Labor Day is just a few days away. Hopefully, you’re taking the chance to enjoy a relaxing day. Maybe you’re recognizing all the contributions that American workers have made to make America prosperous and wealthy.
Whatever your celebrations include, let’s take a moment to recognize and examine women in the workforce.
Some 73 million adult women work today, comprising 47% of the U.S. labor force. Their overall unemployment rate has increased from 3.8% in June to 4.3% in July. This is not unusual, as women’s unemployment rate is highly cyclical: Unemployment rates for women rise along with school breaks and disruptions in child care. Women are more likely to take time off or stop working due to childcare disruptions than men are, leading to a yearly display of women sacrificing for their families.
Along with these sacrifices, 5.4% of employed women hold multiple jobs, down from 5.9% in June. Women are more likely than men to take on side hustles or part-time work in order to make ends meet.
With fluctuating unemployment rates, higher rates of holding multiple jobs, and a labor force participation rate of 58.3% that has decreased from its February high of 59%, it is clear that women are making use of the choice they have to work, not work, or make both work.
While Labor Day is about honoring the labor of the American people and all the hard work that has gone into making this country prosperous, here are some of the policies that make it easier for women to join this work.
- Increased incentive for employers to provide child care.
- Increased flexibility for independent contractors.
- Better benefits for independent contractors.
- Possible changes for home care rules.
These options are helpful for everyone, but especially women, as they make up 76% of employees in the private education and health services industry. Providing options for child care, flexible hours, and portable benefits for independent contractors allows women, especially, to choose both work and home in a way that works for them. Bring women into the labor force in their own way, and we will have more prosperity and fulfilled workers each Labor Day.
Bottom Line
Hard workers have created immense value in America by sacrificing their time and effort to build something bigger. America has an opportunity to allow more people, more women, to build something bigger than themselves, too. What is needed is the ability and freedom to create a flexible work arrangement for themselves that allows them to pursue a fulfilling life, whether that is joining the labor force, staying home to care for their families, or a beautiful mixture of the two.