Health Care Poverty Homelessness Housing and Employment - Employment

In a 2001 address to the Council for Excellence in Government, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao reported that the American workforce was strong. She noted, however, that workplaces had

transformed overnight from physical plants and offices to mobile packages of twenty-first century technology and work trends that tell us old notions of the workforce cannot meet the needs and expectations of a new generation of workers…. Years ago, unemployment meant no jobs. Today, in many cases, unemployment means a disconnect between the new jobs our economy is producing—and the current skill levels of Americans in the workforce. The "skills gap" is too wide for too many Americans.

Chao went on to discuss future anticipated labor shortages. As the post–World War II "baby boom" generation moved into retirement, the number of people in the labor force was projected to decline substantially.

Growth in the Labor Force

Over the last four decades of the twentieth century, the massive numbers of baby boomers and women entering

FIGURE 5.10

the workplace accounted for substantial growth in the American labor force. ("Labor force" includes persons who hold part- or full-time jobs and those who are unemployed but looking for work.) In 1999, 83.1% of the 71.3 million American families had at least one employed member; 93% of those families had at least one member who worked full-time (thirty-five hours or more). The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in October 2002 there were 143.1 million people in the civilian labor force, with 134.9 million employed and 8.2 million unemployed.

In a 2002 article for Monthly Labor Review Online, Abraham T. Mosisa reported that much of the rapidly changing ethnic and racial diversity of the workforce could be attributed to the increase in foreign-born workers. In 1960 one in seventeen workers was foreign born; in 2002 one in eight workers was born outside the United States. In 1960 three-fourths of foreign workers came from Europe, which dwindled to one out of every six foreign-born workers in 2002. Shifting immigration patterns brought more immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Foreign-born workers accounted for nearly half of the growth in the labor force between 1996 and 2000.

New Trend in Home Workers

Facilitated by advancing computer technology and Internet access, working from home emerged as a new trend in the 1990s. In 1960 the Census Bureau reported that 4.6 million people worked from home—half of them, however, operated family farms. The number of people working from home dropped more than 50% to a low of 2.1 million by 1980 as the number of family farmers dwindled. By 1990, however, 3.4 million people worked from home. Census Bureau demographer Phillip A. Salopek said in Increase in At-Home Workers Reverses Earlier Trend (March 1998) that "the decade of the 1980s marked a rebirth of work at home in the United States. It is noteworthy that this impressive growth occurred before the expansion of the Internet."

FIGURE 5.11

By 2001 19.8 million people reported they worked at home at least once a week. Of these, 3.8 million people, including many self-employed persons, used their homes as their base of operation. Another three million employees of businesses regularly worked from home an average of eighteen hours per week.

Of the home workers in 2001, 30% (5.9 million) were self-employed. Thirty-three percent of men and 27% of women who worked at home were self-employed. Close to half of the self-employed people operated their businesses from their homes.

Parents Working at Home

Another one million people who were employees of businesses reported that they performed their work at home or used the home as a base of operation. Five percent said they sometimes worked at home in order to attend to family needs, and 2% worked from home to reduce commuting time or expense. Ten million employees of businesses also said they worked from home on an unpaid basis; half took work home to finish or catch up on assignments. (See Table 5.6.)

Norman Nie of the Stanford Institute predicted in 1999 that "by 2005, at least 25% of the American workforce will be telecommuters or home office workers." Nie said "telecommuting may be the first social transformation in centuries that pulls working fathers and mothers back into the home rather than pushing them out." The challenges of recruiting and retaining baby boomers during the latter part of the twentieth century prompted employers to offer family-friendly work schedules, including flexible work hours and options to work from home all or part of the time. In 2001 24.8% of women and 19.1% of men who worked from home at least part of the time had children under the age of six. (See Table 5.7.)

Of those who worked at home in 2001, three-quarters used telephones and computers to conduct business. The Internet or e-mail were used for business purposes by 62.5% of home workers. Just 40% of home workers used fax machines. (See Table 5.8.)

FIGURE 5.12

TABLE 5.4

Median monthly housing costs for renter-occupied units, 2003
Rank	State	Median	Lower bound	Upper bound
SOURCE: "Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renter-Occupied Units (in 2003 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)," in 2003 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office, 2004, http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Ranking/2003/R16T040.htm (accessed September 13,2004)
	United States	646	644	648
1	Hawaii	811	776	846
2	California	810	803	817
3	New Jersey	790	782	798
4	Massachusetts	774	759	789
5	Alaska	747	721	773
6	Nevada	735	719	752
7	Colorado	726	705	747
8	Maryland	723	698	748
9	Connecticut	721	709	733
10	New York	703	696	710
11	New Hampshire	701	683	719
12	Virginia	696	680	713
13	Washington	690	678	702
14	Florida	687	677	697
15	Georgia	672	660	684
16	Delaware	664	648	681
17	Illinois	660	652	668
18	District of Columbia	658	642	675
19	Arizona	641	626	656
20	Oregon	638	625	651
21	Minnesota	635	623	647
22	Utah	622	597	647
23	Texas	621	614	628
24	Rhode Island	602	589	615
25	North Carolina	588	578	598
26	Vermont	578	560	596
26	Wisconsin	578	566	590
28	Michigan	574	562	586
29	Pennsylvania	562	554	570
30	Indiana	559	544	574
31	South Carolina	558	543	573
32	Ohio	552	545	559
33	Kansas	548	522	574
34	Louisiana	539	526	552
34	Missouri	539	531	547
34	Tennessee	539	531	547
37	Nebraska	535	523	547
38	Idaho	534	518	551
39	Maine	527	512	542
40	Iowa	520	508	532
41	New Mexico	519	499	539
42	Oklahoma	514	504	524
43	Arkansas	501	481	521
44	Mississippi	487	472	502
45	Kentucky	484	474	494
46	Montana	479	467	491
47	Alabama	472	460	484
48	South Dakota	469	456	482
49	Wyoming	459	426	492
50	North Dakota	440	430	450
51	West Virginia	414	393	435

TABLE 5.5

Median monthly housing costs for specified owner-occupied units, 2003
Rank	State	Median	Lower bound	Upper bound
SOURCE: "Median Monthly Housing Costs for Specified Owner-Occupied Units (in 2003 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)," in 2003 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office, 2004, http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Ranking/2003/R17T040.htm (accessed September 13,2004)
	United States	1,204	1,200	1,208
1	New Jersey	1,723	1,704	1,742
2	Hawaii	1,666	1,458	1,874
3	California	1,660	1,647	1,673
4	Connecticut	1,598	1,570	1,626
5	Massachusetts	1,571	1,548	1,594
6	District of Columbia	1,482	1,422	1,542
7	New York	1,474	1,451	1,497
8	New Hampshire	1,420	1,397	1,443
9	Maryland	1,395	1,378	1,412
10	Rhode Island	1,381	1,359	1,403
11	Washington	1,380	1,361	1,399
12	Alaska	1,374	1,347	1,401
13	Colorado	1,358	1,301	1,415
14	Illinois	1,340	1,327	1,353
15	Nevada	1,279	1,244	1,314
16	Virginia	1,278	1,257	1,299
17	Oregon	1,216	1,198	1,234
18	Minnesota	1,212	1,193	1,231
19	Delaware	1,184	1,167	1,201
20	Utah	1,173	1,153	1,193
21	Texas	1,166	1,153	1,179
22	Georgia	1,155	1,138	1,172
23	Florida	1,151	1,132	1,170
24	Arizona	1,146	1,131	1,161
25	Vermont	1,142	1,120	1,164
26	Wisconsin	1,138	1,111	1,165
27	Michigan	1,122	1,104	1,140
28	Pennsylvania	1,094	1,081	1,107
29	North Carolina	1,079	1,057	1,101
30	Ohio	1,068	1,049	1,087
31	South Carolina	1,037	1,002	1,072
32	Maine	1,025	999	1,051
33	Nebraska	1,002	977	1,027
34	Kansas	993	968	1,018
35	New Mexico	963	913	1,013
35	Tennessee	963	944	982
37	Indiana	952	934	970
38	Montana	951	921	981
39	Missouri	945	923	967
40	Wyoming	920	855	985
41	South Dakota	918	894	942
42	Idaho	917	886	948
43	Iowa	913	880	946
44	Louisiana	911	887	935
45	Kentucky	906	883	929
46	North Dakota	904	883	925
47	Alabama	871	857	885
48	Oklahoma	861	842	880
49	Mississippi	849	818	880
50	Arkansas	806	782	830
51	West Virginia	783	743	823

TABLE 5.6

Reasons for working at home, by selected characteristics, May 2001
(In thousands)
		Reason for working at home
Characteristic	Worked at home1	Finish or catch up on work	Business is conducted from home	Nature of the job	Coordinate work schedule with personal or family needs	Reduce commuting time or expense	Local transportation or pollution control program	Some other reason
1Persons who worked at home at least once per week. This total includes persons who did not report a reason for working at home.
2Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3Includes persons who worked at home but did not report pay status.
4Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
Note: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported that they usually work at home at least once per week as part of their primary job. Dash represents zero.
SOURCE: "Table 6. Job-Related Work at Home on Primary Job by Reason for Working at Home, Sex, Class of Worker, and Pay Status, May 2001," in Work at Home, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2001, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/homey.t06.htm (accessed September 14, 2004)
Total, 16 years and over	19,759	7,375	3,770	5,937	1,076	269	4	1,224
Men	10,291	3,936	2,054	3,091	339	157	4	638
Women	9,468	3,439	1,716	2,846	737	112	—	587
Class of worker and pay status2
Wage and salary workers3	13,856	6,431	1,115	4,508	706	226	4	795
Paid work at home	3,436	548	786	1,291	379	138	4	275
Unpaid work at home	10,278	5,855	300	3,165	317	88	—	508
Self-employed4	5,860	943	2,623	1,422	370	43	—	426

TABLE 5.7

Working at home by presence of children, by selected characteristics, May 2001
(Numbers in thousands)
	Persons who usually worked at home2
			Percent distribution by class of worker3
					Wage and salary
Characteristic	Total employed1	Total	Percent of total employed	Total	Paid work at home	Unpaid work at home	Self-employed4
1Includes persons who did not provide information on work at home.
2Persons who usually work at home are defined as those who work at home at least once per week as part of their primary job.
3Unpaid family workers and wage and salary workers who did not report pay status are included in total but not shown separately.
4Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
Note: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries. Children are own children and include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
SOURCE: "Table 2. Job-Related Work at Home on Primary Job by Sex, Marital Status, Presence and Age of Children, and Pay Status, May 2001," in Work at Home, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2001, http://www.bls.gov/news.release.homey.t02.htm (accessed September 14,2004)
Total, 16 years and over	131,803	19,759	15.0	100.0	17.4	52.0	29.7
Married, spouse present	75,248	13,916	18.5	100.0	16.9	51.1	30.9
Not married	56,555	5,843	10.3	100.0	18.6	54.2	26.7
Never married	35,196	3,086	8.8	100.0	19.8	60.0	19.6
Other marital status	21,358	2,757	12.9	100.0	17.2	47.6	34.7
Without own children under 18	81,059	11,121	13.7	100.0	15.7	52.3	31.0
With own children under 18	50,744	8,638	17.0	100.0	19.6	51.6	27.9
With youngest child 6 to 17	29,227	5,058	17.3	100.0	18.0	52.8	28.5
With youngest child under 6	21,517	3,580	16.6	100.0	21.8	49.9	27.2
Men, 16 years and over	69,659	10,291	14.8	100.0	16.0	50.5	32.6
Married, spouse present	42,153	7,616	18.1	100.0	15.5	51.1	32.3
Not married	27,506	2,675	9.7	100.0	17.3	48.9	33.2
Never married	18,943	1,571	8.3	100.0	19.8	52.9	26.4
Other marital status	8,562	1,104	12.9	100.0	13.7	43.2	42.8
Without own children under 18	43,625	5,763	13.2	100.0	14.6	48.5	35.8
With own children under 18	26,034	4,527	17.4	100.0	17.7	53.1	28.4
With youngest child 6 to 17	14,216	2,652	18.7	100.0	16.8	51.0	31.6
With youngest child under 6	11,818	1,875	15.9	100.0	19.1	56.1	23.9
Women, 16 years and over	62,144	9,468	15.2	100.0	18.9	53.7	26.5
Married, spouse present	33,095	6,300	19.0	100.0	18.6	51.2	29.1
Not married	29,049	3,168	10.9	100.0	19.7	58.6	21.3
Never married	16,253	1,516	9.3	100.0	19.7	67.3	12.6
Other marital status	12,796	1,652	12.9	100.0	19.6	50.6	29.3
Without own children under 18	37,434	5,357	14.3	100.0	16
With own children under 18	24,710	4,111	16.6	100.0	21
With youngest child 6 to 17	15,011	2,406	16.0	100.0	19
With youngest child under 6	9,699	1,705	17.6	100.0	24

TABLE 5.8

Job-related work at home and use of electronic equipment, by selected characteristics, May 2001
(In thousands)
		Workers using electronic equipment for work
Characteristic	Worked at home1	Computer	Internet or e–mail	Fax	Telephone	Other
1Persons who worked at home at least once per week.
2Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3Includes persons who worked at home but did not report pay status.
4Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
Note: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported that they usually work at home at least once per week as part of their primary job. The number of workers using electronic equipment at home exceeds the total number who worked at home because many of these workers used more than one type of equipment. "Other" electronic equipment includes scanners and other types of computer-related peripheral equipment.
SOURCE: "Table 5. Job-Related Work at Home on Primary Job by Usage of Electronic Equipment at Home by Sex, Class of Worker, and Pay Status, May 2001," in Work at Home, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2001, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/homey.t05.htm (accessed September 14, 2004)
Total, 16 years and over	19,759	15,282	12,360	7,829	15,333	1,266
Men	10,291	8,215	6,953	4,647	8,634	765
Women	9,468	7,067	5,407	3,182	6,699	501
Class of worker and pay status2
Wage and salary workers3	13,856	11,059	8,872	4,668	10,246	864
Paid work at home	3,436	2,795	2,422	1,813	2,865	312
Unpaid work at home	10,278	8,180	6,382	2,802	7,270	542
Self-employed4	5,860	4,193	3,474	3,140	5,061	402