p> Legislation in the New Deal also showed great gender bias in its structuring. While determining who was and was not to be covered by unemployment insurance, the legislators exempted employers in the canning industry and several other industries which employed large numbers of women, including federal, state and local governments, non-profits, domestic service, hospitals and orphanages, and agriculture, effectively excluding 80 percent of all women workers, and 55 percent of all African American workers from these benefits (Kessler-Harris 92-96). The rationale given was that most of these workers worked irregular hours or were supported by males. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) strongly backed this measure in an effort to preserve the male sphere of work for their own. Although womenÆs groups were involved in the decision-making process, all
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