Women's work and working women - The demand for female labor

The demand for female labor is a central explanatory component of macrostru ctural theories of gender stratification. This study analyzes how the struc tural demand for female labor affects gender differences in labor force par ticipation. The authors develop a measure of the gendered demand for labor by indexing the degree to which the occupational structure is skewed toward usually male or female occupations. Using census data from 1910 through 19 90 and National Longitudinal Sample of Youth (NLSY) data from 261 contempor ary U.S. labor markets, the authors show that the gender difference in labo r force participation covaries across time and space with this measure of t he demand for female labor.