bor force participation rate for younger women. The two reasons for this are as follows: these younger women were raising larger families; and their husbands had relatively high incomes, generally a factor deterring female labor market participation (HPAE P. 562). During this time, in the post-1940’s, there was an increased demand for labor. This increased demand for labor combined with the relative shortfall of young women led employers to seek a new pool of labor, older married women. The new increased demand for older married women led to a great increase in their labor force participation rate.Work for married women in America’s past frequently came from an economic necessity, but it has also implied economic autonomy. The rise of economic independence for women has resulted in many social and societal changes such as the formation of wider and less family-dependant social networks, a greater chance for marital dissolution, and the possibility of less constrained and structured gender roles (HPAE P. 571). Today, there are almost as many women in the work force as there are men. It is now a rarity for a woman to work exclusively within the home. In our current economy it is almost a necessity for both the man and woman to work outside the home in order for the household to survive. It was interesting to learn about the economic factors affected women’s participation in the work force in the past and relate that to women’s role in the work force today....
