Jonas Benjamin Cabahug and Maria Carzo

Abstract:

This paper does a review of the literature that exists for labor force participation, holding gender constant and focusing upon women. It does this primarily through a literature review and research on the major articles on labor force participation rates in the United States, as well as considering industry data from key statistical sources. The paper further applies a novel statistical technique called change point analysis with data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. We find that labor force participation rates vary for women across racial lines – focusing specifically on Hispanic women, Asian women, African American/Black women and White women in the 16-19 years old age group. Change point analysis combined with regression techniques detect timing differences in departure of the workforce during two years of peak COVID pandemic activity. The findings indicate that African American women and Hispanic women initially stayed in the labor force when COVID first hit, but White women and Asian women exited the labor force during the COVID crisis.