Over the past five decades, women's labor force participation grew more consistently in OECD countries than in the U.S., while U.S. men's participation saw sharper declines relative to OECD peers
: United States and OECD average women's prime-age labor force participation rate, 1976–2024
| Year | United States | OECD average |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 56.8% | 52.2% |
| 1977 | 58.5% | 51.8% |
| 1978 | 60.6% | 54.8% |
| 1979 | 62.3% | 54.2% |
| 1980 | 64.0% | 57.0% |
| 1981 | 65.3% | 56.3% |
| 1982 | 66.3% | 59.2% |
| 1983 | 67.1% | 58.2% |
| 1984 | 68.2% | 59.2% |
| 1985 | 69.6% | 60.3% |
| 1986 | 70.8% | 61.8% |
| 1987 | 71.9% | 62.2% |
| 1988 | 72.7% | 61.8% |
| 1989 | 73.6% | 62.8% |
| 1990 | 74.0% | 64.6% |
| 1991 | 74.1% | 65.4% |
| 1992 | 74.6% | 66.8% |
| 1993 | 74.6% | 67.3% |
| 1994 | 75.3% | 68.4% |
| 1995 | 75.6% | 69.3% |
| 1996 | 76.1% | 69.1% |
| 1997 | 76.7% | 69.6% |
| 1998 | 76.5% | 70.0% |
| 1999 | 76.8% | 70.7% |
| 2000 | 76.7% | 72.0% |
| 2001 | 76.4% | 72.1% |
| 2002 | 75.9% | 72.6% |
| 2003 | 75.6% | 73.0% |
| 2004 | 75.3% | 73.4% |
| 2005 | 75.3% | 74.0% |
| 2006 | 75.5% | 74.7% |
| 2007 | 75.4% | 74.8% |
| 2008 | 75.8% | 75.4% |
| 2009 | 75.6% | 76.2% |
| 2010 | 75.2% | 76.6% |
| 2011 | 74.7% | 76.8% |
| 2012 | 74.5% | 77.5% |
| 2013 | 73.9% | 77.7% |
| 2014 | 73.9% | 77.9% |
| 2015 | 73.7% | 78.1% |
| 2016 | 74.3% | 78.4% |
| 2017 | 75.0% | 78.7% |
| 2018 | 75.3% | 79.0% |
| 2019 | 76.0% | 79.4% |
| 2020 | 75.1% | 78.5% |
| 2021 | 75.3% | 79.6% |
| 2022 | 76.4% | 80.8% |
| 2023 | 77.4% | 81.2% |
| 2024 | 77.9% | 81.7% |
: United States and OECD average men's prime-age labor force participation rate, 1976–2024
| Year | United States | OECD average |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 94.2% | 94.8% |
| 1977 | 94.2% | 94.8% |
| 1978 | 94.3% | 94.5% |
| 1979 | 94.4% | 94.6% |
| 1980 | 94.2% | 94.5% |
| 1981 | 94.1% | 94.4% |
| 1982 | 94.0% | 94.1% |
| 1983 | 93.8% | 94.7% |
| 1984 | 93.9% | 94.5% |
| 1985 | 93.9% | 94.0% |
| 1986 | 93.8% | 93.9% |
| 1987 | 93.7% | 94.0% |
| 1988 | 93.6% | 93.9% |
| 1989 | 93.7% | 93.9% |
| 1990 | 93.4% | 93.8% |
| 1991 | 93.1% | 94.1% |
| 1992 | 93.0% | 93.5% |
| 1993 | 92.6% | 93.2% |
| 1994 | 91.7% | 93.0% |
| 1995 | 91.6% | 92.7% |
| 1996 | 91.8% | 92.7% |
| 1997 | 91.8% | 92.5% |
| 1998 | 91.8% | 92.4% |
| 1999 | 91.7% | 92.4% |
| 2000 | 91.6% | 92.0% |
| 2001 | 91.3% | 92.0% |
| 2002 | 91.0% | 92.0% |
| 2003 | 90.6% | 91.8% |
| 2004 | 90.5% | 91.8% |
| 2005 | 90.5% | 92.0% |
| 2006 | 90.6% | 92.1% |
| 2007 | 90.9% | 92.2% |
| 2008 | 90.5% | 92.3% |
| 2009 | 89.7% | 92.0% |
| 2010 | 89.3% | 91.9% |
| 2011 | 88.7% | 91.8% |
| 2012 | 88.7% | 91.8% |
| 2013 | 88.4% | 91.8% |
| 2014 | 88.2% | 91.8% |
| 2015 | 88.3% | 91.8% |
| 2016 | 88.5% | 91.8% |
| 2017 | 88.6% | 91.9% |
| 2018 | 89.0% | 92.0% |
| 2019 | 89.1% | 92.0% |
| 2020 | 87.9% | 91.1% |
| 2021 | 88.0% | 91.4% |
| 2022 | 88.6% | 91.9% |
| 2023 | 89.1% | 92.0% |
| 2024 | 89.3% | 92.1% |
Notes: Data include the civilian non-institutional population. “Prime age” refers to ages 25 to 54. The y-axes differ across charts to best illustrates the levels and trends for each group. OECD countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Source: EPI analysis of OECD data.
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