History of women in the workplace

The Daughters of Liberty, the country’s earliest society of working women, was formed in 1765. They went on to demonstrate against the Stamp and Townshend acts.

The 13 colonies adopted English laws that prevented female workers from keeping the income they earned in 1769. The system also banned women from owning property.

Abigail Adams brought issues of gender equality to the White House in 1797. She emphasized the importance of educating girls and appealed for equal rights for women and men.

Mary Kies of Connecticut became the first woman in the nation to be granted a patent in 1809. She received the patent for an innovative straw and silk braiding technique that advanced hat-making.

More than 100 young women weavers blocked entry to a Rhode Island textile mill in 1824, protesting their employer's plan to cut wages and increase the length of the workday for women between 15 and 30 years old. The demonstration is considered the country's first factory strike.

The United Tailoresses of New York was formed in 1825. It was the country’s first union comprised entirely of women. In 1831, the union went on strike demanding fairer wages. After a bitter struggle, during which male trade unions refused to support their female counterparts, the women returned to work without higher wages—But they did set the stage for future union work in the textile industry.

In response to an extension in the workday, women workers formed the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association in 1844. It is considered one of the first successful organizations of women workers in the country. The group helped reduce the workday at cotton mills to 10 hours (down from 12 or 13 hours) and make their mills safer and more sanitary.

Maria Mitchell was the country’s first professional woman astronomer. She was also the first American to discover a comet in 1847. She helped pave the way for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers.

[Pictured: Astronomer Maria Mitchell with her astronomy class outside the observatory at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.]

The year 1869 marked major advancements for women in the legal profession. That year, Arabella Mansfield became the first female lawyer, and Ada Kepley graduated from law school, making her the first woman to do so in the country.

[Pictured: Belva Ann Lockwood, the first female lawyer to practice before the United States Supreme Court.]

The Cigar Makers' International Union began adding women to its ranks in 1867. It was the first national union to ditch its males-only mandate.

Women shoe workers established the country’s first nationwide union for women workers, the Daughters of St. Crispin, in 1869. It aimed to represent the diversity of skills in the stitcher workforce.

Congress passed a law granting female federal employees equal pay to their male counterparts in 1872. Unfortunately, it did not extend to the state or local level, nor did it apply to the private sector, so many women workers did not receive this protection.

[Pictured: Victoria Woodhull, the candidate in 1872 from the Equal Rights Party, supporting women's suffrage and equal rights.]

Anne Freeman became the first female patent examiner at the U.S. Patent Office in 1872. The milestone may have encouraged more women to apply for patents for their inventions, according to the National Women’s History Museum.

The Supreme Court ruled that women could be excluded from practicing law in 1873. One Justice on the case reasoned that practicing law could disrupt “the respective spheres of man and woman” and her duties as a mother and wife.

A group of more than 3,000 washerwomen, the majority of whom were Black, staged a large-scale strike in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1881, demanding fair pay for their strenuous jobs. While the threat of a costly business license requirement and arrests of strikers mitigated their efforts to set a standard wage for laundry, the demonstration was evidence of "the power of low-wage, African American, female workers to disrupt the status quo," according to Rosalind Bentley of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

The American Federation of Labor appointed Mary Kenney O’Sullivan as the first woman to serve as a national general organizer in 1892. During her time in that role, she organized workers in the garment industry, along with shoe workers, carpet weavers, binders, and printers.

When Anna Bissell’s husband died, she took over the Bissell sweeper company in 1889 and became America’s first female CEO. She helped promote workers’ compensation policies and employee pension plans.

[Pictured: The Bissell carpet sweeper invented by Melville and Anna Bissell in 1876.]

In 1898, Charlotte Perkins Gilman published “Women and Economics.” She argued that women must become economically independent from men.

Two women social reformers—Jane Addams and Josephine Lowell—founded the National Consumers League in 1899. The organization leveraged the power of consumers to push for minimum wage for women and other workers’ rights.

[Pictured: Jane Addams, American social reformer and feminist.]

New York state passed the Married Women's Property Act in 1848, which gave married women a degree of control over their own income and property. By 1900, every state had enacted similar legislation, according to the National Women's History Alliance.

Madam C.J. Walker created her hair care product company in 1905. The business, which was focused on the needs of African American women, would help Walker become America’s first self-made female millionaire.

[Pictured: A photograph of Madam C.J. Walker driving, 1911.]

Around 20,000 shirtwaist industry workers, most of whom were Yiddish-speaking women who immigrated to the U.S., went on strike on Nov. 23, 1909. The largest demonstration by women up until that point, the “Uprising of 20,000” forced the largely male leaders of the industry to “revise their entrenched prejudices against organizing women,” according to Tony Michels of the Jewish Women’s Archive.

A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people, the majority of whom were women, in 1911. Considered one of the worst industrial disasters in the nation’s history, it led to stricter fire codes at workplaces. It also helped spark the empowerment of women in the workforce.

Massachusetts adopted a minimum wage in 1912—the first state in the country to do so. The law only applied to women and children.

Women saw political career opportunities open up to them in 1917 when Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress. Since then, the U.S. House of Representatives has had a total of 397 women join its ranks.

Women filled factory jobs left vacant by men during World War I. By 1918, munitions factories became the biggest employer of women workers.

The New York State Court of Appeals ruled that physicians were allowed to prescribe birth control for health reasons in 1918. Expansion of access to contraceptives has helped women make wage gains and advance in the workplace, according to Planned Parenthood.

The Women in Industry Service released the first edition of the “Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry” in 1918, using input from both employers and women laborers. They were updated and republished multiple times and eventually helped form labor laws at the national and state level.

Female laborers from the U.S. and abroad formed the International Congress of Working Women in 1919. That year, they met in Washingtond D.C., for 10 days to discuss labor standards and benefits, such as maternity insurance.

The passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote. With a stake in politics, women could now vote for leaders who could help them achieve equality at work.

The Department of Labor established a Women’s Bureau in 1920. The bureau was responsible for creating standards and policies focused on the welfare of women workers, improving their working conditions, and fostering more career opportunities for women.

[Pictured: Mary Anderson, head of Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, at her desk, Washington D.C.]

The first version of the Equal Rights Amendment was drafted in 1923. With support from the National Women’s Party, Amelia Earhart, and professional women workers, the amendment aimed to grant men and women equal rights, including in the workplace.

The Economy Act of 1932 prohibited the government from employing more than one person per family. Many women workers were ultimately let go.

[Pictured: President Hoover with the New York Young Republicans after signing the Economy Act of 1932.]

The Great Depression left more than 2 million women out of work at the start of 1933. The struggles of women and Black workers during this time went unrecognized by the government and much of the public, who thought of workers as solely white men.

Established in 1933, the National Recovery Administration made pay discrepancy between men and women an official policy. Around 25% of its codes established lower minimum wages for women workers compared to their male counterparts.

[Pictured: President Roosevelt affixes his signature to the Industrial Control-Public Works bill, otherwise known as the National Recovery Act.]

Frances Perkins took on the role of Secretary of Labor in 1933. The first woman to hold that position, Perkins was instrumental in the creation of Social Security, as well as the New Deal.

Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council for Negro Women in 1935. The organization helped push for an end to job discrimination, sexism, and racist policies, according to the Labor Heritage Foundation.

In 1936, a Gallup poll asked people whether married women should work full-time outside of the home. Just 18% of respondents approved of the notion, with the majority of both men and women signaling disapproval. Those numbers would all but flip when the same question was asked in the 1990s.

Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. It established a minimum wage for all workers—regardless of gender.

The Saturday Evening Post published the now-iconic Norman Rockwell cover image of Rosie the Riveter on May 29, 1943. The concept of the character, which had been around for at least a year, helped inspire women to take on traditionally masculine jobs to help with the war effort.

Members of Congress proposed the Women’s Equal Pay Act in 1945. While the bill failed, it did establish the concept and the language for “comparable work” in regards to pay equity, which means that people of different genders working similar jobs at the same place of employment should be paid equally.

World War II saw large numbers of women enter the labor force to fill jobs while men served in the military. The female labor force expanded by 50% from 1940 to 1945.

The Supreme Court backed up a Michigan law that banned women workers in certain industries in 1948. It was deemed that keeping women out of some jobs, such as bartending, would help protect their morals.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created a special commission on the status of women, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. It issued a report two years later that documented substantial discrimination against female workers and offered guidance on fair hiring practices and other policies to help women, according to the Labor Heritage Foundation.

Beginning in 1962, women's participation in the labor force started to increase dramatically. It would climb from 37% to 61% from 1962 to 2000, creating around $2 trillion in economic gains, according to Alison Burke of the Brookings Institution.

President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law on June 10, 1963. It was among the earliest federal laws that aimed to end wage differences between men and women performing the same work in the same place of employment.

Women gained even more protection against discrimination when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. It prohibited employers from discriminating workers on the basis of sex, along with race, religion, and national origin.

A landmark Supreme Court decision in 1965 ruled that married people have the right to use birth control. According to Planned Parenthood, one-third of women’s wage gains since the 1960s can be credited to access to oral contraceptives.

Betty Friedan and other feminists formed the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. The country’s largest group of feminist grassroots activists, NOW is dedicated to ending sexual discrimination and establishing gender equality in the workplace.

President Lyndon B. Johnson established an order that required federal contractors to implement an affirmative action plan to provide equal opportunities to minority and women workers in 1967. All federal contractors that have more than 50 workers and over $50,000 in federal contracts must comply with these regulations by creating written affirmative action plans and developing placement goals for these protected workers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission banned job ads that specified gender in newspapers in 1968. While the ruling was challenged, the Supreme Court upheld the original decision in 1973, giving women a path to more lucrative jobs that were once only available to men.

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a company policy that segregated jobs based on gender in 1969. The company, Colgate-Palmolive, had previously refused to consider women for roles requiring strenuous work.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that employers can’t change a job title or description to avoid paying women equal to their male counterparts in 1970. The ruling stemmed from a case against Wheaton Glass, which gave men the job title of “selector-packer-stackers” and women the title of “selector-packers” in order to pay them substantially different amounts for similar work.

Gender equality activists across the country participated in the Women’s Strike for Equality on August 26, 1970. The series of demonstrations, which included a march of tens of thousands of people in New York City, were aimed at drawing attention to pay inequity and other issues affecting women.

The Supreme Court made a ruling that outlawed employer policies against the hiring of moms with preschool-age children in 1971. The decision gave women greater opportunities to secure employment after having children.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1972 gave unmarried people the same access to birth control as married couples. According to Planned Parenthood, birth control was responsible for around a third “of the increase in the proportion of women in skilled careers from 1970 to 1990.”

The government enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1972. The measure banned gender discrimination in education programs that are funded with federal dollars, giving women greater opportunities.

[Pictured: Representative Patsy Mink of Hawaii, Title IX co-author, for whom the law was renamed in 2002.]

Katharine Graham took the reins of The Washington Post in 1972, making her the country’s first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Under her leadership, the newspaper broke stories on the Watergate scandal.

When Congress passed the Educational Amendment of 1972, it expanded the protections of the Equal Pay Act to professional, administrative, and executive positions. Those types of jobs had previously been exempt from the law.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that employers cannot force workers to take maternity leave. The decision helped women to remain at work and advance in their careers while becoming mothers.

In 1974, Congress extended the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act to domestic service workers, the majority of whom were women. However, the amendments included limited exemptions from requirements to pay a minimum wage and overtime for certain workers in this category.

Social critic Louise Kapp Howe published “Pink Collar Workers: Inside the World of Women’s Work” in 1977, coining the term “pink-collar workers” for the first time. The book drew attention to gender segregation in the workforce.

Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978. The law bans employers from discriminating against workers for reasons related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Sandra Day O’Connor broke the judicial glass ceiling in 1981 when she became the first woman Supreme Court justice. The Washington Post would go on to call her “the most powerful woman in 1980s America.”

Gender equality in the workplace took a blow in 1982 when states failed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment before the deadline. The amendment needed an additional three states to sign on in order to receive full ratification.

The year 1982 marked the first time in U.S. history that women received a higher number of bachelor’s degrees than men, according to the American Enterprise Institute. The education helped make women more competitive for higher paying jobs.

Sally Ride became the first American woman astronaut to go to space in 1983. She helped pave the way for other women at NASA.

The Supreme Court in 1984 ruled that law firms were no longer allowed to use gender as a discriminating factor when promoting lawyers to partners. The decision would help women continue to climb the ladder in legal fields.

Congress enacted the Retirement Equity Act in 1984. It permitted workers to take extended maternity leave without giving up future retirement benefits and made it easier for widows to collect their spouse’s retirement pay.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1986 deemed that sexual harassment from a supervisor against an employee was a violation of a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination at work. The court said sexual harassment could create "a hostile or abusive work environment," a problem that especially affected women workers.

A sex-discrimination lawsuit against United Airlines ended in a $37 million settlement for women flight attendants in 1986. The flight attendants had been forced to quit if they got married—a policy that was deemed a civil rights violation.

In Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara City, a female employee received a promotion over a similarly qualified male employee at the local transportation agency that was taking affirmative action. The Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that employers are allowed to take gender into consideration when deciding who gets a promotion as part of affirmative action and correcting imbalances in the workplace.

Congress passed the Women’s Business Ownership Act in 1988. The law eliminated a requirement for women to have a male co-signer on business loans, thus helping female entrepreneurs get financing for new companies.

President George H.W. Bush put Susan Engeleiter in the chief leadership position of the Small Business Administration in 1989. She was the first woman to hold that position.

The Family and Medical Leave Act helped make it easier for women to balance work and family needs. Passed in 1993, the law grants eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off each year for pregnancy, care of a newborn, adoption or foster care, and other caretaking duties.

Congress passed the Gender Equity in Education Act in 1994 in an effort to promote equality between men and women in the workplace and beyond. The law gave teachers training in gender equity, preventing sexual harassment, and increasing math and science education for girls, according to the National Women’s History Alliance.

In the mid-1990s, women played a greater role in bringing in income for their families. A 1995 survey found that nearly half of married women earned at least 50% of their household income.

The National Committee on Pay Equity declared the first “Equal Pay Day” in 1996. It has been commemorated every year since then in order to draw awareness to the gender pay gap.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1998 deemed that employers are still liable for sexual harassment from supervisors against employees, even if they did not know about the issue. The decision included “a two-prong affirmative defense,” which may let employers off the hook if they take certain steps to stop sexual harassment or if the employee did not complain through the right procedures.

The share of women age 16 and up in the labor force hit 60.3% in April 2000. It was a historical peak in participation.

Through their “Kiss My Foot” campaign, workers’ rights activists successfully persuaded casinos in Nevada to end the inclusion of high heels in uniform requirements in 2001. Tom Stoneburner, director of the Alliance for Workers’ Rights, told Martin Griffith of the Associated Press that his group wants “women to become valued employees rather than sexual lures used to bring people into casinos.”

President Barack Obama created the White House Council on Women and Girls in 2009. The council was given the mission to help government agencies promote gender equality and eliminate pay disparities.

[Pictured: President Barack Obama and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett (who chaired the council) chat outside the Oval Office in the White House.]

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 overturned a Supreme Court decision that restricted the time period workers had to file complaints of wage discrimination against their employers, giving them 180 days from the date of their last paycheck to make a claim. It also had explicit details on retroactive pay, helping women (and other workers) who received unfair compensation get paid what they should have on previous paychecks.

In an effort to encourage employers to adopt flexible policies that could particularly benefit women workers, the Women’s Bureau hosted the National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility in 2010. Organizers say policies like paid sick days and compensated family and medical leave could help workers better balance the needs of their employers and their families, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.

[Pictured: President Barack Obama addresses the closing session of the White House Council on Women and Girls’ Forum on Workplace Flexibility.]

Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to include a provision for nursing mothers in 2010. The law requires employers to provide reasonable break times during the workday for nursing mothers to express milk in a private area that's not a bathroom.

The Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, mandated that private health insurance companies cover birth control without any additional payment (like co-pays or deductibles) from members. Planned Parenthood has found that birth control has helped advance economic and career opportunities for women.

Beth Mooney became CEO of KeyCorp in 2011. It was the first time a top 20 U.S. bank had a woman in its highest role.

The Pentagon lifted a ban that had prohibited women in the military from serving in combat roles in 2013. Realities of war had frequently put female military members in combat prior to the overturning of the gender-based ban.

Mary Barra became the leader of General Motors in 2013. It was the first time in U.S. history that a major automaker had a woman at its helm.

In April 2014, President Obama signed an executive order that prevents federal contractors from penalizing workers for discussing their salaries with colleagues. The measure was an effort to help reduce gender-based wage disparities.

A 2015 study found that the pay gap between men and women closed among millennials in New York City. The research found that female millennials earned $1.02 for every $1 in income received by young men.

Hillary Rodham Clinton broke one of the highest glass ceilings in the country when she became the first woman to earn the presidential nomination from a major party in 2016.

A 2017 report from the Pew Research Center found that at least four in 10 women workers have dealt with gender discrimination at their workplace. The research also revealed that 22% of men felt they had faced similar discrimination.

Activist Tarana Burke started the “Me Too” movement when she coined the term in 2006 to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual assault and harassment. The movement exploded on Twitter in 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano encouraged people to reveal their stories of sexual harassment using the hashtag #MeToo. It created a larger movement of countless women sharing the misconduct they’ve experienced at the workplace and beyond, and sparked discussion and action to end hostile work environments.

Hundreds of women in the entertainment industry banded together in 2018 to form Time's Up. The organization works to tackle gender equity issues in the workplace.

A McKinsey report from 2019 predicted that automation may displace up to 160 million women workers worldwide from their current jobs. Women will need to learn new skills and get more education in order to transition to other careers, the report added.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that removed the deadline to pass the Equal Rights Amendment on February 13, 2020. States now have no specified time limit for ratifying the amendment, which guarantees equal rights (including in matters of employment) to Americans of all genders.

As of 2018, women earned 81.6 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. At the current rate of wage increases, women won’t achieve equal pay until 2059.