Labor Force Participation Among Utah Women: A 2023 Update

Women in Utah make up a significant proportion of the overall labor force in the state, but many are employed in low-paying jobs with limited room for advancement. This 2023 update to the Utah Women and Leadership Project’s 2016 report includes the impact the global COVID-19 pandemic had on female employment nationally and in Utah. There was sharp decline in labor force participation for both U.S. and Utah women in the first few months of 2020, but Utah women’s participation rate rapidly recovered as a whole.

National data suggest women have also increased their engagement in the post-pandemic workforce, with a newly released Penn Wharton brief reporting that the post-pandemic employment rate for women recovered faster than the rate for men, with women’s employment rates reaching a historical high of 75.3% in September 2023.

Demographics

The most recent American Community Survey estimates that among adults ages 20–64, 71.6% of Utah women had worked at some time during the previous 12 months, on par with rates for U.S. women (71.5%). Utah women are also far more likely to work part-time compared to their U.S. counterparts: 36.4% compared to 28.7%. Utah has the highest percentage of women who work part-time in the U.S.

Estimates from the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Utah women continue to participate in the labor force at a higher rate than their U.S. counterparts during their late teens and early 20s. However, beginning at age 25, when many Utah women are having children, their participation rate dips below the national average, and this lower rate of participation continues through age 54.

Some 64.1% of Utah mothers with children under age 6 participate in the labor force. Marital status also has an impact on working women. Married women in the state are less likely to be in the labor force than the national average. Additionally, Utah women who are separated, divorced, or widowed are more likely to be in the labor force than U.S. women with these same marital statuses.

Where women live in Utah also impacts women’s labor force participation rates. The counties with the highest female labor force participation are Grand (67%), Summit (66%), Tooele (64%), and Wasatch (64%). The counties with the lowest rates are Piute (42%), Rich (46%), Duchesne (49%), and Emery (49%).

Occupational Segregation

According to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the three areas where Utah women are most highly segregated are healthcare support occupations (81.9% of workers are women, down from 83.4% in 2015), health technologists and technicians (78.1% female, up from 73.7% in 2015), and personal care and service occupations (75.4% female, down from 79.2% in 2015).

In Utah, the median income for all workers in these three occupational areas are, $24,065, $36,481, and $19,463, respectively. The median income for each of these three female-dominated professions is below average for all professions in the state ($43,138). In contrast, the occupations in which the lowest percentage of jobs are held by women are construction and extraction occupations (3.3.% female, up from 2.1% in 2015), installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (5.6%, up from 3.2% in 2015), and architecture and engineering occupations (13.7%, up from 10.4% in 2015). The median earnings for all workers in these three male-dominated occupational areas are, respectively, $46,708, $53,718, and $88,389, all above the median income for all professions in the state.

Increasing Utah Women's Employment Success

Utah women’s success can be increased by addressing the challenges they face, such as childcare and the gender wage gap, and supporting women-owned businesses.

Utah continues to be ranked 48th on the Childcare Index and 50th (an “F” grade) in the Work and Family category, according to a recent Status of Women in the States report. It is estimated that 11,540 more Utah parents could work if childcare costs were capped at 7% of income.

Another challenge is the complex issue of the gender wage gap (the median female wage compared to the median male wage). Utah ranks worst in the nation. Data from 2022 indicates that women ages 16 and older with earned income during the previous 12 months made 60.8% what their male counterparts made.

Utah would also benefit by increasing support for women entrepreneurs. Since 2014, the number of businesses started by Utah women has increased by 21%. Women currently own 16% of businesses in Utah, and Utah is ranked second for percentage increase in women-owned businesses (77% increase). More than 89,000 business are women-owned, generating $15.7 billion a year in Utah.

Utah women are less likely than U.S. women to work in jobs that require higher levels of education. High quality, professional part-time employment opportunities should be increased by businesses not only to align with Utah workforce development goals but also to capitalize on the skillsets of women who would like to work or who need to work and need flexibility in order to do so. Utah can support women in the workforce by increasing access to scholarships and returnships, encouraging women to pursue careers in STEM, and supporting accessible childcare.

Conclusion

As women in Utah increase their labor force participation, as has been the ongoing trend, unique challenges such as occupational segregation, childcare inaccessibility, the gender wage gap, creating high-quality, professional part-time positions, flexible work schedules, returnships for women returning to the workforce after a break, and supporting women-owned businesses must be addressed. Finding ways to improve various factors for Utah women in the labor force will not only better their lives but will also strengthen the positive impact of women in communities and the state as a whole.

To learn more about the labor force participation among Utah women, read the full snapshot.