Symposium on Women in the Labor Market
本专题包含四篇关于女性劳动力市场的论文，探讨了女性劳动参与率上升、性别工资差距变化等趋势，对研究劳动经济学的学者有参考价值。
T his symposium contains four essays on the general topic of women in the labor market. The essays are varied, not only in focus, but also in philosophical outlook. The topic is of central importance today. Few economic trends have been more pronounced or sustained than the increased labor force participation of women. In 1948, the labor force participation rate of females was 32.7 percent. At the end of 1987, it stood at 56.4 percent. The growth has been significant even during the 1980s-in 1980, the rate was 51.5 percent-and it shows little sign of tapering off. During the same period, the labor force participation rate of males has fallen. In 1948, the rate for males was 86.6 percent, whereas it was 76.1 percent in 1987. Trends toward earlier retirement among males account for some of the change, along with other demographic shifts. The relative economic position of females has improved during the 1980s. A rough look at Current Population Survey data reveals that the ratio of average female weekly wages to average male weekly wages was .58 in 1976 and .59 in 1980. By 1986, it had risen to .62. Although some have attributed this narrowing to the lack of appreciable growth in male weekly wages, rather than to progress in female weekly wages, no similar trend exists for other groups. In particular, black males have not done well over the same period relative to white men. In 1976, the ratio of black male weekly wages to white male weekly wages was .70. In 1986 it was .66. Thus, there is something significant about females that is absent for other disadvantaged groups in the labor market. This progress is confined to white women, for the most part. The ratio of black female weekly wages to white female weekly wages was .89 in 1974 and reached a peak of .93 in 1979. It fell back to .88 by 1986.