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 women are responsible for their own upkeep.
In addition, where women who once got pregnant out of wedlock might have put their children up for adoption, there is increasing pressure on these women to keep their children, though not necessarily for fathers to marry the women (which would result in better financial situations for the women). In some situations, fathers have been persuaded to provide maintenance payments to the mothers for the upkeep of the childre...