Working Women in America: Factors Which Influence Their Participation and Attachment to the Labor Force

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the economic factors which contributed to the increase of female labor force participation and the effect of this on the role of women in the economy. The participation of wives is of special im port because it is married women who have made up the majority of new entrants into the labor force since 1950. This paper also examines the role of women in the labor force and how this has changed since World War II. Here again wives are of special interest because the traditional role of women in the labor force is that of secondary worker. In conjunction with the dual purpose of this paper, a mathematical model of the labor force participation of wives, using cross-sectional data from the 1970 census, is developed to examine whether this increased participation is cyclical or part of a long-term trend away from women being casual workers. This paper concludes that the increased participation of women in the labor force is a function of variables that indicate a shift away from women being secondary workers, and that this shift poses significant economic, social, and political questions to American society. One of the most significant changes in the American economy since 1960 has been the in creased participation of women in the labor force. Since that date, the number of women who work has more than doubled and the number of wives more than quintupled. Presently, almost two out of every five workers are female. Despite the huge increase in female labor force participation, women are still generally considered secondary workers. A secondary worker is a worker whose labor force participation and attachment is erratic, and whose income (especially in the case of wives) is signifi cantly less than the household's primary earner and, therefore, not of substantial importance. Although few analysts equate the term secondary worker with woman worker in unqualified state ments, such a belief lurks beneath much of the analysis of recent trends in unemployment.1 It has been argued that the present unemployment rate and the seven million unemployed Americans are misleading figures in that the high unemploy ment is due to the huge increase in the number of working women. Of the 6.8 million unemployed Americans in September 1977, more than half were females. One quarter were wives. Since women, especially wives, are considered secondary workers, their share of unemployment is not critical and the unemployment rate is not as severe as it first seems. Women are viewed largely as economic dependents and are seen as inferior in the labor market. As long as this belief of economic in feriority persists, women will be unable to achieve equality in other realms of society.