Pink-collar worker

In the United States, a pink-collar worker performs jobs in the service industry. In contrast, blue-collar workers are working-class people who perform skilled or unskilled manual labor, and white-collar workers typically perform professional, managerial, or administrative work in an office environment.

Companies may sometimes blend blue, white, and pink industry categorizations.

The term "pink-collar" was popularized in the late 1970s by writer and social critic Louise Kapp Howe to denote women working as nurses, secretaries, and elementary school teachers. Its origins, however, go back to the early 1970s, to when the equal rights amendment, ERA, was placed before the states for ratification (March 1972). At that time, the term was used to denote secretarial and steno-pool staff as well as non-professional office staff, all of which were largely held by women. De rigueur, these positions were not white-collar jobs, but neither were they blue-collar manual labor. Hence, the creation of the term "pink collar," which indicated it was not white-collar but was nonetheless an office job, one that was overwhelmingly filled by women.

Pink-collar occupations tend to be personal-service-oriented worker working in retail, nursing, and teaching (depending on the level), are part of the service sector, and are among the most common occupations in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, as of May 2008, there were over 2.2 million persons employed as servers in the United States. Furthermore, the World Health Organization's 2011 World Health Statistics Report states that there are 19.3 million nurses in the world today. In the United States, women comprise 92.1% of the registered nurses that are currently employed.

Pink-collar occupations include:

Historically, women were responsible for the running of a household. Their financial security was often dependent upon a male patriarch. Widowed or divorced women struggled to support themselves and their children.

Women began to develop more opportunities when they moved into the paid workplace, formerly of the male domain. In the 20th century women aimed to be treated like the equals of their male counterparts. In 1920 American women won the right to vote, marking a turning point in their roles in life.

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