Over the last 20 years, women have made notable strides in the workplace—but not all women have benefited equally. New research shows that the gap is widening between women with college degrees and those without when it comes to workforce participation.
A report from the moderate policy think tank Third Way found that between 2004 and 2024, the share of women with at least a bachelor’s degree in the labor force rose by nine percentage points. Meanwhile, women without a college degree barely moved the needle, with less than a one-point increase over the same period.
“This divergence in labor force experience speaks to broader changes in workplace culture,” said Curran McSwigan, Third Way’s deputy director of economics and the author of the report. “Those changes are weighted toward women with degrees.”
The rise of flexible work
One major shift benefiting college-educated women is the rise of flexible and remote work. Many white-collar jobs now allow employees to work from home, giving working mothers more leeway to handle childcare responsibilities without leaving the workforce.
“Remote work has inherently baked in a lot more flexibility,” McSwigan explained. “A mom can take her child to a doctor’s appointment without taking an entire day off.”
In addition, white-collar employers have increasingly offered benefits like paid family leave and childcare subsidies. These perks make it easier for mothers to remain employed.
Women without college degrees, however, are more likely to work in lower-paying service-sector roles, which rarely offer the same support. Many of these jobs also involve unpredictable schedules, and childcare centers typically operate only from 9 to 5, leaving service-sector mothers in a difficult spot.
Mothers without degrees are falling behind
The gap is particularly stark for working mothers. Over the past two decades, labor force participation for mothers with college degrees jumped 11 percentage points, from 57% to 68%. For mothers without degrees, the increase was just 0.1%.
“We often hear that women have bounced back from the ‘she-cession’ and that we’re making progress,” McSwigan said. “But the reality is that most of those gains are among college-educated women. Non-college women are still sitting on the sidelines.”
McSwigan says the findings underscore the need for policies that support all working families, not just those in white-collar jobs.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” she said. “We need broad-based efforts that recognize the different challenges families face.”