Women in the Labor Force There have been many changes in the workforce in the United States. One significant change is women being more involved in the United States labor force. Labor force equals the number of people employed plus the number of people unemployed. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), there has been a significant increase in women in the labor force after World War 2. Women’s participation in the labor force rose from the 1960’s through the 1990’s. As presented in the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics website (2015), the unemployment rate is 5.1% as of August 2015. Unemployment rate is the percentage of the people in the labor force who are unemployed. Since the past until now, there have been more and more women joining the workforce. There have been increases because women do not want to be dependent just on men to provide for them. This society is changing and we all adapt to the changes. One change is that women do not necessarily need men to survive when they can support themselves and their children and be independent. Women did not have equal rights as men did in the past. Women fought hard to have equal rights and participate in the government. In the past, women were to marry, be a housewife and to raise the family, not to work, that was the man’s job. Women still to this day are treated unfair in the workforce. Women have been fighting for more rights in society and in the work force. In the chart accessed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), full time women get paid around an average of $719 compared to full time men who get paid an average of $871. Women still do not get paid the same as men, but they are growing themselves by pursuing in getting degrees and advancing their education. As stated in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), in the 1970’s, only 11% of women held college degrees. In 2013, 39% of women held college degrees. That’s a great change over the last 40 years. According to the data acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2014, women mostly work in the educational and health services. As told by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), 57% of women were in the labor force. In the same year, 6.1% of women are unemployed. Compared to the past, their participation in the workforce has grown. This society changes and as the changes happen, we change/adapt with it. We still yet to have a female president, but we have some running for the 2016 presidential election. Before, women did not have the opportunity to even think of running for any government official positions. Women have adapted to change in many ways. As stated by Miltra Tooss (2002), women remained single more often than before. Women stayed in school longer, further expanding their education and pursuing higher paying jobs once graduating. Women were divorcing, making single mothers work to maintain for themselves and their children. This all affected their labor force participation rate, and in so, had a great impact in the workforce. According to Mitra Tooss (2002), in the 1950’s, the women’s participation rate was 34 percent. As the years passed, their participation rate increased over time. By the year 2000, their participation rate as reached 60 percent. Their participation in the workforce almost doubled in the last 50 years. This has been significant for women as the years have passed, their participation in the labor force has increased and they are inputting more in this society. As we head on to the future, more women will continue to join the labor force. Women over the last fifty years have greatly involved themselves in society and in the labor force. Their input in the workforce has done great changes and increased their participation rate. Women have increased their education and pursued higher paying jobs. Women did not have as many choices over the last fifty years as they do have now. They are putting as much work as men in society. They will increase more in the labor force and provide more input in the economy and in the workforce.

References

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Women in the Labor Force: A Databook." December 2014. Accessed September 21, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-databook-2014.pdf.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey” Accessed September 21, 2015 http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
Tooss, Mitra. A Century of Change: The U.S. Labor Force, 1950-2050, May 2002. Accessed September 21, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2002/05/art2full.pdf.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Latest annual data” Accessed September 22, 2015. http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/latest_annual_data.htm