Prime-Age Women Are Going Above and Beyond in the Labor Market Recovery

 Hamilton Project -Since  February 2023, the labor force participation rate for prime-age women—those between the ages of 25 and 54—has exceeded its all-time high. As of the most recent jobs report, prime-age women had a labor force participation rate of 77.8 percent. This is remarkable, given evidence that the 2020 recession initially widened the labor force participation gap by gender and by parental status. . .

After controlling for demographic changes, we find that those who have contributed most to the rebound in overall labor force participation in April and May of 2023, three years after the nadir of pandemic-era participation, are in fact prime-age women. Moreover, among prime-age women and indeed among all groups, women whose youngest child is under the age of five are powering the pack’s upward trajectory.