All women

1975

1985

1995

2005

2010

2013

Mothers with
children under 18
in the United States*

Unmarried mothers – 74.2%
Married mothers – 67.8%

$

$
All Women

Fathers

Mothers

For every $1 made by a father with children
under 18, mothers earn 74.7 cents. The gap for
all women is 82.1 cents compared to all men.

31M

*** Participation rates for All women are 1975-2013 annual averages;
participation rates for Mothers with children under 18 are for March 1975-2013

$

$

All Men

74.7¢

$

$

57.2%

47.4%
46.3%

$

Mothers with children under 18

82.1¢

$

70.3%

Earnings

$

Working inthe
Mothers U.S.

$

Labor Force
Participation

Occupations
Mothers
Median Weekly
Earnings

2013 Unemployment Rates

Percent of
total employed

Fathers

$615
$756
27.5%

14.6%

Sales & Office
* Estimate from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS), U.S. Census Bureau

7.3%

4.9%

Mothers

Fathers

2012

Unmarried mothers – 12%
Married mothers – 4.8%

Mothers are the sole or primary
breadwinner for a record 40% of
households today compared with 11%
of families in 1960.

$452
$555
21.7%

12.2%

Service

$973

44.7%

$1349

38.4%

Management, professional & related

1960

$674
$498
5.3%

16.8%

Production, transportation, & material moving
** Based on households with children under 18.
Includes married mothers who have higher income
than their husbands and unmarried mothers who
are the head of household.

6.2%

8.9%

9.1%

6-17 years

under 6

under 3

Unemployment rate of mothers by age of youngest child
All data are for mothers of children under 18, unless otherwise noted.
2
Unmarried mothers include mothers who have never been married,
divorced, widowed, separated, or are married but with spouse not present.
1

About 25 percent of households today
are maintained by unmarried mothers.
** Pew Research Center analysis of the Decennial Census and 2011 American Community
Surveys (ACS) Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample (IPUMS) files.
All data are 2013 annual averages, unless otherwise noted
All data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey,
unless otherwise noted

3
4

$757
$578
0.8%

18%

Natural Resources, construction, & maintenance

Unmarried mothers have lower median earnings ($575)
compared to married mothers ($768),
and to women as a whole ($706).