Women and the Changing Workforce

The Center for American Progress, just issued a new report, How Working Women Are Reshaping America’s Families and Economy and What It Means for Policymakers. The report addresses the impact of an increasingly female workforce and states that women are now half of all workers on U.S payrolls, that two-thirds of mothers are bringing home at least a quarter of the family’s earnings, and 4 in 10 mothers are either the sole breadwinner or are bringing home as much or more than their spouse The report also points out that while workforce participation and family income have increased for all women, it is particularly noteworthy among women with low-incomes who are now primary breadwinners in two-thirds of their families.

The report states that while the workforce has changed dramatically, that government, business, education and other social institutions need to make changes to support this new reality. The report suggests a policy agenda that includes; updating labor standards to account for employees’ family responsibilities, improving basic fairness in the workplace, providing support to families with childcare and eldercare needs, and improving our knowledge on work – life policies by collecting data and analyzing the effectiveness of state and local policies.

For the executive summary of this report.

For policies on expanding work support benefits.