Caught in the Crisis: Women and the U.S. Economy Today

In her book Caught in the Crisis: Women and the U.S. Economy Today, Teresa Amott takes issue with the economic gains that women have made during recent decades. In particular, she suggests that women are not better off from an economic standpoint today than they were 30 years ago, and that the apparent gains that have been made have been made at the cost of real economic progress (23). This theme runs throughout her book and is of importance because public policy is based on the perceived public condition. If women have truly made the strides that the media suggests, then there are few reasons to continue affirmative action programs and related programs designed to assist women in their endeavors. This research considers the theme of whether women are truly better off than they were prior to government programs to assist them, and considers the perception of women's economic status among three individuals in the workplace.

Amott suggests that although more women are in the workplace than during previous decades, their economic situation has not improved. This is due in part to the increasingly large number of women who are heading households (84) as well as to the nature and pay associated with the jobs that women traditionally hold (77). Women are heading households for several reasons, according to Amott. These include a failure of men to marry, particularly in the African-American communities and the Puerto Rican communities. As a result, increasing numbers of wom

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ation of cultures and an increasing number of women. Her direct supervisor is now a woman, and she works for a number of women engineers (along with some men engineers). Her opinion is that the women surrounding her have it much easier than she did, and that her only career opportunities were as a secretary or a teacher. She considers herself as smart as the women she works with and for, but also considers that when she graduated from high school, women did not enter the field of engineering. She does not resent the women she works with, although they make significantly more money than she does (a fact of which she is aware because of her position in the organization), but she does tire of them "whining" about juggling their careers and families. Her attitude is that the women of her generation who worked juggled the same responsibilities but without the benefit of structured child care systems. Another employee at this company, an Iranian engineer who is 36 and unmarried, is a self-confessed male chauvinist. He believes that women should not be in the workforce, but not because they are less qualified than men. Instead, he feels that it is the man's responsibility to provide for the family, and that women who compete for

Category: Economics - C