70 Years of Work

Everyone is always fussing about the ups and downs of women's labor force participation rate. But in fact, men's labor force participation has changed just as dramatically over the years. Let's take a look at the 70-year trend detailed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its latest edition of Women in the Labor Force: A Databook.

Labor force participation rate of men and women aged 16 or older, 1950-2020

	Men	Women	PP difference
2020	67.7%	56.2%	11.5
2019	69.2%	57.4%	11.8
2010	71.2%	58.6%	12.6
2000	74.8%	59.9%	14.9
1990	76.4%	57.5%	18.9
1980	77.4%	51.5%	25.9
1970	79.7%	43.3%	36.4
1960	83.3%	37.7%	45.6
1950	86.4%	33.9%	52.5

Men's labor force participation rate has been falling steadily for the past 70 years. Women's labor force participation rate increased during most of the time period, reaching a peak of 60.0 percent in 1999 (not shown in table). Since the 1999 peak, women's labor force participation rate has fallen by 3.8 percentage points. Men's labor force participation rate fell by a larger 7.0 percentage points.  

The gap in the labor force participation rate between men and women has been shrinking for the entire 70-year period. It was just 11.5 percentage points in 2020, down from a whopping 52.5 percentage points in 1950. 

In the first year of the pandemic (2020), men's labor force participation rate fell by 1.5 percentage points. Women's labor force participation rate fell by a slightly smaller 1.2 percentage points. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Women in the Labor Force: A Databook

18% of Americans Live in a Multigenerational Home

Over the past 50 years, the share of the U.S. population that lives in a multigenerational household has more than doubled, rising from 7 percent in 1971 to 18 percent in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Pew defines a multigenerational household as one that includes at least two generations of adults (mainly aged 25 or older) or a "skipped generation"—grandparents living with grandchildren under age 25. 

Young adults (aged 25 to 29) are most likely to live in a multigenerational household, at 31 percent. In the age group, men (37 percent) are more likely than women (26 percent) to do so.  

Percent of population living in a multigenerational household, 2021

Aged 25 to 29: 31%

Aged 30 to 34: 19%

Aged 35 to 39: 15%

Aged 40 to 64: 19%

Aged 65-plus: 18%

By race and Hispanic origin, non-Hispanic whites are least likely to live in a multigenerational household (13 percent). Asians (24 percent), Blacks (26 percent), and Hispanics (26 percent) are about equally likely to have a multigenerational living arrangement. 

The number-one reason for living in a multigenerational household is financial issues, cited by 67 percent as a reason and by 40 percent as a major reason. Nearly half (45 percent) say they live in a multigenerational household to care (or receive care) for an adult family member. Twenty-four percent are doing so to receive help with child care.

Interestingly, multigenerational living gets positive reviews. Overall, 56 percent say the experience is somewhat/very positive, 26 percent say it is neutral, and 17 percent think it is somewhat/very negative. What explains these positive reviews? The 58 percent majority of those who live in a multigenerational household say it is convenient most/all of the time. Fifty-four percent say it is rewarding most/all of the time. Only 23 percent say it is stressful most/all of the time. And, if you think most of these multigenerational households are crowded, think again. Fully 72 percent of those who live in a multigenerational household say there is plenty of space. 

Source: Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, Financial Issues Top the List of Reasons U.S. Adults Live in Multigenerational Homes

Reversal: Big Metro Counties Lose Population

Population growth in the United States ground to a halt during the pandemic. Between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, the population grew by just 0.1 percent, according to Census Bureau estimates. This is the slowest rate of growth in the nation's history. 

The coronavirus pandemic explains the slow growth. Because of Covid, deaths exceeded births in a record high 73 percent of the nation's counties. Because of Covid, the number of net international migrants to the United States plunged, falling to just 247,000 in 2020–21, down from 477,000 in 2019–20. For context, net international migration was as high as 1,049,000 in 2015–16.

The pandemic also messed with domestic migration, consequently reversing the long-standing pattern of population growth by Rural-Urban Continuum. The Rural-Urban Continuum (RUC) is the federal government's system of classifying counties by their degree of urbanity. It is a useful tool for analyzing growth patterns at the county level. The RUC is a scale ranging from 1 (the most urban counties, in metropolitan areas of 1 million or more) to 9 (the most rural counties, lacking any settlements of 2,500 or more people and not adjacent to a metropolitan area).

The long-term pattern during the 2010s was one of urban growth—the more urban, the greater the growth. But this was not the case in 2020–21, according to a Demo Memo analysis. Counties with a rank of 1 on the continuum (the most urban) lost population during the year. Every other county type grew at least a bit, even the most rural. Here is how county populations changed in 2020–21 by rank on the Rural-Urban continuum...

County population change by Rural-Urban Continuum rank, July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021
1. -0.16% for counties in metros with 1 million or more people
2.  0.62% for counties in metros of 250,000 to 1 million people
3.  0.47% for counties in metros with less than 250,000 people
4.  0.36% for nonmetro counties with urban pop of 20,000-plus, adjacent to metro
5.  0.06% for nonmetro counties with urban pop of 20,000-plus, not adjacent to metro
6.  0.29% for nonmetro counties with urban pop of 2,500–19,999, adjacent to metro
7.  0.04% for nonmetro counties with urban pop of 2,500–19,999, not adjacent to metro 
8.  0.63% for nonmetro counties with urban pop less than 2,500, adjacent to metro 
9.  0.28% for nonmetro counties with urban pop less than 2,500, not adjacent to metro 

Behind the population loss in big metro counties is the one-two-three punch of the pandemic. Births fell, deaths increased, and the trickle of net international migrants could not make up for domestic migration losses in some of the largest metros such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes and Census Bureau, County Population Totals: 2020–2021

Who's Gotten a Booster?

As of the middle of March, 85 percent of Americans aged 18 or older had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 59 percent had received a booster, according to the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey. Here are the vaccination rates by age group...

Percent of reporting adults aged 18 or older who had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine (and percent who had received a booster), March 2-14, 2022

Total 18-plus: 85% (59%)

Aged 18 to 24: 80% (44%)

Aged 25 to 39: 78% (45%)

Aged 40 to 55: 84% (55%)

Aged 55 to 64: 89% (67%)

Aged 65-plus: 93% (79%)

Among all adults, 21 million say they "will definitely not" get a Covid-19 vaccine. A larger 32 million say they "do not plan to receive a booster."

Source: Census Bureau, Week 43 Household Pulse Survey: March 2–March 14

56% Drop in Travel Spending

The average American household spent 56 percent less on travel in 2020 than it did in 2019, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics' analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey. The average household spent $2,100 on travel in 2019 and just $926 in 2020. The decline in travel spending in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic is no surprise, of course. Some may wonder why the decline was not even greater. 

Average household spending on travel in 2020 (and 2019)

Total travel spending: $926 ($2,100)

Transportation: $300 ($849)

Lodging: $318 ($619)

Food on trips: $208 ($423)

Entertainment on trips: $64 ($139)

Alcohol on trips: $35 ($70)

Of the two major components of travel spending—transportation and lodging—transportation experienced the bigger decline—a 65 percent drop for the category as a whole and even bigger declines for individual modes of transportation. Average household spending on airline fares fell 69 percent, spending on intercity train fares was down 74 percent, intercity bus fares 85 percent, and local transportation on trips 66 percent. Spending on gasoline on out-of-town trips fell by a smaller 43 percent.

Average household spending on lodging fell 49 percent between 2019 and 2020—less than the 65 percent decline in transportation spending. Consequently, the average household devoted more travel dollars to lodging than it did to transportation in 2020, a break from past patterns.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures on Travel Declined Sharply from 2019 to 2020

Millions Still Smoke Cigarettes

Many millions of Americans still smoke cigarettes, despite decades of warnings, hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, and millions in health care expenses. According to the CDC, this is the percentage of Americans aged 18 or older who smoke cigarettes...

Total adults: 12.5%

Men: 14.1%

Women: 11.0%

Aged 18 to 24: 7.4%

Aged 25 to 44: 14.1%

Aged 45 to 64: 14.9%

Aged 65-plus: 9.0%

Northeast: 10.4%

Midwest: 15.2%

South: 14.1%

West: 9.0%

Metropolitan counties: 11.4%

Nonmetropolitan counties: 19.0%

High school only: 17.6%

Some college: 14.4%

Associate's degree: 12.7%

Bachelor's degree: 5.6%

Graduate degree: 3.5%

Household income <$35,000: 20.2%

Income $35,000 to $74,999: 14.1%

Income $75,000 to $99,999: 10.5%

Income $100,000 or more: 6.2%

These figures do not include those who smoke other types of tobacco such as e-cigarettes (3.7 percent of adults), cigars (3.5 percent), smokeless tobacco (2.3 percent), pipes (1.1 percent), or two or more tobacco products (3.3 percent). 

Note: Cigarette smokers are defined as those who have smoked 100 or more cigarettes in their lifetime and who currently smoke cigarettes every day or some days.

Source: CDC, Tobacco Product Use among Adults—United States, 2020

Stability in Children's Living Arrangements

The living arrangements of the nation's children have changed little over the past 12 years, according to a Census Bureau report comparing children's living arrangements in 2019 with 2007.

Distribution of children under age 18 by living arrangement, 2007 and 2019

	2019	2007	pp change
Total children	100.0%	100.0%	–
Living with two parents	70.1	70.7	-0.6
Biological mother and father	62.5	63.3	-0.8
Married parents	58.9	60.8	-1.9
At least one step/adoptive parent	7.6	7.4	0.2
Living with one parent	25.8	25.8	0.0
Living with neither parent	4.0	3.5	0.5
Living with grandparents	2.1	1.8	0.3

The 59 percent majority of children live in a traditional nuclear family—with their married, biological mother and father. This percentage was down slightly from the 61 percent of 2007. The percentage of children who live in a single-parent family (26 percent) did not change over the years. The great majority of these children (83 percent in 2019) live with their mother. 

Source: Census Bureau, Living Arrangements of Children: 2019

How Did You Sleep Last Night?

It's a toss-up, according to The State of Sleep in America 2022 Report. One-third of American adults (32 percent) reported "very good/excellent" sleep last night, another third (35 percent) reported "good" sleep, and the final third (33 percent) say their sleep was only "fair/poor." The State of Sleep in America is the product of a partnership between Gallup and Casper, the sleep products company, with the goal of measuring and better understanding sleep quality. So here's how last night went...

"Overall, how would you describe your sleep last night?"

Excellent: 7%

Very good: 25%

Good: 35%

Fair: 23%

Poor: 10%

The 54 percent majority of adults reported some kind of trouble sleeping last night, according to the survey. The largest share (28 percent) had trouble staying asleep. Another 15 percent had trouble falling asleep, and an unlucky 11 percent had trouble both falling and staying asleep. 

Perhaps it's not surprising but those who worry the most about sleep are also the ones who have the hardest time sleeping. Among the 9 percent of adults who worry "a lot" about falling asleep, just 6 percent say their sleep over the past 30 days has been very good/excellent. The 69 percent majority of worriers say their sleep has been only fair/poor. Conversely, among the 40 percent of Americans who say they do not worry at all about falling asleep, a substantial 43 percent report very good/excellent sleep over the past 30 days. Just 20 percent say their sleep has been been only fair/poor.

Source: Gallup, Casper-Gallup State of Sleep in America 2022 Report

$195 Billion in Medical Debt

Nearly 1 in 10 Americans has significant medical debt, according to an analysis of the numbers by Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. KFF researchers analyzed data from the Census Bureau's Survey of Program Participation to determine who had significant medical debt as of December 2019 and how much they owed. They defined "significant" medical debt as $250 or more in unpaid medical bills. 

Overall, 23 million people—9 percent of U.S. adults—have significant medical debt. Those most likely to have medical debt are people aged 50 to 64 (12 percent), Blacks (16 percent), people in nonmetropolitan areas (13 percent), residents of the South (12 percent), and the uninsured (13 percent). But medical debt is common in every demographic segment. Even among those with health insurance, 9 percent have significant medical debt. 

Distribution of adults with significant medical debt by how much they owe, 2019

13% owe between $250 and $500

18% owe between $501 and $1,000

20% owe between $1,001 and $2,000

22% owe between $2,001 and $5,000

13% owe between $5,001 and $10,000

13% owe more than $10,000

Aggregate medical debt for those with significant medical debt adds up to $195 billion in unpaid bills, the researchers estimate. "Medical debt remains a persistent problem even among people with insurance coverage," the researchers report. "The fact that medical debt is a struggle even among households with health insurance and middle incomes indicates that simply expanding coverage will not erase the financial burden caused by high cost-sharing amounts and high prices for medical services and prescription drugs," they conclude.

Source: Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States

Record Increase in College Grads in 2010s

American educational attainment soared in the 2010s. The share of the population aged 25 or older with a bachelor's degree grew by 7.6 percentage points between 2010 and 2020—from 29.9 to 37.5 percent. This is a bigger increase than in any other decade. The share grew by another 0.4 percentage points in 2021 and now stands at 37.9 percent.  

Percent of population aged 25-plus with a bachelor's degree, 1970 to 2021

2021: 37.9%

2020: 37.5%

2010: 29.9%

2000: 25.6%

1990: 21.3%

1980: 17.0%

1970: 11.0%

Behind the big gain was the record-breaking rise in the share of women with a bachelor's degree—up 8.7 percentage-points between 2010 and 2020. Men's 6.4 percentage-point gain during the 2010s was less than their 6.8 percentage-point gain during the 1980s. 

Women are now more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree, a threshold crossed in 2014. As of 2021, fully 39.1 percent of women and 36.6 percent of men are college graduates.

Percent of men and women aged 25-plus with a bachelor's degree, 2000 to 2021

	Men	Women
2021	36.6%	39.1%
2020	36.7%	38.3%
2010	30.3%	29.6%
2000	27.8%	23.6%

Women in 2021 are 2.5 percentage points more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree. In 2000, women were 4.2 percentage points less likely than men to be college graduates.

Source: Census Bureau, CPS Historical Time Series Tables

Net Worth: Best and Worst of States

$118,200: that was the median net worth of American households in 2019, according to the Census Bureau's 2020 Survey of Income and Program Participation. Net worth is calculated by subtracting a household's debts from its assets. The remainder is net worth—or wealth. 

Housing equity accounts for most household wealth. In 2019, American homeowners had a median of $130,000 in home equity (housing value minus housing debt). Excluding home equity, the median household net worth of Americans is just $41,200. 

Net worth varies greatly by state. Here are the states with the highest median net worth...

The five states with the highest median household net worth, 2019

1. Hawaii: $373,200

2. Massachusetts: $251,000

3. New Hampshire: $243,600

4. North Dakota: $241,000

5. Minnesota: $228,500

The median net worth of households in another three states—Colorado, South Dakota, and California—also exceeds $200,000. 

Here are the states with the lowest median net worth...

The five states with the lowest median household net worth, 2019

46. Tennessee: $70,100

47. West Virginia: $65,290

48. New Mexico: $56,450

49. Arkansas: $49,990

50. Mississippi: $40,280

Another 13 states have a median household net worth of less than $100,000, including Florida and Texas. The net worth of households in the District of Columbia is just $24,000. 

Source: Census Bureau, State-Level Wealth, Asset Ownership, & Debt of Households Detailed Tables: 2019

Be Careful Where You Go

There is great geographic variation in Covid-19 vaccination rates by urban-rural classification, according to an analysis by the CDC. Through January 2022, Americans aged 5 or older who live in the nation's largest metropolitan counties were most likely to have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. Those who live in rural counties were least likely to be vaxxed...

Percent of residents aged 5-plus with at least one dose of a Covid vaccine by urban-rural classification

80.4%: Large central metropolitan county

76.1%: Large fringe metropolitan county

72.2%: Medium metropolitan county

64.4%: Small metropolitan county

60.4%: Micropolitan county

55.8%: Rural county

In 11 states, fewer than half of rural county residents have been vaccinated: Indiana (49.1 percent), Louisiana (49.1 percent), Tennessee (49.1 percent), Florida (48.4 percent), Idaho (47.8 percent), Wyoming (47.6 percent), Georgia (47.6 percent), Missouri (46.6 percent), Ohio (44.7 percent), Nebraska (43.9 percent), and at the very bottom—Texas (41.4 percent). 

Be careful out there.

Source: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Report, Disparities in Covid-19 Vaccination Coverage between Urban and Rural Counties—United States, December 14, 2020—January 31, 2022