100 Years of Working Women
Women have been in the work force for more than 100 years, but in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Women’s Bureau, find the top 10 occupations women have held in each decade since 1920. This data also includes the number of women in the labor force in each decade, and the percentage of women in the top 10 occupations.
Annual Data
Find the most recent annual averages for selected labor force characteristics. Data are presented by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, educational attainment, marital status, and parental status when available.
Facts Over Time
Find data on how selected labor force characteristics change over time. Labor force and earnings data are presented by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, and parental status when available.
Mothers and Families
Find data on selected characteristics of mothers and families, including labor force participation rates, unemployment, occupation, family type, earnings, and family income.
Occupations
Find data on women's employment and earnings by occupation. An interactive visualization provides employment and earnings profiles for over 300 occupations.
Earnings
Find data on earnings by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, educational attainment, and occupation.
Access to Leave and Job Flexibilities
Find data on how access to and use of leave and job flexibilities varies by sex, race and Hispanic origin, age, educational attainment and occupational grouping.
Women Veterans
Find data on selected characteristics of women veterans. Data are presented by sex, period of service, and employment sector.
Labor Force Participation Rate Maps
Find state and county data on labor force participation rates for men and women and by presence and age of children.
Other Resources
Find links to selected websites, reports and data resources for women in the labor force. Links to additional resources for the sections above may be found at the bottom of each page.
Earnings
- Earnings (statistics webpage)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - An Evaluation of the Gender Wage Gap Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data and Executive Summary. This report was developed by the Census Bureau and the Women’s Bureau and funded in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Employment and Earnings (statistics tables)
(2021) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2020 (report)
(September 2021) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers in 2020 (report)
(February 2021) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Labor Force
- Two Years into the Pandemic, Women Ages 65 and Older Had Yet to Recover Their COVID-Related Employment Losses (fact sheet) (September 2022) Women’s Bureau
- Mothers’ Employment Two Years Later: An Assessment of Employment Loss and Recovery During the COVID-19 Pandemic (fact sheet) (May 2022) Women’s Bureau
- How Women and Aging Affect Trends in Labor Force Growth (report)
(July 2020) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Labor force, employment, and unemployment statistics for women (statistics webpage) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Labor force statistics on families and marital status (statistics webpage) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (report)
(April 2021) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Other
- Spotlight on Statistics – Workers' Access to and Use of Leave (fact sheet) (January 2020) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Spotlight on Statistics - Job Flexibilities and Work Schedules (fact sheet) (April 2020) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- American Time Use Survey (website) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Access to and Use of Leave (economic news release)
(2017-2018) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Job Flexibilities and Work Schedules (economic news release)
(2017-2018) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics