Mothers in the Labor Force, 1955–2004

	Percentage of mothers with children
Year	Under 18 years	6 to 17 years	Under 6 years¹
1955	27.0 %	38.4 %	18.2 %
1965	35.0	45.7	25.3
1975	47.4	54.9	39.0
1980	56.6	64.3	46.8
1985	62.1	69.9	53.5
1986	62.8	70.4	54.4
1987	64.7	72.0	56.7
1988	65.1	73.3	56.1
1989	65.7	74.2	56.7
1990	66.7	74.7	58.2
1991	66.6	74.4	58.4
1992	67.2	75.9	58.0
1993	67.0	75.4	57.9
1994	68.4	76.0	60.3
1995	69.7	76.4	62.3
1996	70.2	77.2	62.3
1997	72.1	78.1	65.0
1998	72.3	78.4	65.2
1999	72.1	78.5	64.4
2000	72.9	79.0	65.3
2001	72.7	79.4	64.4
2002	72.2	78.6	64.1
2003	71.7	78.7	62.9
2004	70.7	77.5	62.2

1. May also have older children.

NOTE: 1955 data are for April; 1965 and 1975–1994 data are for March. Data for 1994 and subsequent years are not directly comparable to previous years because of major revisions to the survey.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web: data.bls.gov .

Mothers in the Labor Force, 1955–2004

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