Today's Labor Force - Number Of Jobs Held

From 1978 to 2002, Americans aged eighteen to thirty-eight years of age had held an average of 10.2 different jobs. Men had held 10.4 jobs on average, and women had held 9.9 jobs. Those who eventually obtained college degrees usually worked at more places between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two (4.6 jobs for men, 5.4 jobs for women) than those of the same ages who graduated from high school but did not attend college (4.5 jobs for men, 3.8 jobs for women). (See Table 1.23.) This may reflect the historical fact that college students tend to obtain summer employment and even part-time jobs during the academic year.

At older ages, the number of jobs did not vary much by education. For example, among workers between the ages of thirty-three and thirty-eight, the number of jobs held by men who graduated high school but did not attend college was the same as college graduates (2.4). Women high school graduates held 2.5 jobs, as compared with only slightly fewer (2.2) held by college graduates TABLE 1.11 Employment status of mothers with children under 3 years old by age of youngest child and marital status, 2003–04 "Table 6. Employment Status of Mothers with Own Children under 3 Years Old by Single Year of Age of Youngest Child and Marital Status, 2003–04 Annual Averages," in Employment Characteristics of Families in 2004, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 9, 2005, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf (accessed January 9, 2006)during that age period. These figures may reflect the attainment of more stable jobs at the older ages. (See Table 1.23.)

TABLE 1.11
Employment status of mothers with children under 3 years old by age of youngest child and marital status, 2003–04
[Numbers in thousands]
	Civilian noninsitutional population	Civilian labor force
		Total	Percent of population	Employed				Unemployed
				Total	Percent of population	Full-time workersa	Part time workersb	Number	Percent of labor force
Note: Own children include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.
aUsually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
bUsually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
cIncludes never-married, divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
SOURCE: "Table 6. Employment Status of Mothers with Own Children under 3 Years Old by Single Year of Age of Youngest Child and Marital Status, 2003–04 Annual Averages," in Employment Characteristics of Families in 2004, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 9, 2005, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf (accessed January 9, 2006)
2003
Total mothers
With own children under 3 years old	9,450	5,563	58.9	5,115	54.1	3,430	1,685	446	8.0
2 years	2,987	1,896	63.5	1,752	58.7	1,205	547	143	7.5
1 year	3,353	1,997	59.6	1,842	54.9	1,223	619	154	7.7
Under 1 years	3.110	1,670	53.7	1,521	48.9	1,002	519	149	8.9
Married, spouse present
With own children under 3 years old	7,165	4,068	56.8	3,872	54.0	2,529	1,342	197	4.8
2 years	2,243	1,350	60.2	1,281	57.1	853	428	69	5.1
1 year	2,541	1,458	57.4	1,395	54.9	906	488	64	4.4
Under 1 year	2,381	1,260	52.9	1,196	50.2	770	426	64	5.1
Other marital statusc
With own children under 3 years old	2,287	1,495	65.4	1,244	54.4	902	341	250	16.7
2 years	744	546	73.4	471	63.3	352	118	75	13.7
1 year	813	539	66.3	448	55.1	317	131	91	16.9
Under 1 year	730	410	56.2	325	44.5	233	92	84	20.5
2004
Total mothers
With own children under 3 years old	9,345	5,377	57.5	4,964	53.1	3,360	1,604	414	7.7
2 years	2,813	1,746	62.1	1,630	57.9	1,152	477	116	6.6
1 year	3,273	1,906	58.2	1,759	53.7	1,172	587	147	7.7
Under 1 year	3,259	1,725	52.9	1,575	48.3	1,035	540	151	8.7
Married, spouse present
With own children under 3 years old	7,071	3,910	55.3	3,740	52.9	2,513	1,227	170	4.4
2 years	2,111	1,246	59.0	1,200	56.8	839	361	46	3.7
1 year	2,519	1,401	55.6	1,337	53.1	877	459	65	4.6
Under 1 year	2,441	1,262	51.7	1,203	49.3	797	406	59	4.7
Other marital statusc
With own children under 3 years old	2,274	1,467	64.5	1,224	53.8	847	377	243	16.6
2 years	702	499	71.1	430	61.2	314	116	70	13.9
1 year	754	505	66.9	422	56.0	295	127	82	16.3
Under 1 year	818	463	56.6	372	45.4	238	134	91	19.7