Even Prior to Pandemic, Working Women Couldn’t Take Time Off When They Needed

"The COVID pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the struggles of working women in the U.S., amplifying the challenges they face as they try to succeed in the labor market while juggling family and personal responsibilities.

Even before COVID, though, many were in the position of needing time off but not being able to take it. Indeed, among all working women in the U.S., 1 in 10 had that exact experience in the prior month, according to the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey Leave Module, a nationally-representative survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics sponsored by the Women’s Bureau.

^{Notes: Based on the main job of employed civilian, non-institutionalized women ages 16 and older. Results not shown for women in Natural resources, construction & maintenance due to insufficient sample size. Hispanics may be of any race. Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey Leave Module 2017-2018. Graphic: U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau. (plain text chart)}

Women working in service occupations – who were also the least likely to have access to paid leave – were among the most likely to report having needed but not taken leave (13.5%). The shares foregoing leave were also high among African American women (15.4%) and those lacking a high school diploma (14.1%).

On the flip side, women working in production, transportation and material moving, and Asian women were among the least likely to report having needed but not taken leave (7.6% and 7.9% did so, respectively)

^{Notes: Based on the main job of employed civilian, non-institutionalized women ages 16 and older. Respondents could provide more than one reason. Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey Leave Module 2017-2018. Graphic: U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau. (plain text chart)}

By far the largest share of all women who needed but didn’t take leave (42%) reported needing to take off for their own illness or medical care. Sizeable shares also reported needing time off for errands or personal needs (26%), or to care for a family member who was ill or had medical needs (20%). Some 8% needed but did not take time off for child care (respondents could report more than one reason for needing time off)..."
Working women 

5 Facts About the State of the Gender Pay Gap

"March 24 is Equal Pay Day, a symbolic day that represents the number of extra days women, on average, must work to earn what men, on average, earned the year before. And for mothers and many women of color, this date falls much later in the year.  

Many systemic issues are at the root of lower wages for working women – not just gender discrimination, but also racial discrimination, the devaluation of “women’s” work, the absence of supports for essential family care and more. Though these issues have been longstanding labor market structures, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed their devastating consequences – and the urgent need for better solutions that support all working women.   

Here are five facts about the current status of working women in America that may shock you, but will hopefully inspire you to join our efforts to promote pay equity. 

1. Women earn 82 cents for every dollar a man earns 

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, in 2020, women’s annual earnings were 82.3% of men’s, and the gap is even wider for many women of color. Though women only made 57 cents per dollar earned by men in 1973 when this Department of Labor PSA was made, progress has stalled and we’re still far from closing the pay gap. 

2. There is more than one Equal Pay Day 

The wage gap is even greater for many women. To earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned in 2020, Asian American and Pacific Islander women had to work until March 9. Mothers won’t catch up until June 4 (compared with fathers, on average). For many women of color, Equal Pay Day falls later and later into the year. For Black women it is not until Aug. 3. For Native American women it is not until Sept. 8. Lastly, for Latinas, Equal Pay Day is more than 9 months into the year on Oct. 21..."
Gender pay gap 

Women in the Labor Force

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Working women 

Celebrating 100 Years of Working Women

"In 1920, Old Glory boasted only 48 stars, the country was two years removed from the First World War and it was the year of the 19th Amendment — which allowed women to make their voices heard at the voting booth. In that same year, Congress passed a law establishing the first government institution in the United States dedicated solely to the economic prosperity and well-being of women in the workplace, the Women’s Bureau.

At the time, the public may have considered a Women’s Bureau or even women’s suffrage a radical idea, but decades of brave women entering public life had already permanently altered American culture. In just a decade, from 1910 to 1920, the number of women in the workforce increased from 5 million to 8 million. In an era when the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire — where 123 women and girls lost their lives — was still fresh in the American psyche, it was evident that women deserved and were entitled to representation.

With Mary Anderson as its first leader, the Women’s Bureau charged forward representing women in industry and labor. In its first decade, the Women’s Bureau performed 87 studies on women in the workforce, including 16 state studies on women working in textile mills. According to Women’s Bureau Bulletin No. 63, published in 1929, women were nearly three times as likely to miss work because of home duties as men were.

A century later, the Women’s Bureau continues to study and address the challenges facing women. Today, those challenges include:

• What is the long-term impact of a pandemic on women workers?
• How does access to child care affect women’s careers?.."
  Working women