Get up, dear. It's time to go to work!
A generation ago, chances were that daily encouragement would have been directed at a male breadwinner. But not necessarily in the 1990s, and certainly not in Utah.Statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, Job Service and the state show that more women than ever before have entered the work force, and a greater percentage of Utah women work than the nation as a whole.
According to the state Department of Employment Security, 61.2 percent of working-age Utah women are now in the work force, compared with 58.9 percent nationally. By comparison, only 25.3 percent of Utah women were in the work force in 1950 (compared with 30 percent nationally).
During that same period of time, the percentage of Utah men who work has remained virtually unchanged - 82.5 percent (compared with 75 percent nationally in 1995 and 80 percent in 1950).
"There appears to be two reasons why more Utah women are working," explains Lecia Parks Langston, chief economist for Utah Job Service. "First, Utah women are younger, and younger women tend to work more. And second, Utah women have larger families, and it is really difficult to support a large family on one income."
But Langston is the first to say that the complexity of demographic trends makes it difficult to categorically attribute the increase in working women to one or two causes.
Nationally, soaring divorce rates have pushed many women into the work force. Utah's divorce rate mirrors the national average of almost 5 per 1,000 population, but Utah's divorced women tend to remarry much quicker than the national average, thereby mitigating the effects of divorce rates on the percentage of working women.
Another factor is the high number of unmarried women giving birth. Nationally, about 30 percent of all births are to unwed mothers, compared to 5 percent in 1960; in Utah, it is about 15 percent, compared to about 2 percent in 1960.
"The data is not good enough to tell us what the effect of unwed mothers is (on the number of working women)," Langston said. "Most of the women who work are married, and we are not sure whether unwed mothers have that big of an effect on the numbers. It may be that it is a lot easier for them to get on welfare rolls."
However, increased numbers of divorces and births to unwed mothers probably has had some effect on the overall numbers.
Natalie Gochnour, head of the demographic section for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, also points to other demographic trends - some of which have disturbing societal consequences.
For example, almost one in five Utah households with children is headed by a single parent, usually a woman. Nationally, about 31 percent of households with children are headed by a single parent.
Gochnour points to studies that indicate children from single-parent homes are five times more likely to be poor and 10 times more likely to be extremely poor. Children who grow up with only one parent are three times more likely to have a child out of wedlock, twice as likely to drop out of school and 1.4 times more likely to be out of school and out of work.
There is another trend that would indicate Utah women are not preparing themselves as well as men to enter the work force.
Studies indicate 86 percent of Utah men and women have graduated from high school, well above the national average of 76 percent for men and 75 percent for women.
Some 54 percent of Utah women have had some college education, still well above the national average for women of 43 percent.
Where Utah women lag a bit behind is in the percentage of women graduating from college. Only 17 percent of Utah women graduate from college, compared to 18 percent nationally.
Langston said that is due to Utah's cultural emphasis on families that prompts women to drop out of college and start raising children (something reflected in the fact that Utah has the highest fertility rate of any state in the nation).
"We have lost ground compared to the rest of the nation," Langston said. "Not that you have to have a college education, but it is pretty indicative of the kinds of careers you go into and how much you are going to earn."
The high cost of raising large families forces an increasing number of women back into the work force, usually into low-paying jobs because they do not have the educational prerequisites.
"Women don't really prepare themselves for the reality of life in terms of careers," Langston said. "Culturally, they say they are not going to work, that they are going to live a `Leave It to Beaver' life. But they end up working, and they are not prepared for that role."
According to a 1996 study by Langston, the median earnings for full-time women workers was $8.40 an hour, compared to $13.66 for men. That disparity is due largely to choices made by women, such as dropping out of college to have children, moving in and out of the work force as they have more children, and taking lower-paying, gender-specific jobs that correspond to lower education levels.
"There is a portion that no one can account for, which would suggest there is some discrimination," Langston said. "The good news is the wage gap is closing."
In a perfect world, Langston said, women would prepare themselves for careers. They can then choose to be in the work force or stay-at-home moms, but at least they would have the education and training necessary to go back into the work force if needed.
"The biggest reality: It costs lots of money to raise children, and we like our large families in Utah," she said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Labor force: Male/Female Participation
Percent of total work force*
UTAH U.S.
Year Males Females Males Females
1950 82.5% 25.3% 80.0% 30.0%
1970 77.4% 41.5% 79.7% 43.3%
1990 80.5% 60.6% 76.1% 57.5%
1991 80.9% 61.2% 74.7% 57.3%
1993 81.2% 63.5% 75.6% 57.9%
1995 82.5% 61.2% 75.0% 58.9%
*Have a job or are actively looking for a job
SOURCE: Utah Department of Employment Security, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics