Nationally, the proportion of women doing paid work has risen fairly steadily from 34% in 1931, peaking at 64% in 2011, while for men the rate dropped from 91% to 75%, greatly reducing the difference between the sexes. Households with a single, usually male 'breadwinner' are less common, while households with two people working and with no-one working have both increased.

Over time, female activity rates have risen in almost all areas, but the most striking transformation is of rural central England: almost universally, women now work except for specific periods when they take time off to have children.