*Numbers do not equal exact total due to rounding.
Sources
1 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Statistics, Families and Living Arrangements, "Table FG1. Married Couple Family Groups, by Labor Force Status of Both Spouses, and Race and Hispanic Origin of the Reference Person: 2008" (2009).
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, "Table 5. Employment status of the population by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18, 2006-07 annual averages"(2008).
3 U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract,"Table 579. Labor Force Participation Rates for Wives, Husband Present, by Age of Own Youngest Child: 1975 to 2007" (2009).
4 U.S. Census Bureau, Families and Living Arrangements, "Table FG5. One. One-Parent Family Groups with Own Children Under 18, by Labor Force Status, and Race and Hispanic Origin of the Reference Person: 2008" (2009).
5 Society for Human Resource Management, 2008 Benefits Survey Report (2008).
6 Jane Lawler Dye, "Fertility of American Women: 2006," U.S. Census Current Population Reports (2008).
7 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Pregnancy Discrimination Charges EEOC & FEPAs Combined: FY 1997 - FY 2008" (2009).
8 Families and Work Institute, 2008 National Study of Employers (2008).
9 Julie Holliday Wayne and Bryanne L. Cordeiro, "Who is a Good Organizational Citizen? Social Perception of Male and Female Employees Who Use Family Leave," Sex Roles, vol. 49 (5,6), September 2003.
UPDATED April 15, 2009
