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For this week's "By the Numbers," we examine the top and bottom regions with the highest percentage of working mothers. Pulling the data from the U.S. Census (American Community Survey, 2005), we rank the top 10 metros and list the bottom three for each metro classification: large, medium, mid-size, and small.
EX: Washington, DC Metro (68.9%) - represents the percentage of mothers in the Washington, DC metro who have children younger than 18 and are working.
Here's a look at the top and bottom three for each metro classification:
Large Metros: Over 1 Million
Top three: (Highest Percentage of Working Mothers)
1. Minneapolis, MN (73.0%)
2. Buffalo, NY (70.7%)
3. St. Louis (70.6%)
Bottom three: (Lowest Percentage of Working Mothers)
1. Riverside, CA (56.5%)
2. San Jose, CA (57.7%)
3. Los Angeles (57.8%)
Medium Metros: 500K to Million
Top three:
1. Des Moines, IA (79.1%)
2. Madison, WI (75.0%)
3. Columbia, SC (74.2%)
Bottom three:
1. McAllen, TX (47.4%)
2. El Paso, TX (55.4%)
3. Bakersfield, CA (56.6%)
Mid-sized Metros: 250K-500K
Top three:
1. Lincoln, NE (76.3%)
2. Tallahassee, FL (75.8%)
3. Green Bay, WI (75.3%)
Bottom three:
1. Provo, UT (48.9%)
2. Brownsville, TX (51.4%)
3. Visalia, CA (52.1%)
Small Metros (Below 250K)
Top three:
1. Bismark, ND (84.9%)
2. Jefferson City, MO (83.0%)
3. Springfield, IL (81.9%)
Bottom three:
1. Florence, AL (51.3%)
2. Logan, UT (52.0%)
3. Yuma, AZ (53.0%)
To download the top 10 metros for each classification, Click here:Download CCGworkingmothers.pdf
For more information about CCG research services, contact David Miller.
Thanks to Jim for his assistance with data collection.
posted by steven
Steven - This is fascinating. I might have predicted just the opposite. I might have thought there would be more working mothers in San Jose and LA -given their creative class and related numbers - than say Buffalo or St. Louis. Minneapolis makes sense. But perhaps incomes in San Jose and LA enable more mothers to stay at home, while economic conditions in Buffalo and St. Louis require them to work. Or consider this. My wife Rana long ago told me the most ambitious and motivated men in her home region of Detroit leave home to find more vibrant places. What if there is a differential migration of relatively more skilled and ambitious types out of older industrial regions which would essentially mean more opportunity and need for women in the workforce. These numbers are really interesting. It's fun to try to do analysis or suggest hypotheses in real time. Any other thoughts out there?
Posted by: Richard | June 21, 2007 at 02:14 PM
Here's the national data:
65.4% of of mothers with children under 18 are working -- 21.9 million.
swp
Posted by: Steven | June 21, 2007 at 05:04 PM
Hmmm... to me this raised more questions than it answered. For example, how many of these working mothers are married? and how does that correlate to city? A city with a high percentage of single mothers might have a higher percentage of mothers working, especially since the welfare reform bills of a few years ago.
How does the number of working mothers correlate to the unemployment rate and participation rate in a given city? For example, in a city with a talent scarcity and therefore higher wages, are more mothers working? or, the opposite as Richard suggests in his comments on LA assuming these women are married (their spouse is earning a higher income, allowing them to stay at home).
Do any of the cities in question have a program to promote/support daycare spaces?
As I usually find about census figures, they lead to great questions!
Posted by: Wendy | June 21, 2007 at 11:56 PM
Hmmm... to me this raised more questions than it answered. For example, how many of these working mothers are married? and how does that correlate to city? A city with a high percentage of single mothers might have a higher percentage of mothers working, especially since the welfare reform bills of a few years ago.
How does the number of working mothers correlate to the unemployment rate and participation rate in a given city? For example, in a city with a talent scarcity and therefore higher wages, are more mothers working? or, the opposite as Richard suggests in his comments on LA assuming these women are married (their spouse is earning a higher income, allowing them to stay at home).
Do any of the cities in question have a program to promote/support daycare spaces?
As I usually find about census figures, they lead to great questions!
Posted by: Wendy | June 21, 2007 at 11:56 PM
Wendy - You are so right. Digging up new data and observing the patterns should lead to new and important questions.
Posted by: Richard | June 22, 2007 at 09:38 AM
Wendy --
Thats a great question. We should think about cutting the data again.. Be interesting to determine the number of single working moms versus those who are married.
swp
Posted by: Steven | June 22, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Yhanks you805814e776f72fd9632c8179cb1434f9
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