#Economix » Feminism’s Uneven Success Comments Feed Economix How to Fire Painlessly (for You) Ask David Segal About Law School Cutting the Corporate Tax Rate Is No Economic Panacea RSS 2.0 alternate [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header1&query=qstring&keyword s=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header2&query=qstring&keyword s=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header3&query=qstring&keyword s=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Top5&query=qstring&keywords=? ] * Home Page * Today's Paper * Video * Most Popular Edition: U.S. / Global [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Middle1C&query=qstring&keywor ds=?] Search All NYTimes.com ____________________ Search New York Times Business Day * World * U.S. * N.Y. / Region * Business * Technology * Science * Health * Sports * Opinion * Arts * Style * Travel * Jobs * Real Estate * Autos __________________________________________________________________ [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=TopAd&query=qstring&keywords= ?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=PushDown&query=qstring&keywor ds=?] Economix - Explaining the Science of Everyday Life __________________________________________________________________ December 19, 2011, 6:00 am Feminism’s Uneven Success By NANCY FOLBRE Census Bureau, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961-2008. DESCRIPTION Nancy Folbre is an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In the United States, as elsewhere, feminism could be characterized as the most successful social movement of the 20th century. Yet, perhaps because of its uneven impact, it seems to be losing momentum. Today’s Economist Perspectives from expert contributors. Cultural and political mobilization around women’s rights led to important legal gains, including the right to vote, prohibitions on overt discrimination and access to contraception. Women increased their participation in paid employment and political office, and many climbed into professional and managerial jobs. Over the last 20 years, however, the pace of change in attitudes, labor force participation and relative earnings has slowed, leading to speculation about the “end of the gender revolution.” In my view, this revolution has not ended. But it has, like most revolutions, fallen far short of its ideals. In 2010, women’s earnings, adjusted for factors that could affect pay – like age, race, education, number of children in the household and part-time status – amounted to about 86 percent of men’s. Perhaps movement toward equality is necessarily slow. Some people seem to worry that men won’t want to marry women who are not their subordinates. And many women seem to prefer predominantly female occupations, even though they pay less. Gender inequality in earnings strongly reflects the penalty imposed on caregivers who take time out of paid employment. Median full-time salaries of young, unmarried, childless women under 30 living in cities are higher than those of their male counterparts. Demographic differences among women now have a large class dimension. A substantial share of women with a college degree – 23 percent of those ages 40 to 44 in 2008 – remain childless. Yet the college educated are now more likely than others to marry, a factor that contributes to their higher family income. Married fathers are more likely than others to live with their children and contribute directly to their care. Class and racial and ethnic differences among women have intensified over time. The higher earnings of college-educated mothers make it possible for them to purchase child care and help with housework (typically performed by low-wage women workers). A recent paper by the economists Delia Furtado and Heinrich Hock shows that the number of low-skill immigrants living in a large city reduces the tradeoff between employment and fertility for women college graduates. Outsourcing of care responsibilities can have many positive effects, but it reduces the potential for cross-class gender coalitions. Emphasis on changes in women’s average or median earnings relative to men often conceals growing inequality among women. As Leslie McCall, a Northwestern University sociologist, describes recent trends, “Absolute gains among women as a whole, and visible absolute gains among more highly educated women in particular, came at the expense of the worsening situation of low-skilled women, whose real wages have been falling.” A college education often provides access to relatively flexible jobs. As Jennifer Cheeseman Day of the Census Bureau explains in this webinar recently orchestrated by the Population Association of America, women in professional-managerial occupations are more likely than other working women to reduce their hours of employment when they have a preschool child, a factor that can help them achieve better work/family balance. Women in less remunerative occupations are often forced to choose between making do with long hours or finding part-time jobs that pay even more poorly and don’t offer benefits. In the same webinar, I discussed the chart above, showing that employed college-educated women are now more likely than they once were to enjoy some paid leave from employment upon the birth of their first child – 66 percent in 2006-8 compared with 27 percent in 1971-5. Employed mothers without a high school degree, by contrast, have remained stuck at 18 percent. As the webinar also points out, paid family leave is a universal entitlement in virtually all other affluent countries, where child care and early childhood education are also subsidized more generously. Demographic and economic differences among both women and men in the United States make it difficult to mobilize support for such policies here. And in the absence of such policies, inequality is likely to intensify. The gender revolution didn’t cause this problem, but it is surely being hindered by it. Child Care, Daily Economist, employment, feminism, Income Inequality, Nancy Folbre, women in the workforce Related Posts From Economix * The End of Men, Revisited * The Recession in Pink and Blue * Sharers, Takers, Carers, Makers * Patriarchal Norms Still Shape Family Care * Investing in Julia __________________________________________________________________ * Previous Post Ask David Segal About Law School * Next Post Cutting the Corporate Tax Rate Is No Economic Panacea [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=SponLink2&query=qstring&keywo rds=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Position1&query=qstring&keywo rds=?] Search This Blog ____________________ (Submit) Search * Previous Post Ask David Segal About Law School * Next Post Cutting the Corporate Tax Rate Is No Economic Panacea * Follow This Blog * Twitter * RSS [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=XXL&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=MiddleRight&query=qstring&key words=?] In order to view this feature, you must download the latest version of flash player here. Featured * Measuring the ‘Quality’ of Health Care Measuring the quality of health care is possible, though the mix of variables is complex and the results not widely disseminated, an economist writes. * Jacob Lew, Mary Jo White and Dunbar’s Number It is important for the president’s nominees to head the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission to have sufficient ties outside banking circles, an economist writes. * The Health Care Law and Retirement Savings The way in which pension contributions are treated for tax purposes could affect eligibility for premium assistance under the Affordable Care Act, an economist writes. * Outsourcing, Insourcing and Automation As manufacturing changes, using policy to protect the jobs of the workers not trained in new methods is counterproductive, an economist writes. * The Uneven Progress of Equal Opportunity Lack of accountability has made it harder to chart the progress of equal opportunity in the workplace, an economist writes. Featured Contributors Floyd Norris Floyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covers the world of finance and economics. * Posts | Profile | E-mail Catherine Rampell Catherine Rampell is an economics reporter for The New York Times. * Posts | Profile | E-mail | Twitter Binyamin Appelbaum Binyamin Appelbaum covers business and economic topics for the Washington bureau of The New York Times. * Posts | Profile | E-Mail| Twitter Shaila Dewan Shaila Dewan is an economics reporter for The New York Times. * Posts | Profile | E-mail | Twitter Annie Lowrey Annie Lowrey covers economic policy for the Washington bureau of The New York Times. * Posts | Profile | E-mail | Twitter Economix on Twitter [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Spon3&query=qstring&keywords= ?] * [spinner.gif] Loading Twitter messages... Daily Economists Each day, Economix offers perspectives from expert contributors. Bruce Bartlett Former Treasury Official * Bio | Posts Nancy Folbre University of Massachusetts-Amherst * Bio | Posts Simon Johnson M.I.T./Peterson Institute * Bio | Posts Casey B. Mulligan University of Chicago * Bio | Posts Uwe E. Reinhardt Princeton University * Bio | Posts Laura D'Andrea Tyson University of California, Berkeley * Bio | Posts About Economix Economics doesn't have to be complicated. It is the study of our lives — our jobs, our homes, our families and the little decisions we face every day. Here at Economix, journalists and economists analyze the news and use economics as a framework for thinking about the world. We welcome feedback, at economix@nytimes.com. * Our Policy on Comments Tag List * DAILY ECONOMIST 990 * UNEMPLOYMENT 472 * TAXES 342 * EMPLOYMENT 330 * HEALTH CARE 284 * JOBS 258 * CASEY B. MULLIGAN 211 * SIMON JOHNSON 206 * POLITICS 196 * JOBS REPORT 193 * NANCY FOLBRE 187 * FEDERAL RESERVE 178 * UWE E. REINHARDT 176 * HOUSING 175 * HEALTH INSURANCE 165 * BUDGET DEFICIT 162 * RECESSION 161 * WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE 155 * STIMULUS 155 * EDWARD L. GLAESER 146 * U.S. HEALTH CARE COSTS 134 * HIGHER EDUCATION 127 * BANKS 120 * FINANCIAL CRISIS 118 * CHINA 118 * DATA DECODING 117 * EDUCATION 115 * GREAT RECESSION 105 * BRUCE BARTLETT 105 * STOCKS 100 [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=SponLink&query=qstring&keywor ds=?] * © 2013 The New York Times Company * Site Map * Privacy * Your Ad Choices * Advertise * Terms of Sale * Terms of Service * Work With Us * RSS * Help * Contact Us * Site Feedback DCSIMG [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Inv1&query=qstring&keywords=? ] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Inv2&query=qstring&keywords=? ] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Inv3&query=qstring&keywords=? ] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Bottom7&query=qstring&keyword s=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Bottom9&query=qstring&keyword s=?] [post&posall=XXL,AdShareData,PushDown,FixedPanel,TopAd,Bar1,Position1,P osition1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Rig ht6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,H eader3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Lef t5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Fe ature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Bottom8&query=qstring&keyword s=?]