Back in the day, the only job a woman could get was as a secretary. Today, women are doing more than answering phones and getting coffee — they’re running their own companies and working in record numbers. In fact, the United States Department of Labor reports that women make up 47% of the workforce, a statistic that appears to be having a huge impact on the dynamic of American households.
While women have increased their role in the labor force, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that over the past 40 years, more and more married men (age 25-54) say they are unemployed and not actively looking for a job, or are working part-time.
In 1970, 97% of married men were in the labor market. In 2011, that number dropped to 93%. Similarly, less than 1.5% of married men worked part-time in 1970. In 2009, that number has jumped up to 4%.
According to the St. Louis Fed, there are three things that could explain why married men are working fewer hours. The first has to do with lack of opportunity in the job market, which is constantly changing due to technological advancements. Technology has impacted a few industries in particular, including the manufacturing, which traditionally employs more men and has seen a drop in demand.
The second reason men are working less: women are now paid more for their work. Note that the gender pay gap has not been closed, but it has narrowed, which could give men less incentive to work as many hours, or at all.
Finally, more and more women have chosen to pursue higher education, which has led to an increase of married women in the workforce. These women are also working more hours and are to able to contribute financially to their households. In a marriage, this provides more stability if the woman is married to a lower-skilled man or one working in a declining industry, who runs the risk of getting laid off.
More women choosing to pursue higher education might be one of the most telling contributors to why married men are working fewer hours. According to a report from the White House, the fall in labor participation has been largely concentrated among men with a high school degree or less. At the same time, the St. Louis Fed says the number of non-working men who are married to women with a high school education or less has dropped significantly. In other words, women are more educated now and able to contribute financially to their families.
This leaves men with the opportunity to be choosier with the jobs they select and spend more time at home if they find themselves without work.
When looking at how time is allocated in the household, men spend more time on housework and childcare if they’re married to a woman with more education. In fact, the percentage of those married to women who are relatively more educated than them increased from about 9% in 1970 to about 27% in 2015.
Ultimately, the report sheds light on some interesting and ongoing trends in the US. More prime age men, of any education level, are not working or only working part-time if their wives are educated or has more education than them. (It should be noted much has been written recently in attempts to explain the phenomenon of men sidelined from the job market, with some economists arguing that disability insurance could be incentivizing men to enroll in government assistance programs instead of look for work.)
In either case, the further departure from the “Mad Men” era can be attributed to rising college graduation rates in the overall population, a declining marriage rate, and women’s educational achievements surpassing men’s. This long-term trend is one that that White House has called “worrisome,” because it leaves the US labor market operating below its potential. By creating policy solutions, like investing in infrastructure and increasing access to higher education, the Obama administration and future governments will need to make reconnecting prime aged men to the labor market a priority.
Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.
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