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Table 10.-SINGLE AND MARRIED WOMEN IN POPULATION AND LABOR FORCE, APRIL 1955 AND 1940

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2 Includes women who are widowed and divorced, and married women with husbands absent. Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P-50, No. 62.

labor force and the family relationships of women workers discuss some of these effects.

In every age group the percentage of single women in the labor force is consistently highest and the percentage of married women lowest, with women of other marital status somewhere between. The only exception is the small group of girls under 20 who have married and lost their husbands, and who are much more likely to be working than other girls their age. The percent of women in each age group who are in the labor force is shown below by marital status:

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The proportion of married women who work is lowest at age 25 through 34 years, when women are most likely to have young children needing their care. In contrast, the percentage of single women in the labor force is high at all ages from 20 to 65.

The group classified under "other" marital status is composed of nearly 9 million women who are widowed or divorced and 2.8 million women whose husbands are absent from the home. Of the absent husbands, almost half a million are in the Armed Forces, and the rest are either separated from their wives or absent for other reasonsfor example, they may be inmates of institutions, or simply employed at a distance from their homes. Two-fifths of the women of "other" marital status are in the labor force. More than half are working at every age from 20 through 55 years. However, among those 20 to 34 years of age there has been a noticeable decline since 1940 in laborforce participation. To a certain extent this results from provisions that enable these women to remain at home to care for children and family needs such as social-security programs providing funds for dependent children and veterans' benefits for dependents. In age groups 35 to 54 years, nearly two-thirds of these women are in the labor force, compared with one-third of the married women. Occupations of Single and Married Women

From two-thirds to three-fourths of the women workers in each marital group are in clerical, operative, or the service occupations. Nevertheless, there are noteworthy differences in the occupations of single and married women. The percentage distribution of women workers in each marital group among the major occupation groups in 1955 was as follows:

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Clerical work is the largest occupation in each group. However, among single women, the percentage of clerical workers is much higher than among women who are married, or widowed or divorced. More single women are professional workers, also, while relatively few are operatives.

Among married women living with their husbands, the percentage who are operatives is almost as high as for clerical workers. As might be expected, the proportion in household service is lower than in the other marital groups.

Those women of "other marital status" show a smaller percentage in professional occupations and larger percentages in service occupations than do the single or married women. This group includes widows, women who are divorced or separated, and also married women whose husbands are absent from home-in the Armed Forces or for other reasons. Doubtless there are among this number many women who work because they must support themselves or their children and who perhaps never prepared themselves to enter an occupation requiring special skill or training.

One-third of all women workers have children under 18. This can be seen from the following summary, showing the percentage of women workers with and without children under 18:

Labor force (percent distribution)

All women workers___

Married women, husband present--

With no children under 18.

With children under 18-_-_

Widows, women divorced or separated, and married women, husband absent

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With no children under 18_.

With children under 18__

Single women__.

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The number of employed mothers with children under 18 years of age was reported to be 6.5 million in 1955, an increase of almost 1.9 million compared with 1950. Of these employed mothers, about 2.5 million had children under 6 years of age. Most of these were married women with husband present, but nearly 500,000 were either widowed or divorced or for other reasons the husband was not present. (See table 11.)

Of all women workers who are or have been married, however, over four-fifths have no children under 6, and almost three-fifths have none under 18. These women include the older workers whose children are grown, and the young wives who have not yet had children.

The increase in employment of married women apparently has not resulted in the birth of fewer children in recent years. On the contrary, in 1952, there were 549 children under 5 years of age per 1,000 ever-married women 15 to 49 years of age, compared with 413 in 1940. Mothers whose husbands are dead or absent from the home evidently often must work to support their families. More than half of them are in the labor force, compared with one-fourth of the mothers whose husbands are present. Of those having children under 6 years of age, 40 percent work, compared with 16 percent of the mothers with husbands present.

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Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P-50, No. 62.

Family Status of Women Workers

Types of Family

There were over 40 million families in the United States in 1955. Families with husband and wife dwelling together formed approximately 85 percent of all families. Over one-tenth of the total had a woman as head; and a small group consisted of families (other than married couples) headed by a man.

In addition to these related family groups there were over 51⁄2 million women (and 4 million men) classed as "unrelated individuals" who were not living with relatives. Four million of these women had their own homes or apartments and were living independently as "primary individuals." The remainder were boarders or employees in the households where they lived as "secondary individuals." Fourfifths of the women with their own establishments, and half of the others, were women 45 years of age or over.

Husband-wife families tended to be larger than other types of family. (See table 12.) Nearly half had four or more members, and in almost two-fifths there was more than one child under 18. However, nearly one-third of these families had no members in addition to husband and wife. In this group were many older couples whose children were grown and no longer living with them, and many young couples who had no children.

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Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P-20, No. 67.

In over half of families headed by women in 1955, the woman head had no own children under 18 years old; in over four-fifths, she had none under 6 years of age. On the other hand, 27 percent had two or more children under 18. Moreover, nearly half a million women (12 percent of the women family heads) had children under 18 years old who were not their own children but were related to them in other ways-younger sisters and brothers, grandchildren, and so forth-in the family group.

The women family heads were a somewhat older group than the wives. Sixty percent were 45 years of age or over; only 10 percent were less than 30 years of age. As to marital status, widows predominated, constituting more than half of the group. Only 10 percent were single women.

Employment of Women in Relation to Family Status

The extent to which women enter the labor force varies considerably with their family status. More than half of the women who were unrelated individuals, and nearly half of those who were heads of families, were breadwinners, compared with little more than one-fourth of the wives dwelling with their husbands. The figures (as of April 1955) are as follows:

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