Working Hard for the Money

Trends in Women's Employment, 1970 to 2008

Posted January 1, 2008
By the Carsey Institute, University of New Hampshire
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Summary

This report documents the changing nature of women and work nationally, and in rural and urban areas, concentrating on five big changes: 1) the increase in women's employment; 2) the recent "opting out" phenomenon; 3) the rise in women's earnings and declines in the earnings gap; 4) the rise in the working poor; and 5) the decline in the traditional family structure of a husband-breadwinner with a stay-at-home wife.

Findings & Stats

WHM1

Employment rates of women by education, 1970-2007

WHM2

Percent of equal earner couples by education, 2007

WHM3

Percent of couples with wives as primary and sole providers by race and ethnicity, 2007

Statements & Quotations

Key Takeaway

College graduates work more and earn less in rural areas.

In 2006, 70% of married women with children under age 6 in rural areas worked for pay compared with 64% in urban areas.