Working women. 5 Key facts.

By Mimi Lee, Founder of Meiava

In my journey to launch a startup to help working women to organize their busy life and feel inspired, I discovered interesting facts about working women in the United States (US).

1.  More women in the workforce: By 2024, there will be an estimated 77.2 million working women in the US, up from 74.4 million in 2016. The workforce participation rate of women is growing slightly higher than that of men. By 2024, there will be 86.5 million men in the US workforce (up from 84.8 million in 2016).

2. Working mothers: Of the working women today, 72 percent are mothers with children under 18 years old and 75 percent are working full-time (35 hours or more) while 25 percent are employed part-time.

3. Breadwinners: Working mothers are the primary or sole earners today for 40.9 percent of US households with children under 18 years old compared with 11.3 percent in 1960.

4. Single working mothers: About a quarter (24 percent) of working mothers are going it alone.

5. Highly educated: In 2019, 29.5 million women (25 years old and above) in the US workforce have at least a bachelor’s degree, effectively matching the number of college-educated men in the workforce (29.3 million).

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Photo: By Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock.

Sources: US Department of Labor - US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Women’s Bureau. Pew Research Center. Better Business Bureau. Forbes.