Prime-age labor force participation has rebounded post-pandemic, reaching near-record highs compared to recent decades. As of May 2025, prime-age labor force participation was at 83.4 percent, slightly below the post-pandemic peak of 83.9 percent in summer 2024.
For women, prime-age labor force participation stands at 77.7 percent, slightly below the record high of 78.4 percent in August 2024. The rapid growth in female labor force participation seen in the latter half of the 1900s leveled off by the early 2000s, with changes largely reflecting business cycles. However, since February 2023, prime-age women’s participation has consistently surpassed its maximum rate from the Great Recession cycle, driven largely by gains among mothers.
For men, prime-age labor force participation is at 89.2 percent, down from the post-pandemic peak of 89.9 percent, which was the highest since fall 2009. Male labor force participation has trended downward for decades, with sharper declines during recessions. The full recovery after the pandemic contrasts with the Great Recession, where male participation never returned to pre-recession levels.
While prime-age participation is historically high, overall labor force participation is not, largely due to aging populations reducing the aggregate rate. Figure 2 shows that had the population age distribution remained constant from Q1 2019 to Q1 2025, overall participation would have increased by 0.58 percentage points. However, because older groups with lower participation rates now make up a larger share, actual participation declined by 0.74 percentage points over six years.
Most of the decline in the overall rate is due to the growing share of the population aged 65+, which also participated less in 2025 compared to 2019. Participation rates for other age-sex groups generally rose or remained stable, with a notable exception—a half percentage point increase in participation for prime-age women.
Before the pandemic, prime-age mothers saw convergence in participation rates between those with elementary school children and those with teenagers or no children. After the 2020–21 disruption, this trend resumed. Post-pandemic, prime-age women with children under 5 saw particularly strong increases, though their participation rate remains lower than those with older children. In September 2023, their participation reached an all-time high of 71 percent.
Participation has slightly declined for all prime-age women from the post-pandemic peak but remains strong. As of May 2025, it was about 2 percentage points higher than the same period in 2019 for mothers. Women with children under 5 participated nearly 3 percentage points higher than in 2019, while those with elementary- and teen-age children were up about 1.8 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively. Pandemic-era child care funds may have helped, but increased telework opportunities likely also played a role.
Telework increased fourfold from pre-pandemic to 2023 and accounts for about a quarter of paid workdays in 2025. In the Current Population Survey, 23 percent of employed individuals reported teleworking on average from January to May 2025; among prime-age workers, it was 25 percent. Fully remote schedules among teleworkers increase with age; those over 65 are about 10 percentage points more likely to work fully remotely than those aged 25–64. Overall, about 46 percent of teleworkers worked entirely remotely (about 10 percent of all workers).
Consistent with other research, figure 4 shows telework is highest among prime-age parents with young children. About a third of prime-age women with children under 5 report teleworking, 4 percentage points higher than those without children. These mothers also have the highest rate (17 percent) of fully remote work. Among men, over a quarter of prime-age fathers with children under 5 report teleworking, with the highest rates of both fully remote (11 percent) and hybrid work (15 percent).
Prime-age women without bachelor’s degrees (16 percent), especially those with some college (21 percent), are more likely to telework than men (9 percent and 14 percent). Among those with bachelor’s degrees, telework rates are similar for women (40 percent) and men (41 percent). Mothers without degrees and with young children telework more (18 percent) than fathers (8 percent), while those with degrees report similar rates (43 and 45 percent).
Labor force participation trends across life cycles differ for men and women and have changed over time (figure 5). Women born in the late 90s participated at 76.6 percent at age 25, much higher than those born 45 years earlier (66.3 percent). Men born in the late 90s had participation 9 percentage points lower (84.0 percent) than those born 45 years earlier (93.0 percent). While women’s participation dips during child-bearing years, these patterns have weakened over time.
Male participation at age 25 has declined with each cohort, from those born 1965–69 to 1995–99. The 1985–89 cohort saw the biggest drop—the first to turn 25 during or after the Great Recession—then slower declines for 1990s cohorts. These drops have been balanced by faster growth as men age. Men born after 1980 converge toward predecessors’ rates by their 30s, though still below earlier cohorts.
In contrast, each female cohort generally saw increased participation at 25 and across life cycles. Increases slowed for 1975–89 cohorts but accelerated for 1990–99. Recent cohorts diverge from trends, with smaller dips during child-bearing years. Stronger participation likely relates to rising education, less time out after childbirth, and older first births.
Figure 6 breaks down nonparticipation reasons over time and by age and sex. In Q1 2025, 22 percent of prime-age women were not in the labor force, down 2 percentage points from Q1 2019. Declines were driven by reduced caregiving nonparticipation, especially for women 25–34. Caregiving still accounts for over two-thirds of nonparticipation for women 25–44 and nearly half for women 45–54, where disability is also significant.
Fewer men are out of the labor force than women: 11 percent of prime-age men were not participating in 2025. For men, disability is the main factor, increasing with age. While disability nonparticipation declined across the board in 2025, overall nonparticipation remained stable. Declines were offset by increases in caregiving, retirement, and other reasons.
The pandemic’s speed and severity led some to call it a “She-Cession.” At onset, women were more vulnerable due to industry concentration and childcare burdens. However, disproportionate losses were largely transitory, with persistent scarring avoided.
By early 2023, both sexes reached pre-pandemic employment levels. Aggregate prime-age employment recovered about twice as fast as after the 2001 recession and four times as fast as after the Great Recession. Employment continued growing after recovery, with fewer sex differences than after prior recessions.
Prime-age male employment exceeding pre-pandemic levels is notable (see fact 1). As with participation, male employment never fully recovered from the Great Recession. In January 2020, male employment was 0.8 percent below December 2007 levels. As of May 2025, prime-age male employment is roughly 3 percent above December 2007 levels.
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Seven economic facts about prime-age labor force participation
Prime-age labor force participation has rebounded for both sexes post-pandemic and reached near-record highs relative to recent decades. Prime-age labor force participation remains close to its highest level since early 2002. In May 2025, prime-age labor force participation stood at 83.4 percent—down by half a percentage point from the post-pandemic peak of 83.9 percent in the summer of 2024.
For women, prime-age labor force participation stands at 77.7 percent, slightly below the highest level on record (78.4 percent in August 2024). The rapid growth in prime-age female labor force participation that characterized the latter half of the 1900s had leveled out by the early 2000s, and changes in female labor force participation through 2019 were largely reflections of the business cycle. However, prime-age women’s participation has consistently exceeded its maximum rate from the Great Recession business cycle since February 2023, driven in large part by gains among mothers, as discussed in fact 3 below.
For men, prime-age labor force participation stands at 89.2 percent, down from the post-pandemic peak of 89.9 percent, which was the highest prime-age male labor force participation rate since the fall of 2009. Prime-age male labor force participation has trended downward for decades, with faster declines during recessions. The full recovery in prime-age male labor force participation after COVID contrasts with the experience after the Great Recession, when male labor force participation never recovered to its pre-recession peak.
While prime-age labor force participation is high by historical standards, overall labor force participation is not, largely due to population aging putting downward pressure on the aggregate labor force participation rate. Figure 2 shows that, had the age distribution of the population remained constant from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2025, overall labor force participation would have increased by 0.58 percentage points. However, because older groups with lower labor force participation rates make up a growing share of the population, actual labor force participation declined by 0.74 percentage points over this six-year period.
While most of the decline in the overall participation rate is explained by a greater share of the population being age 65+ in 2025, the figure shows that the 65+ age group also participated less in 2025 relative to 2019 (in part driven by aging within that group). Participation rates for other age-sex groups generally rose or remained roughly constant over this period, with a notable exception—a half a percentage point increase in the propensity to participate—for prime-age women.
Prior to the pandemic, the trend in labor force participation among prime-age mothers was one of convergence: The differences in participation rates between mothers of elementary school children (ages 5–12) and those with teenage or no children in the home were shrinking. After the 2020–21 COVID interruption, the trend toward convergence for these groups resumed. In addition, there were particularly notable increases in participation for prime-age women with children under 5 post-pandemic, although their participation rate remains lower than that for women with older children. In September 2023, labor force participation for women with children under 5 reached an all-time high of 71 percent.
Labor force participation has ticked down for all prime-age women relative to the post-pandemic peak but remains strong. As of May, labor force participation was about 2 percentage points higher in 2025 relative to the same period in 2019 for prime-age mothers. Women with children under 5 were participating at a rate nearly 3 percentage points higher than the same period in 2019, while rates for women with elementary- and teen-age children were up about 1.8 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively. One contributor to the strength of participation among mothers of young children could be pandemic-era federal funds for child care—but strong labor force participation likely also reflects other key contributors, including increased telework opportunities.
Working from home increased fourfold from pre-pandemic to 2023 and accounts for about a quarter of paid workdays in 2025 by one measure. In the Current Population Survey, an average of 23 percent of those employed in the prior week report teleworking from January through May 2025; among prime-age workers, 25 percent. The prevalence of a completely virtual schedule among those who telework increases with age; people over 65+ who telework are about 10 percentage points more likely to do so completely virtually than people 25–64. Overall, about 46 percent of people who teleworked did so for their entire work week (about 10 percent of all workers).
Consistent with other research, figure 4 shows that telework is highest among prime-age parents with young children. About a third of prime-age women with children under 5 report teleworking, about 4 percentage points higher than those without children. These mothers also have the highest rate (17 percent) of fully remote work. Among men, more than a quarter of prime-age fathers with children under 5 report teleworking, with the highest rates of both fully remote work (11 percent) and hybrid work (15 percent) among prime-age men.
Prime-age women who don’t have a bachelor’s degree (16 percent), particularly those who attended some college (21 percent), are more likely to telework than their male counterparts (9 percent and 14 percent). In contrast, among prime-age workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, telework rates are about equal for women (40 percent) and men (41 percent). Prime-age mothers without a bachelor’s degree and with a child under 5 are more likely to telework (18 percent) than their male counterparts (8 percent), while prime-age mothers and fathers with a bachelor’s degree and a young child report telework at roughly equal rates (43 and 45 percent, respectively).
Trends in prime-age participation rates across the life cycle are quite different for men and women and have changed considerably over time (figure 5). Women born in the late 90s participated in the labor force at a much higher rate (76.6 percent) at age 25 than did women at the same age born 45 years earlier (66.3 percent). In contrast, men born in the late 90s had participation rates 9 percentage points lower (84.0 percent) at age 25 than their peers born 45 years earlier (93.0 percent). While women’s participation across cohorts dips during child-bearing years, these patterns have become weaker over time.
Male labor force participation at age 25 has declined with each successive cohort, from those born in 1965–69 to those born in 1995–99 (light purple). Participation declined the most for the 1985–89 cohort—the first cohort in which all men born in those years turned 25 during or immediately following the Great Recession—then declined at a slower rate for cohorts born in the 90s. However, these drops across cohorts in labor force participation at younger ages have been balanced by faster growth in participation as men age. Participation rates for men born after 1980 have converged toward the rates of their immediate predecessors by their early-to-mid-30s, although the rates at this age are still well below those of earlier cohorts.
In contrast to men, each consecutive birth cohort of women has generally seen increases in labor force participation both at 25 and across much of their life cycle. While increases in labor force participation at age 25 seemed to slow for cohorts born between 1975 and 1989, those born between 1990 and 1999—the youngest cohorts—show significant increases in their 20s. Recent cohorts have also begun to diverge from historical trends, with smaller dips in participation during child-bearing years. Stronger participation among women in their 20s and 30s is likely related to a number of factors, including rising educational attainment, less time out of the labor force after childbirth, and older ages at first birth.
Figure 6 shows labor force nonparticipation broken down by the distribution of reasons given for nonparticipation, over time and by age and sex. In the first quarter of 2025, a little over one-fifth (22 percent) of prime-age women were not in the labor force. This is down by 2 percentage points from the first quarter of 2019 (24 percent) and represents declines in nonparticipation among each of the age groups. The bulk of this decrease was driven by declines in nonparticipation due to caregiving, particularly for women 25–34. Caregiving still accounts for over two-thirds of nonparticipation for women 25–44 and nearly half of nonparticipation for women 45–54, for whom disability is also a large factor.
Fewer men are out of the labor force than women: Eleven percent of prime age men were not participating in the labor force in 2025. For prime-age men, disability is the largest factor in nonparticipation and increases in prevalence with age. While the share of nonparticipation due to disability declined across the board for prime-age men in 2025, the overall nonparticipation share remained roughly stable. Declines in the share of nonparticipation due to disability were offset by increases in the share due to caregiving, retirement, and other, unspecified reasons.
The speed and severity at which employment dropped during the pandemic, especially for women, led some observers to deem the pandemic recession a “She-Cession.” At the onset of the pandemic, women were more likely to be in vulnerable industries, and child care burdens seemed likely to pull women out of the labor force at higher rates. The disproportionate employment loss, however, was largely transitory, and persistent scarring appears to have been avoided.
By early 2023, both men and women reached pre-pandemic (February 2020) employment levels. Aggregate prime-age employment recovered about twice as quickly as it did after the 2001 recession, and about four times as quickly as it did after the Great Recession. Moreover, after reaching pre-pandemic levels, employment has continued to grow, with fewer differences by sex than after the prior two recessions.
The fact that prime-age male employment exceeds pre-pandemic levels is itself notable (see fact 1). As with labor force participation, prime-age male employment never fully recovered from the Great Recession. In January 2020, male employment stood 0.8 percent below its level in December 2007. As of May 2025, prime-age male employment is roughly 3 percent above its December 2007 level.