One of the most dramatic developments in the United States since World War II has been
the increasing labor force participation of women. Whereas in 1947 31.5% of women and 86.8%
of men were in the labor force, by 2000, women’s labor force participation rate had roughly
doubled to 60%, while men’s had fallen moderately to 74.8%.1
What was a comparatively rare
event in the late 1940s—women working outside the home—had become the mode by the 1990s.
And, reflecting shifts in both men’s and women’s labor supply behavior, the gender gap in labor
force participation rates fell from 55 to 15 percentage points, a 73% decline. Beginning in the
late 1970s or early 1980s, women’s relative wages also rose: the female/male ratio of annual
earnings of full-time, full-year workers increased from 60.2% in 1980 to 73.3% in 2000.
Moreover, during the post-1970 period, women’s representation in high-paying professions and
managerial jobs also greatly increased. Since 1990, however, women’s increases in labor force
participation and relative wages have slowed. For example, their labor force participation rose
only from 57.5% to 60% between in 1990 and 2000, a much slower rate of increase than in
previous decades. Over the same period, the female/male ratio of annual earnings for full-time,
full-year workers barely increased from 71.6% to 73.3%.