The Facts About Women in Utah

by Lecia Parks Langston

Marriage and Family

• According to the 2005 American Community Survey, 60 percent of Utah’s women 15 years and older are married—down from 69 percent in 1950. A higher percentage of Utahns are married than in any other state in the nation.
• The share of Utah women who are divorced has increased from 2 percent in 1950 to 10 percent in 2005.
• The median age at first marriage in Utah measures 24.6 for the groom and 22.1 for the bride. The median age at first marriage in the United States measures 27.0 for the groom and 25.5 for the bride. Utahns display the youngest age at first marriage—for both men and women—of any state in the nation.
• Utah women who have never married comprised 25 percent of all marriageable-age women in 2000 compared with 19 percent in 1950.
• Utah’s divorce rate typically runs slightly higher than the U.S. average and has done so for decades. In addition, the method of determining divorce rates understates Utah’s figures. In 2005, there were 3.9 divorces in Utah per 1,000 population.
• Divorce rates reached their peak in the early 80s and have since moderated.
• Utahns are more likely to marry and remarry than their national counterparts.
• Utah’s birthrate of 20.2 births per thousand population far outstripped the national average of 14.0 births per thousand population in 2005. Utah’s birth rate has remained higher than the national average for decades and currently ranks as the highest in the nation.
• Roughly 14 percent of Utah’s family households with children are headed by women (with no husband present)—lower than the national average of 24 percent.
• Utah’s families are larger than the U.S. norm. Families in Utah include 3.56 persons compared to 3.18 nationally. In 1960, the average Utah family included 3.99 persons.
• About 6 percent of Utah families include seven or more members compared to only 2 percent nationally.

Education

• In 2005, 90.5 percent of Utah women aged 25 and older had graduated from high school—the fourth highest rate in the nation. Utah men showed a high school graduation rate of 89.8  percent—also significantly higher than the national average.
• Roughly 25 percent of Utah women had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2005 compared to 26
  percent of U.S. women. Utah men showed a 31 percent rate of college graduation in contrast to the U.S. average of 28 percent.
• While prior to 1990 Utah women showed a higher rate of college graduation than U.S. women, by 2000, Utah women had lost their “bachelor’s degree or higher” educational edge.
• Utah shows by far the largest gap in the nation between male and female college-graduation rates. The difference for college-educated Utah men and Utah women is 6.8 percentage points. New Jersey shows the next highest gap at 4.3 percentage points, while the national average is a mere 2.5 percentage points.
• Utah women are getting more education, but are not keeping up with their male or U.S. counterparts.

Labor Force

• In 2005, roughly 548,000 Utah women—61.6 percent of those over the age of 16—were participants in the labor market. Nationally, only 59 percent of women are in the labor force.
• In 1900, 13 percent of Utah women worked outside the home; in 1940, about a fourth; in 2005, almost 62 percent.
• The influx of women into the labor market has been relatively steady. Participation rates have increased by about 8 percentage points each decade.
• Women comprise about 45 percent of the Utah labor force.
• Utah women fell behind U.S. women in labor force participation until 1980. Since that point, Utah women have shown higher participation rates than the national average.
• Labor force participation is higher for Utah women partially because of the state’s young labor force (younger women are more likely to work).
• Utah women aged 20 to 24 are the most likely of any age group to work.
• Almost 60 percent of married Utah women work outside the home.
• Roughly 75 percent of Utah’s mothers with school-age children work.
• About 54 percent of Utah’s mothers of preschool-age children work.
• Utah women generally experience higher unemployment rates than do Utah men.
• Women make up the largest share of discouraged workers. Discouraged workers are those who have stopped looking for work because they believe they cannot find a job. They are not counted as part of the “unemployed.”
• About 27 percent of Utah women in the labor force work part-time compared to 18 percent of U.S. women.
• Utah women in metropolitan areas are much more likely to work outside the home than their rural counterparts.
• Summit, Grand, Salt Lake, and Davis counties exhibit the highest female labor force participation in Utah.
• Piute, Rich, San Juan, and Washington counties show the lowest female labor force participation in Utah.
• The average Utah woman worked 33 hours per week in 2005—behind Utah men with an average of 41 hours per week.

Population

• In a change from previous decades, men outnumbered women in Utah as 2000 commenced.
  According to 2005 American Community Survey data, the trend still holds. Males  outnumbered females by roughly 3,200 individuals. This change has occurred primarily because of an influx of working-age male Hispanics.
• In the 65-years-or-older category, women far outnumber men in Utah—roughly 113,000 females compared with 92,000 males.
• With 30 percent of its population under the age of 18, Utah has the youngest population in the nation.

Occupations

• In 1980, one-fourth of Utah women worked in an occupation where at least 90 percent of the profession was held by women. By 2000, the comparable share had dropped to 10 percent.
• Roughly 84 percent of Utah healthcare support occupations are held by women. Healthcare support occupations include lower-skilled healthcare positions such as aides, orderlies, assistants, and massage therapists.
• Utah women hold only 2 percent of construction and mining positions. In addition, women constitute only 5 percent of installation/maintenance/repair workers.
• A higher percentage of computer/mathematical jobs, healthcare practitioners, business/financial operation occupations, life/physical/social scientists, and architecture/engineering occupations are held by U.S. women than by Utah women.
• Some female-dominated occupations have become even more concentrated with women. For example, in 1980, roughly 66 percent of all elementary school teachers were female. By 2000, Utah women had increased their share of this occupation to 78 percent. Female cosmetologists increased their occupation share from 89 percent in 1980 to 95 percent in 2000.
• During 2002, women owned one-fourth of all Utah businesses. They owned 13 percent of all firms with employees.

Earnings

• A number of different data series make providing an ultimate figure for the gap between men’s and women’s earnings difficult.
• Data from the 2005 American Community Survey for Utah shows the median earnings for year-round, full-time male workers at $41,223. The comparable figure for female workers measures $28,605.
• On average, Utah women made 69 percent of annual male earnings. Nationally, the 2005 American Community Survey shows a male/female wage proportion of 77 percent.
• A different data series using weekly earnings (instead of annual earnings) shows Utah women making 72.2 percent of the average male wage compared to 81 percent for the U.S.
• Utah typically shows one of the largest wage gaps in the country. Utah had the fourth largest wage gap in the nation in 2000, bettering its 1990 performance when Utah showed the widest gap in the nation. However, its ranking in 2005 did not change (or improve).
• Regardless of the data series used, the wage gap statewide and nationally has decreased since 1980.
• By age, the wage gap is smallest for women between 16 and 24.
• The largest wage gap occurs for Utah men and women with bachelor’s degrees. Of course, women with bachelor’s degrees still make more than those without degrees.
• The smallest wage gap occurs for men and women without even a high school education.
• White women and men show a much larger wage gap than those from minority ethnic or racial groups.
• Many of the occupations with the smallest wage gap are those which require math, science, or analytical skills or are jobs dominated by men.
• Occupational choice is the largest factor in the wage gap. Other demographic factors—less education, less occupational tenure, etc. also contribute to the difference in men’s and women’s earnings.
• No study has explained away the wage gap using the differing demographic characteristics of men and women suggesting that institutional discrimination does exist.
• In 2005, according to the American Community Survey, 32 percent of Utah female-headed families with children had incomes below the poverty line. In comparison, only 6 percent of married couple families with children had incomes below the poverty line.

Data Resources:

• U.S. Census Bureau—http://www.census.gov
• Women-Owned Businesses—http://www.census.gov/csd/sbo/women2002.htm
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—www.bls.gov/
• Earnings by Education and Occupation—http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2006/fall/oochart.htm
• Education Statistics—http://nces.ed.gov/
• Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau—http://www.dol.gov/wb/
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research—http://www.iwpr.org/
• Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005 Earnings—http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2005.pdf