Gender and Employment. Current Statistics and Their Implications.

This publication contains three fact sheets on gender and employment statistics and their implications. The fact sheets are divided into two sections--statistics and implications. The statistics present the current situation of men and women workers as they relate to occupations, education, and earnings. The implications express suggestions for developing high quality work force preparation programs. The topics of the three fact sheets are as follows: gender and labor force participation; gender and earnings; and education, earnings, and gender. Some of the information reported in the fact sheets includes the following: (1) men's share of the labor force continues to decline, whereas women's continues to increase, with women now representing almost half or all workers; (2) women continue to earn an average of only 75.5 percent of men's wages, with full-time women employees making substantially less than men in almost all occupations; (3) two-thirds of all part-time workers are women; (4) families maintained by women without a husband had a median income of $17,443 in 1993 (5) for families maintained by men only, the figure was 26,467; (6) married-couple families had a median income of $43,005; (7) 91 percent of female and 88 percent of male labor force participants in 1995 had high school diplomas; (8) 44 percent of women on Aid for Families with Dependent Children had less than a high school education; and (9) 75 percent of female heads of households with less than a high school diploma are living in poverty. Implications for educators, employers, and public policy makers are as follows: students should be made aware of the practical side of work life and how their choices affect their earning power; programs should be implemented for single parents with less than a high-school diploma; students should be informed of the advantages and disadvantages of nontraditional employment; and efforts should be made to continue closing the wage gap between men and women. Contains 19 references. (KC)