BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1999
RELEASED TODAY: In 1998, the proportion of U.S. families with at least one
employed member was 82.6 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from 1997. Of the
nation's 70.2 million families, 6.4 percent reported having an unemployed
member, a decline of 0.6 percentage point from the previous year. ...
The time married women with children spend working outside the home for pay
has almost doubled in the past 3 decades, to an average of 1,200 hours per
year, leaving them much less time for other things, including caring for
their children, the Council of Economic Advisers said in a report released
yesterday. The share of families headed by a single parent, usually a woman,
rose to 30 percent of all families from 13 percent, and the number of hours
worked annually by single parents also rose by about 300 hours during the
same period, from 1969 to 1996, the report said. "The increase in time
mothers spend in paid work, combined with the shift toward single parent
families, has resulted in families on average experiencing a decrease of 22
hours per week in time available outside of paid work that parents could
spend with children," CEA Chairman Janet L. Yellen said at a news
conference. There is no recent data available to indicate whether parents
have actually reduced the number of hours spent caring for their children or
cut back on other activities. ... The report, "Families and the Labor
Market, 1969-1999: Analyzing the 'Time Crunch,'" was prepared to buttress
the administration's desire to find ways in which the government or private
sector can raise the strictures of that "time crunch." ... (Washington
Post, page E1).
Countries that tax workers at older ages are driving a growing trend toward
early retirement, thereby adding fiscal pressures to international
retirement systems, according to a new study by the employee Benefit
Research Institute. ... According to the study summary, there is a strong
correlation between early retirement provisions of Social Security systems
and labor force withdrawal rates. In France, for example, 60 percent of
those working at the early retirement age of 60 leave the workforce at that
age, EBRI said. ... The U.S. Social Security system offers married workers
an actuarial adjustment for claiming delayed benefits and other features
that avoid financial incentives to leave the workforce at age 62, but single
workers and high-wage earners have a slight disincentive to remain in the
workforce, according to the report. Once workers reach age 65, the Social
Security earnings limit provides a stronger incentive to stop working, with
implicit tax rates on work of 19 percent for married workers and 33 percent
for single workers. The earnings limit reduces Social Security benefits for
older workers who earn wages above certain thresholds. ... The nonprofit
research organization noted that, while populations of all industrialized
nations are aging rapidly and life expectancies are increasing, older
workers are leaving the workforce at younger ages. In some developed
countries, workforce participation rates of men ages 60 to 64 have fallen by
75 percent over the last 30 years, EBRI said. The study, written by
Jonathan Gruber, an economist at MIT and an EBRI fellow, and David Wise, an
economist at Harvard, focuses on retirement systems in the U.S., Germany,
and France, but also discusses systems in eight other countries. ... (Daily
Labor Report, page A-4).
Burnout, work-family conflicts, and a tight labor market probably will
increase unscheduled absences over the next 2 years, say about half the 401
employers surveyed by consulting firm CCH Inc., Riverwoods, Ill.
Absenteeism hit a 7-year high last year, rising 25 percent from 1997. On
average, employees used 5.5 out of 9.1 allotted sick days for the year. ...
(Wall Street Journal "Work Week" column, page A1).
Responding to increased competition and demands from individual investors
for access to after-hours trading, the New York Stock Exchange will begin
trading stocks in an extended evening session as early as July. The NYSE
chairman said that the world's largest exchange is accelerating plans for
extended hours in response to similar interest expressed by the rival Nasdaq
Stock Market. The NYSE doesn't yet have concrete plans. ... Extended hours
would revolutionize markets even as they cause headaches for brokerages and
news organizations that will have to prepare for longer days. ... What is
clear is that this is a move driven by the need to compete globally and the
demands of individuals. ... (Washington Post, page E1; New York Times, page
C6).
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