1 WOMEN AS WORKERS Women's Economic Progress The significant contribution which women are making to the economic life of our country is a direct reflection of the rising number of women workers, their expanding job opportunities, and their effective job performance. Women's present working partnership with men in the economic world has developed largely as a result of the many social and economic changes of the last half century. Scientific and technological improvements not only simplify many home duties and reduce the time required for the physical tasks of homemaking, but also mean more job specialization and new employment opportunities in offices and factories. Larger business organizations, expanded activities of commerce and communications, and new systems of distribution and advertising require the use of new sources of labor and help change traditional attitudes concerning women's status in the labor force. Two world wars have also placed greater demands on our economy and necessitated extensive employment of women. The growing demand for women's services has been accompanied by broadened opportunities for their education and training. The nationwide development of free education for both boys and girls and the gradual achievement of equal opportunities for higher learning have encouraged women to prepare for and seek employment in everexpanding occupational fields. As working women have actively participated in the production of goods and services and helped raise and maintain living standards, American industry has come to recognize women's abilities and has facilitated women's integration into the working world. Over the years, more responsible jobs, with higher wages and better working conditions, have been opened to women, and these in turn have stimulated more of them to seek paid employment. In the future, women's employment status can be expected to depend even more on women themselves. For women of ability who are willing to secure suitable training and experience, there is a variety of opportunities for advancement in the business, industrial, and professional world. Numbers and Trends 1. Twenty-two Million Equal One-third More than 22 million women were in the work force in the early part of 1958. This figure exceeds by almost 2.7 million the number of women workers in April 1945, the peak for World War II. It compares with about 5 million women workers at the turn of the century (June 1900) and with a prewar (March 1940) figure of slightly less than 14 million women workers (table 1). 1 From Current Population Reports for civilian labor force. 2 From decennial census for total labor force, including Armed Forces. Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. 10, 396, 000 22 8, 229, 000 20 2223 24 18 20 17 18 In addition to the many social and economic changes responsible for the expansion in women's employment, one of the other factors has been the rapid growth of our population. However, the female population 14 years of age and over did not quite triple (from 25 million women in 1900 to 62 million in 1958), while the woman labor force more than quadrupled during the same period. The proportion of women in the labor force, which includes both the employed and the unemployed, has increased gradually during the Women as Workers 5 past decades-equaling 18 percent in 1900 and about 25 percent in 1940. It reached a high of 36 percent during World War II and then dropped sharply to 28 percent with the return of war veterans to civilian jobs-before starting to climb again. Today, 1 out of every 3 workers is a woman. It is pertinent to note that the numerical relationship between men and women in the population has been reversed in recent years. Today there are almost 3 million more women than men of working age (14 years and over). This is the opposite of the situation in 1900, when men outnumbered women by over 11 million. In 1940 there were still slightly fewer women, but in 1942 their number began to exceed that of men. But again, the size of this population change explains only to a small degree the marked increase in women's representation in the labor force. The number of unemployed women-those actually seeking work— was 1,629,000 in April 1958. This means that at that time there were about 13 women who actually had jobs for every 1 who was unemployed and looking for work. About 32 percent of all unemployed persons were women; this is slightly lower than the percentage of all workers who were women. Although the unemployment rate has traditionally been lower for women than for men, the relationship has frequently been reversed in the past few years, as increased numbers of women enter or leave the labor force for short periods of time. 2. Most Women Are Homemakers The majority of women continue to be homemakers, whether or not they also have jobs. Over half of all women devote full time to homemaking. Almost one-third of the married women, and many single women as well, are both workers and homemakers. During any one workweek in early 1958, about 35 percent of all women were in the labor force and about 55 percent were keeping house full time. The remainder were primarily girls under 20 years of age and in school. This means that practically all adult women in the population are making a contribution to the smooth running of the economy, either as jobholders, homemakers, or both. 3. Outlook for Women Workers Estimates of population growth in the near future place the total at 193 million persons by 1965. In order to produce the goods and services needed for a population of this size, the economy can reasonably expect to have 10 million more workers than there were in 1955, or a projected labor force of 79 million. More than half of the additional workers predicted for 1965 will be women-about 1.8 million women from 14 to 24 years of age, 1 million from 25 to 44, and 2.6 million aged 45 and over. The upward trend in white-collar employment is expected to continue for both women and men. Probably over 2 million of the increase will be in professional fields. Demand for clerical and sales personnel will also be greater. The force of craftsmen, operatives, and managers will also grow, while jobs for unskilled laborers and farmworkers will decline. These forecasts contain several implications for women workers. Population growth is expected to provide sufficient numbers of persons to meet future labor requirements quantitatively. But the complex nature of many jobs will place new emphasis on the quality of the labor force. The demand will be greatest for those with the needed training and experience. Women's goal, therefore, must be to develop their individual talents to the fullest extent possible. Major Occupations of Women The general expansion in women's employment has been accompanied by a marked increase in the number and variety of women's occupational opportunities. In the latest decennial census (1950), women were reported in all of the 446 individual occupations listed. Although there is still considerable concentration in a relatively few occupations, the number of women entering new fields continues to grow. 4. Broad Occupational Categories The occupational activities of those in the labor force are generally divided into 11 broad categories by the Bureau of the Census. Among women, almost three-fifths were clerical workers, operatives, and service workers. Professional workers were the fourth largest group, with private-household, sales, and managerial workers following in that order. A small miscellaneous group was made up of farm workers, craftsmen, and laborers (table 2). The most spectacular part of the story about women's recent employment expansion is the increase in women clerical workers from 211⁄2 million in 1940 to over 6 million in 1958 (table 3). This large numerical increase is directly related to the expanded activities of business corporations, large-scale financial organizations, mail-order and other retail establishments, Government operations, and many other types of undertakings. Recently, inventions relating to office machines have mechanized office processes to a greatly increased extent. Better trained clerical workers with special technical and mechanical ability Women as Workers Table 2.-OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN, APRIL 1958 Occupational group All women Professional, technical, kindred workers.. Medical and other health workers. Teachers, except college- Managers, officials, proprietors, except farm. Clerical and kindred workers__. Stenographers, typists, secretaries_ Sales workers_ Retail trade. Service workers, except private household. Operatives and kindred workers__. Durable goods manufacturing. Paid workers___. Unpaid family workers.. 7 Laborers, except farm and mine. 1 Includes women in occupations not shown separately in this category. Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P-57, No. 190. are needed, rather than general clerical workers able to perform only fairly simple and routine tasks. Professional and service occupations also employed more women in 1958 than they had in 1940 or 1950. During the 18-year period, the number of women in professional occupations increased by more than 1 million; and those in service occupations (other than private household), by over 112 million. The number of women in factory and other operative occupations rose from 1940 to 1950 but declined subsequently, equaling slightly less than 3 million in 1958. Much of the demand for women in operative jobs arose during World War II and continued into the high-level economy of the postwar period. However, with recent technical innovations and the increased use of automatic machinery in mass production, demand for production workers has not been increasing as fast as that for technicians, research and clerical workers, and skilled craftsmen. |