American Women Now Account for 50.7% of US Labor Force - Poll

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Women in the United States have overtaken men regarding employment over the past three years and now comprise slightly more than half of the college-educated work force, the Pew Research Center said.

"Women have overtaken men and now account for more than half (50.7%) of the college-educated labor force in the United States," the Pew Research center said in a press release on Monday detailing analysis of government data.

"The change occurred in the fourth quarter of 2019 and remains the case today, even though the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp recession and an overall decline in the size of the nation’s labor force."

Pew attributes the changes in the composition of the US population, as well as the changes in the number of people in the labor force, as contributing to the trend, the release said.

Research has shown that the number of women and men in the labor force depends on the size of each group and the percent of that group who are working or seeking work, the release also said.

"This shift in the college-educated labor force - as women now comprise a majority - comes around four decades after women surpassed men in the number of Americans earning a bachelor’s degree each year," the release added.