Certain job requirements may need to be adjusted to deal with the physical characteristics of women. As more and more married women enter the labor force, the additional family income they contribute may change the patterns of consumption and the living styles of families. More services may be required to replace those performed by the housewife, and expenditures for leisure-time activities may have to be reckoned with.
The not quite 37 million women in the civilian labor force are a cross section of all the women in the nation. They comprise all ages from 16 to 70 or more, and represent every race and color. They include the married, the never-married, the widowed, the divorced or separated; and they live on farms, in suburbs, and in central cities.
In the last decade women accounted for almost three-fifths of the increase in the civilian labor force. They have supplied many of the necessary workers for expanding industries-particularly the service industries, in which they have made important contributions to the functioning of such vital areas as health and education. Women also continue to provide a worthy labor resource in the goods-producing industries, and are now entering into occupations of a less traditional nature. Let us categorize the areas in which women are contributing in increasing numbers:
In the 1970s, 46 percent of all women 16 years of age and over were in the labor force-a considerably higher percentage than the 34 percent which prevailed twenty-five years earlier. Although women are more likely to be working during their younger years, or if they have no children or have recently completed their schooling (between 18 and 24), their overall rate of participation is relatively high and is consistent (about 55 percent) with the so-called prime working years between 25 and 54 years of age. In feet, the greatest gains in the labor-force rates since 1950 have been among women in the 20 to 54 age group.
As to service workers, more than one out of five are women, but only one out of eleven are men. Eight out of ten women, and virtually all men service workers, are employed in occupations other than private household work.
Women from minority groups are less likely than white women to hold white-collar jobs (44 percent compared with 63 percent). The former are more likely to be in service work (37 percent compared with 20 percent) or blue-collar work (18 and 14 percent, respectively). The proportion of women from minority groups who are employed in clerical work has continued to increase, reaching 25 percent in the 1970s. At the same time, the proportion in private-household work has continued to decline, dropping to 11 percent. A decade ago these figures were 12 percent and 30 percent for clerical work and private-household work, respectively.
Increases in employment opportunities for women would depend largely upon a continued improvement in general economic conditions. During 1974 and early in 1975 during the economic recession, the unemployment rate for women, as well as that for men, rose steadily, reaching a post-Second World War high. It has been ascribed to the feet that many businesses were forced to restrict hiring, and resorted to layoffs to deal with the economic slowdown.
As the economy continued to recover, the upward trend in employment has been especially fevorable for women. Women are increasingly enjoying opportunities in selected professional and technical, manage rial, clerical, skilled-crafts and service occupations. Then, too, legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in employment is continuing to open new opportunities for women to train for and enter into more diversified jobs and to advance to jobs requiring higher levels of skill and specialization. Women should keep informed about opportunities before deciding on careers, so that they may be able to use this information in entering fields where skilled workers are in demand.
In addition to new job opportunities that expanding occupations offer, women now have greater opportunities in specialized education. These, together with the advantage of greater longevity among women, and the trend toward smaller families, will be factors in the increasing opportunities for women in the labor force.
Such factors as age, marital and family status, education, race or ethnic background and-if she is married-the husband's income, are factors in a woman's relationship to the labor force. However, nine out of ten women will, at some time in their lives, be part of the labor force.
Typically, a woman enters the labor force after she has finished her schooling. Then she works for a few years before she marries and has her first child. A very small proportion of women leave the labor force permanently at this early period. For those married women who continue to work, most experience some breaks in employment during their child-bearing and child-rearing years. However, an increasing proportion of young married women with or without children are remaining in the labor force.
Of the 43 million women who were not in the labor force in the 1970s, almost 35 million were keeping house, about 4 million were students, and about 4 million were out of the labor force because of ill health, disability or other reasons.
Women are more likely to be white-collar workers than men. They make up two-fifths of all professional and technical workers. Most are teachers (2.1 million) or health workers (1.4 million). In feet, women account for 72 percent of teachers (except college teachers) and 64 percent of all health workers. Women are less likely than men to be managers and administrators, and represent only about one-fifth of these workers. They comprise, however, 78 percent of all clerical workers (including more than 4 million women secretaries, stenographers and typists).
Occupations That Are in Increasing Demand for Women
A mistaken notion, and one that should be corrected, is that most women do not need to work. As evidence to the contrary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that even in prewar years, one-fifth of employed women were the principal wage earners of their families. There was an increase in this proportion with the effect of the Second World War on the male population. Today, many women would be glad to leave the labor market to be at home, if their men folk were earning enough to maintain the household.
According to some factory managers, the volume produced by women workers in jobs formerly held by men is equal to, or even greater than, that of the men. Many plants have testified to the efficiency of women on jobs that were new to them. Despite this, however, there have been numerous reports of women being placed in blind-alley jobs where neither ability nor length of service can result in advancement. In these circumstances, women have been taken on as helpers and not as mechanic learners. In many machine shops, women don't often get beyond the helper classification. Discrimination as regards promotion is one of the more reasons why women quit factory jobs.
On the positive side, however, it has been noted that many factories have made changes in machinery and work arrangements to adapt jobs for their women workers. Cranes, hoists and other lifting devices that can be operated by women have been installed, enabling them to undertake jobs that otherwise would be too heavy for them. In one plant, steel jigs too heavy for women were replaced jigs weighing less than one-tenth the weight of the steel jigs. Another company provided women with long-handled wrenches, which require less strength than those with short handles. A tool company built its plant and designed its machinery expressly for their women workers. They installed machines of proper height, adjustable footrests, weight-lifting devices and electric button controls. There is a continuing trend to provide machinery and other plant equipment that can be used by women, and thus to enhance efficiency in their work. In cases where continuous work at one process has been found to be too tiring, rotation with other tasks has been arranged.
Is it logical to assume that companies that have found women very satisfactory as workers, and that have retooled large sections of their plants to accommodate them, will continue to employ women? The answer is yes. There is evidence that the need for women workers will continue in the following areas;
- In industries producing consumer goods, such as electrical products, shoes, textiles, jewelry and similar industries, and where women have always had opportunities for employment.
- In service industries, such as restaurants, laundries, households, and selling, and where work shortages will continue to be acute.
- In community services, such as health, welfare, social work, child care and recreation.
- In specialized technical and professional work, such as medicine, nutrition, education, re search, communications and various scientific areas.
- In the manufacture of goods.
- In various business and clerical operations, such as clerical work, statistics, accounting and programming.
- In selling, buying, marketing, promotion and? administrative jobs.