Women moved into the work force from 1930s to 1970s

(written by lawrence krubner, however indented passages are often quotes). You can contact lawrence at: lawrence@krubner.com, or follow me on Twitter.

This is a big surprise:

The participation rate for women increased significantly from the mid 30s to the mid 70s and then flattened out.

And the chart shows no post-war decline:

There is the big question, what changed during the time 1930 to 1980, and why did it stop?

Women have always worked, though on the farm much of that work escaped any measurement that the government or historians have at their disposal. It’s likely the decline of farms drove some of the increase in women’s work. And in the 1930s it was still legal for 14 year old women to get married, whereas by 1980 women had to be 18 to get married, and the average marriage rate drifted higher and higher, giving women more years to get involved with the workforce. Women also moved into professions that paid well and had been reserved for men, such as being a doctor or lawyer, though such jobs are rare and demand a college degree, so they could not account for the bulk of the numbers (even in 2014, only 28% of adult Americans had college degrees). The rise of women coincided with the collapse of the colonial empires, so clearly an economic system that had been in place for many centuries was coming to an end.

Post external references

  1. 1
    http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2014/04/labor-force-participation-rate-update.html
  2. 2
    http://www.amazon.com/Women-Have-Always-Worked-Historical/dp/0912670673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396883757&sr=8-1&keywords=women+have+always+worked
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