Quick answer
The latest women in the workforce statistics from BLS: in October 2026, 81.1 million women were in the labor force and 77.9 million were employed. Their participation rate was 56.9%, against 67.3% for men. Among women aged 25 to 54, participation hit a record 78.5% in March 2026. In 2025, 73.9% of mothers with children under 18 were in the labor force.
Women in the workforce statistics start with one number: in October 2026, 81.1 million women aged 16 and over were working or looking for work in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation released November 6, 2026. That is about 47.5% of the labor force (Workzenly calculation). Among women in their prime working years, participation set a record in March 2026, the highest since the series began in 1948. This page collects the latest women labor force participation, employment and earnings data from BLS, each linked to the table it comes from.
Women's labor force participation
Monthly figures come from Table A-1 of the Employment Situation and are seasonally adjusted. The participation rate is the share of the civilian population, 16 and over and not in an institution, that is working or looking for work.
- 81,136,000 women were in the civilian labor force in October 2026, up from 80,899,000 in September. 77,894,000 were employed.
- The women's participation rate was 56.9% in October 2026, up from 56.7% in September. The men's rate was 67.3%, and the overall rate was 61.9%.
- The women's unemployment rate was 4.0%, against 4.3% for men. For women 20 and over it was 3.6%.
- The employment-population ratio for women was 54.6%, meaning just over half of all women 16 and over had a job.
- In the 2025 annual averages, women were 80.29 million of the 170.81 million people in the labor force, or 47.0% (Workzenly calculation from CPS Table 2).
The October 2025 survey was not collected because of the federal government shutdown, so there is no year-over-year comparison for October 2026.
Women's participation over time
The overall women's rate climbed for decades, peaked in 1999 and has drifted since, mostly because the population is aging. Annual averages from CPS Table 2:
| Year | Women's participation rate | Women in labor force (thousands) |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 54.5% | 51,050 |
| 1990 | 57.5% | 56,829 |
| 1999 | 60.0% | 64,855 |
| 2005 | 59.3% | 69,288 |
| 2010 | 58.6% | 71,904 |
| 2015 | 56.7% | 73,510 |
| 2019 | 57.4% | 76,852 |
| 2020 | 56.2% | 75,538 |
| 2021 | 56.1% | 75,699 |
| 2023 | 57.3% | 78,239 |
| 2024 | 57.5% | 79,132 |
| 2025 | 57.3% | 80,290 |
Source: BLS, Current Population Survey, Table 2, annual averages. 2025 averages cover 11 months and exclude October.
- The women's labor force grew by 29.2 million people from 1985 to 2025, a 57% increase (Workzenly calculation).
- Over the same period the men's participation rate fell from 76.3% to 67.8%, so the gap between men and women narrowed from 21.8 to 10.5 percentage points.
What this means for employers: Almost every other applicant and employee is a woman. Policies built around one breadwinner and one person at home no longer match the workforce. Leave, scheduling and pay practices that work for women are now simply practices that work for your staff.
Working women statistics by age and race
The overall rate hides a strong trend among women aged 25 to 54, the group economists watch because it is least affected by school and retirement. Monthly data is from BLS series LNS11300062, seasonally adjusted.
- Prime-age women's participation reached 78.5% in March 2026, the highest in a series that starts in 1948. It was 77.9% in October 2026.
- Before the pandemic, the record was 77.3% in April 2000. In October 2019 the rate was 76.7%, and it fell to 74.8% in October 2020.
- In 2025, prime-age women's participation averaged 77.8%, against 89.4% for men, an 11.6-point gap (CPS Table 3).
- Teenage women aged 16 to 19 participated at a slightly higher rate than teenage men: 36.6% versus 35.8%.
- Women 65 and over had a participation rate of 15.7%, against 23.1% for men.
- By race, Black women had the highest overall participation rate in 2025, 59.6%, followed by Asian women at 58.8% and White women at 56.5%.
What this means for employers: The record is driven by women in the years when many are raising children. Keeping them depends on whether a job fits around school hours, sick kids and doctor visits. Predictable schedules and easy time-off requests matter more to this group than perks.
Mothers in the workforce
Data on mothers in the workforce comes from the BLS Employment Characteristics of Families release for 2025, published April 23, 2026, and its Table 5.
- 73.9% of mothers with children under 18 were in the labor force in 2025, little changed from 74.0% in 2024. The rate for fathers was 93.7%.
- Mothers with a child under 6 had a participation rate of 68.0%. Mothers whose youngest child was 6 to 17 had a rate of 78.2%.
- Fathers moved the other way: 95.3% with a child under 6 and 92.5% with older children.
- Married mothers with a spouse present participated at 72.1%. Mothers of other marital statuses (single, divorced, separated or widowed) participated at 78.1%.
- 79% of employed mothers worked full time, against 95% of employed fathers. The full-time share was 77% for mothers of children under 6 and 80% for mothers of school-age children.
- Both spouses had jobs in 49.1% of married-couple families in 2025.
What this means for employers: The biggest drop in participation comes when a woman has a young child. Clear maternity leave rules, an understanding of who qualifies for FMLA leave, and a plan for the return to work all help keep new mothers on your team instead of training their replacements.
Part-time work and unpaid care
Women are far more likely than men to work part time, and they still do more unpaid work at home. Part-time counts are 2025 annual averages from CPS Table 8; time use is from the BLS American Time Use Survey for 2025, released June 25, 2026.
- 17.79 million women usually worked part time (under 35 hours a week) in 2025, out of 76.93 million employed women. Workzenly calculation: 23.1%, against 12.4% of employed men.
- Women were 62.3% of all people who usually worked part time (Workzenly calculation).
- On an average day in 2025, 87% of women and 75% of men did some household activities. On those days women spent 2.8 hours on them and men 2.1 hours.
- Among adults in households with children under 6, women spent 2.8 hours a day on primary childcare, against 1.7 hours for men.
- Employed women were more likely to work at home on days they worked: 38% versus 31% of employed men.
What this means for employers: A large share of your part-time and flexible staff are women balancing care at home. Offer real choice over hours, and treat part-timers fairly on schedules and leave. Our part-time employment statistics and remote work statistics go deeper, and a hybrid work schedule can help office teams.
Women employment statistics by occupation
Women held 47.1% of the 163.5 million jobs counted in 2025, but they are spread very unevenly across occupations. Figures are 2025 annual averages from CPS Table 11.
| Occupation | Total employed (thousands) | Percent women |
|---|---|---|
| Office and administrative support | 16,444 | 70.5% |
| Service occupations | 27,230 | 57.8% |
| Home health aides | 726 | 86.1% |
| Waiters and waitresses | 1,754 | 69.8% |
| Cashiers | 2,490 | 68.5% |
| Retail salespersons | 2,661 | 47.0% |
| Production occupations | 7,889 | 28.4% |
| Driver/sales workers and truck drivers | 3,583 | 7.7% |
| Carpenters | 1,178 | 3.1% |
| Electricians | 1,063 | 3.5% |
Source: BLS, Current Population Survey, Table 11, 2025 annual averages.
What this means for employers: In healthcare, childcare, dental offices and admin roles, most of your team will be women, so leave and scheduling policy shapes retention directly. In construction and trucking, women are under 8% of workers, which leaves a large untapped hiring pool for employers willing to recruit it.
Women in management
Women in the workforce statistics on leadership show a clear pattern: women hold a majority of professional jobs but a minority of top roles. Figures are 2025 annual averages from CPS Table 11.
- Women held 52.2% of management, professional and related jobs, a group of 71.3 million workers.
- Within that group, they held 41.8% of the 20.9 million management jobs.
- Women were 33.0% of the 1.8 million chief executives and 34.4% of general and operations managers.
- They were 79.6% of human resources managers and 75.3% of medical and health services managers.
- Women were 43.9% of first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, slightly below their 47.0% share of retail salespersons.
- Women were 42.9% of lawyers.
What this means for employers: In many businesses the gap opens at the first promotion, from frontline worker to shift lead or supervisor. Write down what it takes to move up, review everyone on the same schedule, and check who is getting the stretch assignments.
Earnings
The BLS Usual Weekly Earnings release for the third quarter of 2026, published October 21, 2026, gives the headline comparison for full-time wage and salary workers (not seasonally adjusted).
- Women had median weekly earnings of $1,127, or 83.4% of the $1,352 median for men.
- The weekly difference was $225 (Workzenly calculation).
This raw ratio does not adjust for occupation, hours or experience. The occupation data above explains part of it: women are concentrated in lower-paid service and support jobs and underrepresented in management.
What this means for employers: Set pay ranges by role, apply them the same way to everyone, and review pay when you promote. Some states require pay ranges in job postings; see our guide to pay transparency laws by state.
About this data
These women in the workforce statistics come from four BLS sources. The Current Population Survey is a monthly household survey; it supplies participation, unemployment, part-time and occupation data. Monthly figures appear in the Employment Situation, usually on the first Friday of the month, and annual averages are published each January. The 2025 annual averages cover 11 months because October 2025 was not collected during the federal government shutdown. Family data is published once a year in April, weekly earnings each quarter, and the American Time Use Survey each June.
Where we compute shares, changes or differences, the text says "Workzenly calculation." We review this page when new releases come out. Journalists, students and bloggers are welcome to cite it with a link to this page. For related leave data, see our PTO statistics, paid sick leave statistics and guide to paid time off.
More workforce statistics: Gender pay gap statistics · Part-time employment statistics · Paid sick leave statistics · Healthcare workforce statistics.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation, October 2026, released November 6, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-1, Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, October 2026. bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, series LNS11300062, Labor force participation rate, women 25 to 54, seasonally adjusted, 1948 to 2026. data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300062
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 2, Employment status by sex, annual averages 1985 to 2025. bls.gov/cps/cpsaat02.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 3, Employment status by age, sex and race, 2025 annual averages. bls.gov/cps/cpsaat03.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 8, Employed and unemployed full- and part-time workers, 2025 annual averages. bls.gov/cps/cpsaat08.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 11, Employed people by detailed occupation and sex, 2025 annual averages. bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, 2025, released April 23, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, Table 5, 2024 and 2025 annual averages. bls.gov/news.release/famee.t05.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Third Quarter 2026, released October 21, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey, 2025 results, released June 25, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm
Frequently asked questions
How many women are in the US workforce?
In October 2026, 81.1 million women aged 16 and over were in the civilian labor force and 77.9 million were employed (seasonally adjusted), according to the BLS Employment Situation released November 6, 2026. Women were about 47.5% of the labor force, a Workzenly calculation from BLS Table A-1.
What is the labor force participation rate for women?
The labor force participation rate for women aged 16 and over was 56.9% in October 2026, compared with 67.3% for men (seasonally adjusted), according to BLS Table A-1. For women aged 25 to 54 the rate was 77.9%, close to the record 78.5% set in March 2026.
What percentage of mothers work?
In 2025, 73.9% of mothers with children under 18 were in the labor force, according to the BLS Employment Characteristics of Families release of April 23, 2026. The rate was 68.0% for mothers with a child under 6 and 78.2% for mothers whose youngest child was 6 to 17.
How much do women earn compared with men?
In the third quarter of 2026, women working full time had median weekly earnings of $1,127, or 83.4% of the $1,352 median for men, according to the BLS Usual Weekly Earnings release of October 21, 2026. The figures are not seasonally adjusted and do not control for occupation or hours.
What share of managers are women?
Women held 41.8% of management jobs in 2025, according to BLS Current Population Survey Table 11 annual averages. Their share was 33.0% among chief executives and 34.4% among general and operations managers, but 79.6% among human resources managers and 75.3% among medical and health services managers.
What jobs have the most women?
In 2025, women held 95.0% of dental hygienist jobs, 93.2% of childcare worker jobs, 91.9% of secretary and administrative assistant jobs and 87.3% of registered nurse jobs, according to BLS Current Population Survey Table 11. They held 4.3% of construction and extraction jobs.