Mothers in the Workforce

On this day after our country celebrated Mother’s Day, I thought it would be interesting to look at the role mothers play in our work force.

Statistics tell us in January 2020, right before the pandemic, there were more women on payrolls in the U.S. than men. Working mothers made up one third of all employed women and there were 23.5 million women with children under the age of 18 in the work force with nearly than two thirds of those in full time positions.

Furthermore, 44% of working mothers 25 or older had a bachelor’s degree or higher compared with 38%of all workers in that age category. It is no surprise then working mothers have a higher median earning level than women overall.

Mothers with school age children work more hours than those with preschoolers and about 25% of all mothers in the work force are raising children on their own. Of course, the pandemic had a very negative affect on those single moms as they tried to navigate work and education.

Another important statistic to realize is the most common industry groups for working mothers were educational services, health care, and social assistance – making up a full 40%. Certainly, these are leading employment areas in the Cape/Jackson metro and mothers are having an impact for all of us locally.

So, we salute working mothers everywhere for their dedication to their family and their profession.