Understanding the Causes of Female Labor-Force Participation Stagnation in the U.S.

Author

Sophia Fosdick, University of MississippiFollow

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Natalia Kolesnikova

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This thesis examines the stagnation and decline in U.S. women’s labor force participation from the 1990s onwards. Through literature analysis and economic theory, I determined that different subgroups in the U.S. female population between the ages of 25 and 54 had differing trends in labor supply behaviors. I then used regression analysis of U.S. Census data from years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 to chart these behaviors and understand the groups facing the largest decline. Through my data, I found that uneducated mothers of young children were facing the largest decline, with an increasingly negative response as the decades progress, and driving the aggregate trends towards stagnation.

Recommended Citation

Fosdick, Sophia, "Understanding the Causes of Female Labor-Force Participation Stagnation in the U.S." (2019). Honors Theses. 1222.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1222

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