ployees are women, and nearly one-fifth of them are located in Washington, D. C. A small proportion of women (about 9 percent) had veteran's preference in the appointment to their jobs. Of these, over half are women who have been in the armed services, and the remainder are wives of disabled veterans, or widows or mothers of deceased veterans. Table 7 shows the number of women Government employees in recent years. The employment of women rose to well over a third of all workers in the executive branch during the war, when the Government employed about twice as many women as in the postwar years. The postwar low occurred in 1948. Since that time fluctuations have taken place from year to year, with fewer women holding Government jobs in some years and considerable numbers being added in other years.

Table 7.-WOMEN IN THE FEDERAL SERVICE, 1944-55

Source: U.S. Civil Service Commission. Figures are for June of each year except in 1944, which are for July.

Of the workers covered by Government retirement acts (well over nine-tenths of all Federal employees), 5 percent of the women and 13 percent of the men had service of 20 years or more, according to a special study made in 1953. Half of the men and two-thirds of the women had been in Government work less than 10 years.

Civil-service positions are classified from grade 1 up to grade 18. About 850 women are classified in grade 13 or above. This is one-fifth of 1 percent of the women in the service, although 8 percent of the men are in these grades, according to a recent comprehensive report on white-collar workers in Federal employment made by the Civil Service Commission. Half the women are in grade 3 or below; on the other hand, 45 percent of the men are in grade 8 or above. In grades 2 through 6, half to three-fourths of the employees are women. In grades 10 and above almost 95 percent of the workers are men.

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As to the types of work done by the women white-collar workers in Federal employment, two-thirds of them are in general administrative, clerical, and office work. Groups next in size are accounting and fiscal, and supply services. Approximately one-tenth are in medical, hospital, dental, or public health work, where the great majority are nurses or nurses' assistants. Almost three-fourths of the small group of library and archives workers in the Government are women, as are half of those in personnel, mathematical or statistical, and accounting or fiscal work.

Women in the Armed Services.-Women are accepted for service in the four branches of the Armed Forces of the United States. Members of the Women's Army Corps are known as Wacs, who enlist for a minimum of 2 years. Those in the Navy are WAVES, who enlist for at least 4 years. The WAF (members of the Air Force) and the Women Marines enlist for at least 3 years. To enter these services a woman must be at least 18 years of age and have a high-school diploma or the equivalent. If she is under 21 she must have written consent of her parents or guardian.

During 1955 an average of 36,000 women were in the armed services-1 percent of the total. As in the civilian labor force, more girls enter the clerical field than any other occupation. They serve as typists, file clerks, stenographers, accounting-machine operators. Others become office managers or personnel experts. Women in the armed services work also as teletype or switchboard operators, as chauffeurs, and in food services, radio maintenance, repair and cleaning of clothing, entertainment, information, intelligence, weather observation, and other technical work.

Women with suitable qualifications may enter the Officer Candidate Program and eventually be promoted to rank as high as captain in the Navy or colonel in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps. Women holding the bachelor degree are eligible for direct commissions as officers. Nurses, dietitians, and occupational or physical therapists are commissioned in the service of their choice (except the Marine Corps, since the Navy provides its medical services). For more detailed information see Careers for Women in the Armed Forces, published jointly by the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau.

Women in the United States Foreign Service. In the Foreign Service of the United States, 2 of the 75 chiefs of mission in 1955 were women. The Ambassador to Italy was a woman, as was the Ambassador to Switzerland, who is a career officer. The State Department reported almost 150 women among more than 2,500 foreign service officers at the end of 1955. (See table 8.) This was 5 percent of the total. The highest grade in the Foreign Service is class 1, unlike the classified civil service in which GS-1 is the lowest grade.

Table 8.-WOMEN and Men iN THE FOREIGN SERVICE, BY RAank, 1955

Source: Figures for Dec. 31, 1955, furnished by the Department of State.

More than one-half of the members of the United States foreignservice staff are women. They number over 2,000, and are employed in a great variety of specialized occupations. They are employed as clerks, stenographers, typists, secretaries, placement officers, records administrators, liaison officers, fiscal officers, administrative assistants, and code clerks.

Ages of Women Workers

More than one-third of the women workers of 1956 are 45 years of age and over, compared with one-fifth in 1940. In part, this is because women of these ages make up a somewhat larger proportion of the population than in 1940. The increase in employment of older women has been much more marked, however, than the increase in population. (See table 9.)

The age distribution of women workers varies considerably in different occupations. In the managerial group and among farmworkers, the proportion of women 45 to 64 years of age is especially high. Clerical workers, on the other hand, are a young group, with a very high proportion in the age groups 25 to 44 years.

The average (median) age of women workers has been advancing ever since the turn of the century, when it was 26 years. By 1940, it was 32 years. In this 40-year period, major advances which were made in State child-labor and school-attendance laws raised the average age of women workers by keeping children in school longer and raising the minimum age at which young people may go to work. In 1938, the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act established a basic minimum age of 16 years for employment in manufacturing industries.

Table 9.-AGE DISTRIBUTION OF WOMEN IN POPULATION AND LABOR FORCE,

1 Percents do not always add to 100, due to rounding.

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P-57, No. 166.

During World War II, large numbers of women in their thirties and forties entered the labor force, and by 1945 the average age had risen to 34 years. After the war many of these women continued on the job. The postwar period of economic expansion has encouraged them to remain at work, and other older women to join them. As a result, the average age of women workers has risen steadily and in April 1956 was 39.5 years.

This trend is likely to continue for another decade, because the women now in their twenties are members of the small generation born during the 1930's when birth rates were low. The scarcity of younger workers, both men and women, improves the job prospects of older workers for the next few years. By 1966, however, the first of the generation that was born after World War II, when birth rates were rising rapidly, will be entering the labor market. A lowering of the average age of women workers may occur then, unless other factors operate to prevent it.

The percentage of women who work outside their homes is highest among young women-those 18 to 24 years of age. It drops sharply among women 25 to 34 years of age, whose homemaking responsibilities are generally heaviest. Almost as large a proportion of the women 35 to 54 years of age work, as among young women, probably because many women return to the labor force when their children are no longer requiring constant care. Not until ages 55 to 64 years does the proportion of women who work fall again to the level of the 25-to-34year age group.

The percentage of women of each age group in the labor force in 1956, as compared with 1940, is as follows:

14 and 15 years.... 16 and 17 years--18 and 19 years-20 to 24 years.. 25 to 34 years--35 to 44 years... 45 to 54 years....... 55 to 64 years....

65 years and over.

Age

Percent of popu

lation

The outstanding feature of this comparison is the great increase in the proportion of women working at all ages from 35 up to 65. This suggests that many women have chosen to continue working until they reach retirement age and can draw old-age insurance benefits under the Social Security Act, thus assuring themselves of a measure of independence in later years.

Marital Status of Women Workers

One of the major influences affecting the role of women in the economy is the high marriage rate prevailing during recent years. More than four-fifths of all women, 14 years of age and over, are married or have been married.

Proportions of Single and Married Women Who Work

Single women now make up a much smaller proportion of the population than was formerly the case. Among women 14 years and over, only 18 percent were single in 1955, compared with 28 percent in 1940. Inevitably they also make up a much smaller proportion of the working force. One-fourth of all women workers were single in 1955; nearly one-half were single in 1940. (See table 10.) The proportion of single women who work, however, is surprisingly stable. Of those 20 to 64 years of age, three-fourths are in the labor force: In 1955 the percentage was 76; in 1940 it was 77.

Nearly two-thirds of all women 14 years of age and over are married and living with their husbands. About 28 percent of these women are in the labor force-a much lower rate of participation than among other marital groups, as might be expected. Nevertheless, because of their predominance in the population, they make up more than half (52 percent) of the woman labor force. In 1940, married women were only 30 percent of the woman labor force. During this period of 15 years, the number of married women who work outside their homes has more than doubled. This trend represents a major social change, far-reaching in its effects. The sections that follow on mothers in the