Not only is the U.S. workforce now nearly evenly split between the sexes, but 40 percent of women say they are the main breadwinner in their households, a new survey has found.
But being the breadwinner hasn't necessarily translated into bringing home the bacon. Women still make 77 cents on the dollar compared to men and women's earnings fell by two percent overall last year, according to the report.
The Time survey, released Thursday with a report on the status of women conducted by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, found the battle of the sexes in the workforce is almost complete.
Women now make up almost half the work force, up from about one-third 40 years ago, according to the survey.
"It's expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history the majority of the workers in the U.S. will be women," Time magazine's Nancy Gibbs wrote.
While this is news to the rest of the country, women in Manhattan, of course, have been setting workplace trends for years. The survey's findings did not surprise Sonio Ossorio, president of the National Orgainazation for Women's New York chapter.
"We’ve known for a while that a majority of women work," Ossario told DNAinfo.
But while there may be more women than ever toiling away at the office, that doesn't mean they are bringing home the same amount of money as their male counterparts.
The report also pointed out that the shift in the workplace is matched by a change in gender roles at home. While 58 percent of men said being married was "very important," just 53 percent of women said the same.
"Women no longer view matrimony as a necessary station on the road to financial security or parenthood," Gibbs said.
Men have also become increasingly more accepting of the working woman. The survey found that around three-quarters of men and women believe that the growing presence of women in the workplace has been very or somewhat positive for American society and the economy.
