+ Women and Paid Work Family Sociology

+ Paid Work, Gender & Families After rising for several decades, the labor force participation rate for women has shown little growth in recent years The participation rate for adult men has drifted down over time. Mothers with older children have highest labor force participation rate WHY? Children are expensive!!

+ Selected demographic characteristics Women’s labor force participation rate peaked at 60.0 percent in 1999, following several decades of growth In 2011, 58.1 percent of women were in the labor force, down 0.5 percentage point from 2010.

+ Women’s Unemployment an race/ethnicity Jobless rates varied by race and Hispanic ethnicity. Asian women had the lowest rate (7.3 percent), followed by White (7.5 percent), Hispanic (11.8 percent), and Black (14.1 percent) women.

+ According to recent figures: the unemployment rate: for men – 9.4% up from 4.4% in 1970  for women – 8.4% up from 5.9% in 1970 Recent figures on unemployment 2013 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment and earnings online January Retreived from February 07, 2013http://

+ Labor Force Participation among Mothers The labor force participation rate of mothers with children under 18 years of age was 70.9 percent in March 2011, down slightly from Source: Data were collected in the 2011 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS. Retreived from databook-2012.pdf, Jume 17, 2013http:// databook-2012.pdf

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Labor force participation is significantly higher among women today than it was in the 1970s, particularly among women with children, and a larger share of women are working full time and year round. Over the past 4 decades, women have made notable changes in their labor force activities.

O In addition, women have increasingly attained higher levels of education: Among women ages 25 to 64 who are in the labor force, the proportion with a college degree roughly tripled from 1970 to Over the past 4 decades, women have higher education attainment

+ Over the past 4 decades, women earn more Women’s earnings as a proportion of men’s earnings also have grown over time. In 1979, women working full time earned 62 percent of what men did; in 2011, women’s earnings were 82 percent of men’s

+ Male dominance in government has declined only recently Before 1992, there had never been more than 2 women among our 100 U.S. senators. As of November 2012, we have 20 women Senators the highest number in U.S. history (out of 100) 81+ women in House of Representatives (out of 435) Retreived from: publish.cfm?pid='0E%2C*PLS%3D%22%40%20%20%0ARetreived

+ Changing Gender Composition of U.S. Congress

+ Male dominance in government has declined only recently A recent set of polls conducted BEFORE the last presidential election found: percent believe the U.S. is ready to elect a woman president Over 74 percent believe the U.S, is ready to elect an African/American/black candidate Source: 08_polls/Gallup_6in10.pdf

+ Women in the military As of February 2013 women are now allowed to be in combat positions in the military Why is this important? Many people from the military go on to powerful positions in the government, business, and the military

+ Sociological Perspectives on Gender Taking your husbands name …. Some argue – it is just easier if couple and children have the same name – Others argue - isn’t changing your name on all legal documents confusing and time consuming? And why is it almost always women who change their names to their husbands’ name? This is a holdover from older patriarchal customs

+ Summary Acting in gender appropriate ways reinforces gender differences  Gender theorists argue that gender is socially constructed – in other words is socially created  Gender roles are created through economic and social constraints on women’s and men’s behavior and their ability to achieve equality

+ Summary Men’s power is embedded in the social structure – this is changing as more women are employed Women are working more and earning more and more but still very few have reached the top of business And women are still outnumbered by men in high government positions See COO of Facebook Cheryl Sandbergs book Lean In Will we have a woman president soon?