Today, we compare the labor force participation rate of two groups of women. The FRED graph above shows that the rate for Black women is much more variable than the rate for White women, in both the short term and long term. Here, we’ll concentrate on the latter.

Before the 1990s, the labor force participation rate for White women was increasing at a faster rate than it was for Black women. Around the mid-1990s, the rate for White women began to flatten out; it began to fall after the Great Recession and dropped sharply during the COVID-19 recession. The rate for Black women has had a slightly different pattern after the 1990s, with substantial drops during and after recessions.

Now let’s look at the gap between these participation rates, which was at its lowest in the mid-1990s. Since then, the gap has tended to decrease when the labor force participation rate of Black women has fallen and increase when the rate has risen. Another way to put it is that the participation rate of White women is so stable that it doesn’t influence the gap. An exception is in the mid-2010s, when the rate for Black women flattened but the rate for White women decreased slightly.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for the series “Labor Force Participation Rate – 20 Yrs. & over, Black or African American Women.” Click “Edit Graph” and use the “Add Line” tab to search for and select the data series “Labor Force Participation Rate – 20 Yrs. & over, White Women.” Change the time frame to January 1, 1975, to the present.

Suggested by Victoria Gregory and Kevin Bloodworth.