Figure C
Over the past five decades, women across race and ethnicity saw increases, while Black men saw the steepest declines in labor force participation
: Women's prime-age labor force participation rate by race and ethnicity, 1976–2024
| Year | White | Black | Hispanic | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 56.4% | 63.1% | 48.6% | 59.3% |
| 1977 | 58.3% | 64.7% | 49.8% | 60.7% |
| 1978 | 60.3% | 67.0% | 52.7% | 63.3% |
| 1979 | 62.4% | 67.4% | 52.9% | 65.1% |
| 1980 | 64.2% | 68.3% | 54.1% | 64.6% |
| 1981 | 65.8% | 68.5% | 55.6% | 64.4% |
| 1982 | 67.0% | 69.4% | 56.1% | 64.7% |
| 1983 | 67.8% | 70.8% | 56.1% | 64.8% |
| 1984 | 69.0% | 71.4% | 57.2% | 65.0% |
| 1985 | 70.5% | 72.0% | 57.7% | 67.1% |
| 1986 | 71.8% | 72.7% | 59.3% | 67.1% |
| 1987 | 72.9% | 73.9% | 60.8% | 67.4% |
| 1988 | 73.9% | 74.1% | 60.6% | 66.7% |
| 1989 | 74.9% | 74.4% | 62.7% | 69.3% |
| 1990 | 75.6% | 74.0% | 62.3% | 68.0% |
| 1991 | 76.0% | 73.6% | 61.9% | 67.3% |
| 1992 | 76.4% | 74.5% | 62.5% | 70.4% |
| 1993 | 76.7% | 73.5% | 62.0% | 69.3% |
| 1994 | 77.5% | 73.7% | 62.8% | 69.5% |
| 1995 | 77.8% | 74.7% | 63.1% | 69.7% |
| 1996 | 78.2% | 76.2% | 64.0% | 70.6% |
| 1997 | 78.5% | 77.4% | 65.8% | 70.9% |
| 1998 | 78.1% | 78.5% | 65.8% | 71.3% |
| 1999 | 78.3% | 79.6% | 66.3% | 70.4% |
| 2000 | 78.3% | 79.1% | 67.6% | 70.9% |
| 2001 | 77.9% | 78.9% | 67.7% | 71.4% |
| 2002 | 77.6% | 77.9% | 67.2% | 70.6% |
| 2003 | 77.5% | 78.4% | 65.4% | 71.4% |
| 2004 | 77.1% | 77.6% | 66.1% | 70.4% |
| 2005 | 77.3% | 77.5% | 65.4% | 70.3% |
| 2006 | 77.5% | 77.5% | 66.3% | 71.2% |
| 2007 | 77.3% | 77.4% | 67.0% | 71.5% |
| 2008 | 77.8% | 77.8% | 66.8% | 72.4% |
| 2009 | 77.8% | 76.9% | 67.2% | 71.7% |
| 2010 | 77.1% | 76.5% | 67.9% | 71.5% |
| 2011 | 76.7% | 75.8% | 67.1% | 71.0% |
| 2012 | 76.5% | 76.4% | 67.8% | 70.3% |
| 2013 | 76.1% | 75.7% | 66.4% | 69.7% |
| 2014 | 76.2% | 76.1% | 67.0% | 68.6% |
| 2015 | 76.1% | 76.6% | 66.3% | 68.0% |
| 2016 | 76.9% | 76.8% | 66.7% | 69.3% |
| 2017 | 77.3% | 77.9% | 67.7% | 70.7% |
| 2018 | 77.4% | 78.1% | 68.7% | 71.3% |
| 2019 | 78.4% | 78.4% | 69.5% | 71.9% |
| 2020 | 78.0% | 76.8% | 67.7% | 70.7% |
| 2021 | 77.9% | 77.5% | 67.3% | 72.8% |
| 2022 | 78.5% | 79.0% | 69.9% | 74.0% |
| 2023 | 79.5% | 79.5% | 71.4% | 74.9% |
| 2024 | 80.0% | 80.1% | 71.9% | 75.8% |
: Men's prime-age labor force participation rate by race and ethnicity, 1976–2024
| Year | Black | White | Other | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 88.2% | 95.0% | 91.0% | 92.4% |
| 1977 | 88.3% | 95.0% | 90.2% | 93.1% |
| 1978 | 88.8% | 95.0% | 92.5% | 93.0% |
| 1979 | 88.9% | 95.2% | 91.0% | 93.1% |
| 1980 | 88.2% | 95.1% | 89.7% | 93.1% |
| 1981 | 87.5% | 95.2% | 88.5% | 93.0% |
| 1982 | 88.0% | 95.0% | 88.7% | 93.0% |
| 1983 | 88.5% | 94.8% | 88.4% | 92.7% |
| 1984 | 88.1% | 95.0% | 88.6% | 92.6% |
| 1985 | 87.8% | 95.0% | 89.2% | 92.4% |
| 1986 | 88.5% | 94.8% | 89.3% | 92.6% |
| 1987 | 87.9% | 94.8% | 89.6% | 92.3% |
| 1988 | 87.6% | 94.7% | 88.2% | 92.6% |
| 1989 | 87.7% | 94.8% | 89.2% | 92.7% |
| 1990 | 87.6% | 94.6% | 88.1% | 92.3% |
| 1991 | 86.7% | 94.4% | 88.9% | 91.2% |
| 1992 | 86.1% | 94.3% | 89.4% | 91.5% |
| 1993 | 85.2% | 93.9% | 88.3% | 91.7% |
| 1994 | 84.6% | 93.1% | 87.4% | 91.0% |
| 1995 | 84.2% | 92.9% | 87.6% | 91.0% |
| 1996 | 84.3% | 93.2% | 88.0% | 91.6% |
| 1997 | 84.7% | 93.1% | 88.9% | 91.9% |
| 1998 | 84.4% | 93.1% | 90.1% | 91.6% |
| 1999 | 85.1% | 93.0% | 88.7% | 91.6% |
| 2000 | 84.3% | 92.7% | 90.4% | 92.5% |
| 2001 | 83.6% | 92.5% | 90.0% | 91.7% |
| 2002 | 83.4% | 92.3% | 89.4% | 91.5% |
| 2003 | 82.8% | 91.7% | 88.8% | 91.6% |
| 2004 | 82.3% | 91.5% | 89.6% | 92.1% |
| 2005 | 83.1% | 91.5% | 88.6% | 92.0% |
| 2006 | 82.9% | 91.6% | 89.1% | 92.4% |
| 2007 | 83.6% | 91.8% | 89.5% | 92.7% |
| 2008 | 83.6% | 91.2% | 90.0% | 92.6% |
| 2009 | 81.8% | 90.7% | 89.3% | 91.5% |
| 2010 | 82.1% | 90.1% | 87.3% | 91.5% |
| 2011 | 80.5% | 89.7% | 87.7% | 90.8% |
| 2012 | 80.3% | 89.8% | 88.0% | 90.3% |
| 2013 | 80.4% | 89.3% | 88.6% | 90.4% |
| 2014 | 80.8% | 89.0% | 87.5% | 90.6% |
| 2015 | 80.6% | 89.1% | 87.4% | 90.8% |
| 2016 | 81.3% | 89.4% | 88.0% | 90.7% |
| 2017 | 81.9% | 89.4% | 88.3% | 90.6% |
| 2018 | 82.6% | 90.0% | 88.2% | 90.3% |
| 2019 | 82.7% | 90.2% | 88.5% | 90.3% |
| 2020 | 80.0% | 89.2% | 87.5% | 89.3% |
| 2021 | 80.6% | 88.8% | 89.0% | 89.8% |
| 2022 | 82.5% | 89.2% | 89.4% | 90.1% |
| 2023 | 84.1% | 89.9% | 89.6% | 90.1% |
| 2024 | 84.2% | 89.9% | 89.6% | 90.8% |
Notes: Data include the civilian noninstitutional population. “Prime age” refers to ages 25 to 54. Race and ethnicity groups are mutually exclusive. The y-axes differ across charts to best illustrate the levels and trends for each group.
Source: EPI analysis of the Current Population Survey (CPS) basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 2025.6.11, https://microdata.epi.org.
This chart appears in:
Next chart: 10 of 12 states that have enacted anti-DEI policies in 2025 also have RTW laws »