Women in the workforce: We explore 70 years of US data

3/9/21 7:00PM

Monday was International Women's Day. To celebrate the day we've dug out the data on women in the workforce, to see how things have changed in the last 70 years.

The data reveals just how big of a gap there was between men's and women's participation in the workforce back in the mid 20th century. In 1950 more than 85% of men were involved in the workforce, compared to just 33% of women (data from the BLS).

Since then, things have changed a lot. The next 50 years saw a seismic shift in our labor force as more women entered the formal workforce, and more men left it. Today, women's participation in the US labor force stands at ~56%, around 11-12% below that of men's — a gap that has remained fairly constant for much of the last 20 years.

This chart only represents participation in formal (paid) work, but an interesting recent report from the UN found that the increased burden of unpaid and informal work had fallen more on women during the pandemic.

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Starbucks disclosed on Monday evening in a regulatory filing that it will sell control of its ailing China business to Boyu Capital for about $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will own a 60% stake in the China segment, which will become a joint venture between Boyu and Starbucks. The coffee chain will retain a 40% interest in the entity and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was looking to sell its China segment. The American coffee giant has struggled to succeed in China, its second-largest market after the US.

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Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.

According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts at J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance): ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.

Here are the region’s favorites:

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While a new survey showed Japan has the greatest share of perpetually online people, there was a significant number reporting not using the internet at all.

Women in the workforce: We explore 70 years of US data

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Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

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