Economy benefits as women work more hours

The past three decades have seen a rising number of women, especially mothers, joining the workforce. This has had a substantial impact on the average household earnings as well as the economy of the country. A research published by the Centre for American Progress, found out that if it wasn’t for the working women in the middle class families of the country, the average earnings of the families would’ve remained extremely low. In addition to this, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) would’ve been about 11% lower than it is now ($1.7 trillion less.)

In 1979, where the numbers of women working full time was 27.3%, the percentage recorded in 2007 turned out to be 44%. However, with coming of recession it decreased to 40.7% in 2012; according to the Centre’s data. During the same period, the annual number of working hours put in by women increased by 739 hours. There was a higher increase in the number of hours worked by mothers- 960 hours. The study also pointed out that the change had mostly taken place after 2000.

The Centre for American Progress reports, “The importance of mothers’ additional hours of work and their earnings to our economy lend a new urgency to rethinking U.S. labor standards for the 21st century. Even as mothers and women are making significant contributions to the U.S. economy, they continue to do so within a set of institutions that too often do not provide them with the kind of support that they need to do this successfully both at work and at home.”

Forbes>

In spite of mostly unsupportive policies and also being the primary caretaker of children and the elderly, women have successfully contributed to the country’s economy in a big way.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Centre for American Progress

http://www.scribd.com/doc/217491863/The-Economic-Importance-of-Women-s-Rising-Hours-of-Work