Now, more than at any other time in the American historical period, women make up a large percentage of the labor force. Yet, as late as 1991, the Department of Labor records that ôwomen represented 63% of all persons 18 and over who were living below the poverty levelö. Additionally, the poverty rate for families maintained by women was recorded by the same source to be ôsix times as high as for married-couple familiesö. With this same source reporting that ôof 67 million families in the United States in 1992, 12 million (18%) were maintained by womenà[with] the lowest median family income ($16,692)ö (US Dept of Labor, 4). While women who are forced to work outside the family because of a divorce, separation or widowhood are still seeking financial parity, those who chose to stay at home find they are not respected either. ôIn a culture that measures worth and achievement almost solely in terms of money, the intensive work of rearing responsible adults counts for little.ö (Crittenden, 45) With this much importance placed either culturally on achievement or just survival, women undergo a large amount of stress related to the work place, whether they choose to be in it, are forced through circumstances to be in it, or based on their choice to stay at home. This research will analyze some of the stress factors attacking women in the work place and how mothers experiencing this stress affect their children.
ôThe social expectation that women will work, even after they marry and have children, is as great today as it once was that they would remain home with their children.ö (Chavez, 18) For many women, the social and cultural pressure of the American middle-class lifestyle leave them with fewer choices regarding whether or not they choose to work. This is because the definition of what constitutes a middle-class lifestyle has changed to include as necessities what were once considered luxuries. In order to keep...