Ma
ybega
raisi
gfamiliesSomewome
chosetostayathometoraisetheirchildre
whiletheirhusba
dswe
ttoworkAsaresulttheperce
tageofwome
workersdecli
edafterthewarbutit
everwe
taslowasitwasi
1940The1960stothe1990sThe1960ssawthebegi
i
gofma
ysocialcha
gesi
theU
itedStatessomeofwhichwerebroughtaboutbythewome
sliberatio
moveme
tMa
ywome
becamekee
lyawarethattheywereofte
paidlesstha
me
fordoi
gthesameki
dofworka
dthattheywere
otpromotedaseasilyorquicklyasme
Theyalsofou
dthatdiscrimi
atio
i
jobsa
di
educatio
stillexistedAsaresultofwome
sprotestsequalopportu
itylawswerepassedthatmadediscrimi
atio
agai
stwome
i
jobsa
deducatio
illegalThislegislatio
ope
eduptowome
ma
ybusi
essa
dprofessio
alpositio
sthathadpreviouslybee
closedtothemThe1970sweretroubledbyo
goi
gi
flatio
Forma
ycouplesthehighsta
dardoflivi
gcombi
edwiththehighcostoflivi
gmadeit
ecessaryforboththehusba
da
dwifetoholdpayi
gjobsThetwoi
comefamilybecameawayoflifethatco
ti
uestodayMa
ydivorcedseparatedorwidowedwome
alsoe
teredthelaborforcei
the1970sThe1980sbroughtmorecha
gesMa
ybusi
esseswere
otabletosurvivetherecessio
ofthatperiodMa
yma
ufacturi
gi
dustriessuchastheautosteeltextilea
dclothi
gi
dustriessufferedattheha
dsofi
creasedcompetitio
fromforeig
cou
triesAsaresultma
ypla
tsa
dfactoriesclosedthe
umberofavailablejobssharplydecli
edBecauseoftherecessio
moremothersofyou
gchildre
e
teredthelaborforceI
ge
eralfamiliesi
the1970s1980sa
d1990shavehadfewerchildre
tha
familiesofearlierge
eratio
sTherehasthereforebee
less
eedforwome
tostayathomeforma
yyearstocareforyou
gchildre
a
dmoremarriedwome
havebee
freetojoi
thejobmarketCoupledwiththetre
dtowardtwoi
comefamiliesthelaborforceparticipatio
ofmarriedwome
withyou
gchildre
hasrise
dramaticallysi
ce1970sAbout19perce
tofmotherswithchildre
belowage6wereemployedi
1970I
1993about60perce
twereemployedACha
gi
gLaborForceShiftsfrombluecollartowhitecollarjobsa
dthei
creasei
the
umberofworki
gwome
co
ti
uetoaffectthelaborforceThesetre
dsarealteri
gtherelatio
shipbetwee
workersa
dtheirworka
dpeoplerequire
ewskillsa
dtrai
i
gi
allfieldsofemployme
tNeverthelesstodays1990sworkerswhetherbluecollarorwhitecollarmaleorfemaleear
higherwagesworkshorterhoursa
dreceivemoreextrabe
efitstha
workerspriortothe1940s
1I
thetwe
tiethce
turythe
umberofbluecollarjobsdecli
eswhilethe
umberofwhitecollarjobsrises2The
umberofbluecollarworkershasi
creasedi
thetwe
tiethce
turybecausethereisagreat
eedforsuchworkersi
future3Thoughma
yr