---
title: "V. Rising Labor Force Participation"
description: "The rise in Hispanic youths’ pursuit of school since 1970 has not come at the expense of work effort or labor force participation. A growing share of Hispanic youths are either working or looking for work (Figure 10). In 1970, 52% of Hispanic youths were in the labor force. By 2007, the labor force participation […]"
date: "2009-10-07"
authors:
  - name: "Richard Fry"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2009/10/07/v-rising-labor-force-participation/"
---

# V. Rising Labor Force Participation

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2009/10/2009-pathways-14.png)

The rise in Hispanic youths’ pursuit of school since 1970 has not come at the expense of work effort or labor force participation. A growing share of Hispanic youths are either working or looking for work (Figure 10). In 1970, 52% of Hispanic youths were in the labor force. By 2007, the labor force participation rate of young Hispanics increased to 62%. Again, much of this increase in labor force participation reflects strong growth among Hispanic females rather than males.

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2009/10/2009-pathways-15.png)

For young Hispanic men, the pathway of formal schooling has modestly declined (Figure 5). More than 90% of young Hispanic men continue to be engaged in either school or the work world (Figure 3) because a modestly rising share of young Hispanic men are participating in the labor force (Figure 11). In 2007, 68% of young Hispanic males were in the labor force, up from 65% in 1970.

Though relatively few young foreign-born Hispanic males are pursuing schooling, many in this population group are working or looking for work. In 2007, 79% of young foreign-born Hispanic males were in the labor force, the highest rate of labor force participation of any of the race-gender-nativity groups considered.

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2009/10/2009-pathways-16.png)

As with young white and black males, labor force participation of native-born Hispanic males has declined in recent years. It peaked at 68% for native-born Hispanic males in 1980 and stood at 61% by 2007. The decline in labor force participation was offset, however, by increased school or college enrollment such that the aggregate share of native-born Hispanic males on skill-building pathways remained unchanged at about 90% (Figure 3).

Accompanying the large rise in the school enrollment rate of young Hispanic women has been a large rise in their labor force participation since 1970 (Figure 12). As with white and black females, the labor force participation rate of young Hispanic women increased from 40% in 1970 to 54% in 2007. In spite of the increase, though, Hispanic females have the lowest rate of labor force participation of any of the race-gender groups examined. In 2007, the labor force participation rate of young black males was 56%.

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**Next:** [VI. Military: A Road Less Traveled](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2009/10/07/vi-military-a-road-less-traveled.md)