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You are here: About NTOs > Myths and Facts > Myth 1

Myth 1
This topic is: (links to user guides below)
For girls (link to user guide)
For women in NTOs (link to user guide)
For women seeking work (link to user guide)
For educators (link to user guide)
For employers and unions (link to user guide)
For workforce development professionals (link to user guide)
For one-stop centers (link to user guide)
Women are in the labor force to earn some extra spending money.

FACT: The majority of women work because of economic need. In May 1986, two thirds of working mothers with children at home said that they worked to support their family. For all working women, over half worked to support their family and/or themselves. In 1992, 44 percent of women in the labor force were either single (24 percent), or divorced (12 percent), widowed (4 percent), or separated (4 percent). Women's need for good jobs is demonstrated by the fact that nearly 45 percent of all family households maintained by women lived in poverty in 1990.

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Adapted from the Orientation to Nontraditional Occupations for Women (ONOW) Curriculum of the Ohio Department of Education; the Women in Highway Construction manual of the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Labor; 20 Facts on Women Workers (1990), U.S. DOL Women's Bureau; and 1993 Handbook on Women Workers: Trends and Issues, U.S. DOL Women's Bureau.
 
 

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