From the 1950s onward, women’s participation in the work force has grown from less than 35% to a peak of almost 80% in 2007.  It has since dropped to about 75%.  For men the participation rate peaked about 1960 and has been declining ever since.  Currently it is about 87%.

Some of this reflects the choice that households with multiple wage earners have two people earn a wage.   The need for both to work diminishes.  That does not mean things are easy but it does mean that poverty or work is no longer the choice for many households where more than one working adult lives.  So many people choose not to work rather than accept lower wages or change professions and having a spouse who works increases the ability to do just that!

So it is not surprising that we are witnessing such a decline in participation rates.  The bad news about this is something that a Barron’s article dated October 6, 2014 titled “A Tale of Two Genders” mentions.  The best training for anyone is on the job training.  So, in the short term, not working may look good but the loss of skill and the inability to improve skills hampers the person from future work.   So, US policy should encourage people to continue to work and to return to the job force after leaving a job.  Currently our system does not do that.