SINCE 2000, the male employment rate has dropped by nine percentage points. The female employment rate has declined by less than five points. The difference will almost certainly be less extreme once the recession ends and traditionally male fields such as construction recover. Nevertheless, these differentials have changed radically in the past 60 years. The male employment rate was 57 percentage points higher in 1950, which explains some of what I noted about the fifties here. It is now about 11 points higher than the female employment rate. As of 2007, about 25 percent of women worked part-time while 10.5 percent of men did.

Here is a table illustrating the employment rates for men and women aged 25 to 54. The sources for these numbers can be found here and here. Read More »