April 10, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment of mothers with infants in 2001

Among mothers with infants, the proportion who worked for pay was 50.6 percent in 2001, compared with 51.0 percent in 2000. This proportion has declined each year between 1998 and 2001.

Employment of mothers with children under 1 year old, 1997-2001
[Chart data—TXT]

Of married mothers with infants, the proportion with jobs was 51.3 percent in 2001, compared with 51.1 percent in 2000. The proportion of unmarried mothers who worked for pay fell from 50.7 percent in 2000 to 48.5 percent in 2001.

These data on the employment of mothers are produced by the Current Population Survey. "Infants" refers to children under 1 year. "Unmarried mothers" include never-married, divorced, separated, and widowed mothers. More information can be found in "Employment characteristics of families in 2001," news release USDL 02-175.

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