Families and Unemployment
There were 6.1 million families with at least one unemployed member in 2008, up from 4.9 million in 2007. The proportion of families with an unemployed member rose from 6.3 percent in 2007 to 7.8 percent in 2008. Black and Hispanic families were more likely to have an unemployed member (12.8 and 11.0 percent, respectively) than were white (7.1 percent) and Asian (6.3 percent) families. Unemployment rose over the year among families of all types.
Most families with an unemployed member also have at least one family member who is employed. Among families with an unemployed member in 2008, 70.8 percent also had an employed member, compared with 71.2 percent in 2007. Among married-couple families with an unemployed member in 2008, 82.5 percent had an employed member, little changed over the year. For families maintained by women (no spouse present) with an unemployed member, the proportion that also contained an employed member edged lower from 50.5 percent in 2007 to 49.1 percent in 2008. For families maintained by men (no spouse present), the proportion fell from 60.7 percent in 2007 to 57.3 percent in 2008.
Families and Employment
The share of families with an employed member was lower in 2008 (82.2 percent) than in 2007 (82.6 percent). The likelihood of having an employed family member declined over the year for white, black, and Hispanic families and was little changed for Asian families. Asian families remained the most likely to have an employed member (89.7 percent) in 2008, followed by Hispanic families (87.0 percent), white families (82.3 percent), and black families (78.4 percent).
In 2008, families maintained by women with no spouse present were less likely to have an employed member (76.0 percent) than were married-couple families (83.5 percent) or families maintained by men (84.4 percent). The share of families with an employed member was lower in 2008 than in 2007 for all family types.
Both the husband and wife were employed in 51.4 percent of married-couple families in 2008, compared with 51.7 percent in 2007. Married-couple families in which only the wife worked accounted for 6.9 percent of all married-couple families in 2008, compared with 6.6 percent in 2007. The husband was the sole employed member in 19.5 percent of families in 2008, compared with 19.8 percent in 2007.
Families with Children
Just under half of all families include children (sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children) under age 18. Among the 35.2 million families with children, 90.0 percent had an employed parent in 2008, down from 90.7 percent in 2007. The mother was employed in 71.4 percent of families maintained by women in 2008, and the father was employed in 82.8 percent of those maintained by men. Among married-couple families with children, 97.0 percent had an employed parent in 2008. Both the mother and father were employed in 62.1 percent of married-couple families with children.
Mothers
The labor force participation rate - the percent of the population working or looking for work - for all mothers with children under 18 was 71.4 percent in 2008, little changed from 71.0 percent in 2007. In 2008, the participation rate for married mothers with spouse present (69.5 percent) was lower than the rate for mothers in other marital statuses (76.0 percent). Married mothers were about as likely to be employed as mothers in other marital statuses, but their unemployment rates were lower - 3.8 percent of married mothers were unemployed in 2008, compared with 9.5 percent of mothers with other marital statuses. Unemployment rates rose over the year for mothers of all marital statuses.
Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force than mothers with older children. In 2008, the labor force participation rate of mothers with children under 6 years old (64.0 percent) was lower than the rate of those whose youngest child was between 6 and 17 years old (77.3 percent). The participation rate of mothers with infants under a year old was 56.4 percent. There was little difference between the participation rates of married mothers of infants and those with other marital statuses. However, the unemployment rate for married mothers of infants, at 5.0 percent, was lower than the rate for mothers with other marital statuses (16.5 percent). Jobless rates for all mothers increased in 2008.
