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What Does It Mean to Be a
Working Woman?

Women's participation in the workforce is crucial to the economic security and well-being of women and families. While women comprise nearly half of the workforce in the United States, they still face significant challenges to achieving workplace equality.

• Women comprise 47% of the workforce
  
  
• 63% of all women work
  
  
• Half of working women provide 50% or more of their household income
  
  
• Nearly 75% of all mothers are in the labor force

Women’s Occupational Distribution
Women in managerial, professional and related occupations have the highest median weekly earnings

Women’s Earnings and the Wage Gap
On average, women earn 77% of what men earn annually. In the United States:

• 6.9% of men and 11% of women earn under $15,000
  
  
• 33.8% of men and 47.2 % of women earn between $15,000 and $35,000
  
  
• 59.2% of men and 41.8% of women earn over $35,000

Working women face many more challenges than their male counterparts. This is mainly a result both of the responsibilities that they have to juggle on and off the job and the discrimination they face. Although women have taken on more financial responsibilities, they continue to have the majority of household responsibilities as well.

Tips For Working Women

Negotiate with your employer. Go to your employer with a plan showing how you will be a more valuable employee if they modify your current work situation.

Create a support network. Be willing to take a helping hand, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Friends and family will be likely to take some of the load off if you just ask for their support.

Lose the guilt. Guilt is a waste of you emotional energy. It is nearly impossible to work in the present while dwelling on the past.

Set boundaries and standards. Determine for yourself what behavior is acceptable from other people and stick to it.

Make time for yourself. Being a good professional means being good to yourself first. Find ways to relax and relieve stress; you will be benefiting both yourself and the people around you.

Let things go. Learn to recognize the things which really don’t have an impact in your life and allow yourself to let them go.

Prioritize and manage your time more effectively. In many cases people’s stress is just a result of being disorganized. If you set more realistic goals for yourself and stick to them you will be less stressed and work better.

Simplify your life. Get rid of clutter and baggage in your house and life.

Updated 08/06