Female employment rate in the U.S. and USSR 1970-1988, by industry

Between 1970 and 1988, the share of women in the civilian workforce in the U.S. rose from 38 to 45 percent, whereas this figure remained fairly constant at just over 50 percent in the Soviet Union. In 1970 in the U.S., the service sector was the only where women made up a majority of the workforce; by 1988, women also made up a majority of the workforce in retail trade and the finance, insurance and real estate sector. In the Soviet Union, these were also the three sectors where women made up the largest share of the workforce.

When comparing both countries, the largest differences existed in the agriculture and construction industries; the share of women in the USSR's agricultural workforce was roughly three times larger than in the U.S. in 1970, and double in 1988; in construction the rate was almost six times higher in 1970, and three times higher in 1988. The reason for the differences decreasing over these years is due to the fact that women's share of the workforce in the U.S. grew across all industries, whereas women in the Soviet Union increasingly moved from jobs in the primary and tertiary sectors to those in service industries.