1. Women & Work

2. Brief history of women’s labor
 Pre-industrial revolution, work is inside the
home, self-sustaining
 Industrial revolution (1800’s), private/public
sphere
 Middle-upper class: Cult of True Womanhood
 Middle-lower class: “Second Shifts”

3. History Continued…
 World War II—unprecedented labor
participation

4. Women’s Labor Force Participation
 ¾ of women work full time
 Women constitute 46.8% of labor force
 Gender Wage Gap
 Occupational Segregation by Gender
 Horizontal segregation
 “Pink-Collar” jobs
 Vertical segregation

5. Glass Ceiling
 In 2006, 10
Fortune 500
companies (2 %)
had women
CEOs or
presidents

6. Globalization & the economy
 Globalization:
 New technologies
 Shift from manufacturing to service-sector work
 Transnational Organizations (e.g., World Bank,
International Monetary Fund)
 “military-industrial complex”

7. Household Labor
 Marxist analysis of women’s work in the
home
 Capitalism 101: workers (proletariat), surplus
value, accumulated wealth
 “reproduce the labor power”
 “wages for housework”

8. Legalities
 Equal Pay Act 1963
 Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(early 1970s)
 Court interpretations
 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009

9. Legalities: Sexual Harassment
 1986 Supreme Court: Sexual Harassment is
form of sex discrimination
 Quid Pro Quo
 Hostile Work Environment

10. Legalities
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1968)
 Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of
1990

11. Affirmative Action
 When applicants have equal merits/assets,
affirmative action policies encourage the
hiring of women and people of color
 Myth of meritocracy
 Benefits of Affirmative Action

12. Welfare
 Image of the “welfare queen”
 The Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Act of 1996
 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
 5 year limit on assistance
 Work required

13. Welfare
 Child care
 Domestic violence
 Disability
 Feminization of poverty
 Living wage
 Education
 Health insurance