Women in the labor force

Unlike the rate for men, the labor force participation rate for women has increased significantly over the past three decades or so. This trend is expected to continue at least through 2005. Among the reasons for the growing role of women in the labor market are higher levels of educational attainment, improved employment opportunities, changing values in society, and economic pressures and aspirations that require women to assume dual careers as homemakers and family income producers. By the year 2005, it is estimated that women workers will number about 72 million, with more than 63 percent of all women age 16 and over either working or actively looking for work. While traditional occupations such as secretarial and clerical administrative support and professions such as nursing and teaching still predominate, about 4 million women are now in executive, administrative and managerial positions in the private sectors of the economy. As for the types of industry in which women are employed, service industries clearly predominate. Projections suggest that women workers of the future will be older on average, with the fastest growth occurring in the 45-64 age cohort. They will also be a more diverse group as the number of black, Asian and Hispanic women workers grows more rapidly than the number of white non-Hispanic labor force participants.