Four Fast Facts for Tomorrow’s Workforce Today on Labor Day
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“It’s a day off in the summer.”
“It’s the last weekend before school starts.”
“It celebrates workers.”
“It has something to do with fair conditions and equal pay...I think.”
All true, and all Labor Day definitions I’ve heard from Être girls celebrating #LDW this year. And yet, there’s more – particularly for the working women girls look up to as mentors. At the start of this summer, the labor force participation rate for women in the U.S. was 57.5% and women represented nearly half (47%) of the total U.S. labor force. Girls, seeing the numbers, lowered their sunnies to take stock. Using their DMs as a guide, here are four fast facts about Labor Day that girls can keep in mind today as they eye tomorrow’s workforce:
“It’s a day off in the summer.”
Yep, and a welcome one given that the workload placed on women during summer months often multiplies. Without academic hours and the childcare that comes with after-school activities, working women must juggle (too) many roles at once. Indeed, according to Stanford research, “summer recess leads to substantial declines in employment among women, particularly mothers of young school-age children…contributing to gender gaps in earnings.”
“The magnitude of the female drop is large—equivalent to nearly one-third of the decline in female employment during the Great Recession.” – Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research
“It’s the last weekend before school starts.”
It is, and that’s why so many parents are eager to pack those backpacks and meet the bus. While videos of moms hurling notebooks out car windows make us spit coffee onto the counter laughing, there’s some truth behind the humor. When kids go back to school, parents regain more of their workday and patterns emerge that can help us all breathe a little easier.
It’s important to add that deeper breaths are possible when more companies improve their childcare options. Research conducted by Moms First illustrates how gaps in childcare can impact employees and employers, urging companies to learn more and take action here.
Mom's First | Click image to view full report
“It celebrates workers.”
It does, and that’s the main point. The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) reminds us that “Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers…rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.”
It goes without saying that women have played a major role in the U.S. labor force…but let’s say more. To see the percentage of women today participating in the labor force by age, ethnicity or within specific verticals like STEM, check these links from the DOL Women's Bureau. To dive even deeper into women's roles in the labor force over time, follow these trends from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And to feel the impact of current workplace cuts on Black women in particular, read Katica Roy's recent words in The New York Times.
“It has something to do with fair conditions and equal pay.”
Indeed, and before you ask, that applies to teens in the workforce too. Working over the summer and while you are in school can be exhilarating and empowering, yet also exhausting. The DOL agrees, noting that for teens age 14 to 17 “[b]alancing school and work can be difficult. Find information that will make it easy for you to find out where to go for working papers, safety and health on the job, and filling out job applications and resumes while giving you the time to focus on your studies.”
How to do that? Check out youth-focused job banks like Teens4Hire, CoolWorks, SimplyHired and SummerJobs.com, or volunteer to gain early experience with organizations like Youth Serve America, DoSomething.org, Internships.com or Student Conservation Association (all DOL-vetted). There are so many more – feel free to peruse another set of Être-approved opportunities and ways to get started here.
Gen Z girls are right - Labor Day is about more than just BBQs and last beach days. And from the moment they tour their first boardroom, studio, factory floor or lab, they are eager to find their space in the workplace. Here’s to a restful day thanking our workforce – one that not only powers the world we live in, but paves the way for the next gen to drive it forward.
Looking forward to fall,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three things about fall you won't want to miss: Season 5 of Être's TED-Ed Series (grab the last remaining free NYC tickets here), new Club Être chapters launching (DM me here for more info on how to start your own chapter), and new opportunities to partner with Gen Z brands you love - stay tuned!
