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Working
women are working harder as are all Americans
 The average middle class family's income rose by 9.2 percent after inflation
but they are spending 6.8 percent more time at work to earn it. The average
middle-class family's income is rising with more hours to show for work.
The average full-time worker works about 43 hours a week. Married working
women alone went from 41 hours in 1989 to 46 hours in 1998. African
Americans are working even harder with an average 9.4 more hours per
week than their white counterparts. Hispanic families are working five
hours more per week. (Economic
Policy Institute study)
From
1950 to 1999, the increase in the percentage of women among the work
force has been overwhelming:
- US
architects nearly quadrupled, to 16 percent
- The
percentage of women economists nearly tripled, to 51 percent
- The
share of women pharmacists increased sixfold, to 49 percent
- The
number of women lawyers went up sevenfold, to 29 percent
- Women
now comprise 50 percent of all journalists, up from 38 percent in 1950
(Business
Week Online, February 2000)
Forty-one percent
of working women head their own households — they are single, divorced,
separated or widowed and 28% of them have dependent children.
(AFL-CIO)
Labor
force participation for women continues to be highest among those
in the 35-44 age group. (Women's
Bureau of US Department of Labor)
According
to the White House report, in 1999 about 60 percent of females 16 years of
age and older were in the work force, up from 20 percent at the turn of the
20th century. (Business
Week)
Women
accounted for 85 percent of the total increase between 1989 and 1999 in the
number of workers with more than one job.
(Economic Policy Institute)
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