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I DO Know How She Does It: Kate Reddy and Feminism`s Unfinished Business
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males (and nearly as many females) agreed with the statement, “men should earn the money and women should stay at home minding the house and children.” Women in dual-earner couples with children were more likely to agree with the statement than similarly situated women without children were. The study concludes, “the challenge or anticipated challenge of raising children apparently induces a change of attitude, if not employment behavior, in some people” (The Family and Work Institute, 2002). For many on the ideological right, it is a short jump from tradition to an ordained duty for care thereby further complicating the political discussion.
When I first came to the City I smelled the smell and recognized it immediately as
power…The way I look at it, women in the City are like first-generation immigrants. You
get of the boat, you keep your eyes down, work as hard as you can and do your damnedest
to ignore the taunts of ignorant natives who hate you just because you look different and
you smell different and because one day you might take their job. And you hope. You know
it’s probably not going to get much better in your own lifetime, but just the fact that you occupy the space, the fact that they had to put a Tampax dispenser in the toilet—all that
makes it easier for the women who come after you…we are the foundation stones. The
females who come after us will scarcely give us a second thought, but they will walk on
our bones. –Kate Reddy p. 122
To even begin to resolve “our deepest conflict,” we must start by publicly admitting that the majority of women are not in the home serving as full-time, uncompensated caregivers anymore. There is a crisis of care in America. A problem of this magnitude will require a public solution. The gaping hole in the fabric of caregiving cannot stand, nor can we continue to ignore the social costs that accompany a reliance on the private market for the provision of care. Very few can afford to purchase care in sufficient quantities to meet their current needs. It is not only women moving from welfare to work that require childcare. The vast majority of families in America cannot afford the quantity, let alone the quality, of childcare they require. Eldercare is even more problematic. The problem will not be solved by women returning home and it will not be solved by pretending that women are still at home or by sustaining a model of work that is hostile to women and oblivious to the fundamental human requirements for care. The Facts: Women Work According to the most recent Census data, 60 percent of women and 74 percent of men are in the paid labor force (by comparison, 80 percent of men and 36 percent of women were employed in 1960). The workplace itself is nearly evenly divided between men and women (51 percent men, 49 percent women). Seventy two percent of mothers with children age one and older work and 61 percent of mothers (30 and older) with infants under the age of one are employed. Only one in three men are the sole breadwinners for their family today, down from 51 percent in 1977. The more educated the woman, the more likely she is to be in the active labor force, regardless of whether she has children. Over 78 percent of mothers with a graduate or professional degree are in the paid workforce, and they are three times as likely to work full-time as part-time.
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males (and nearly as many females) agreed with the statement, “men should earn the
money and women should stay at home minding the house and children.” Women in
dual-earner couples with children were more likely to agree with the statement than
similarly situated women without children were. The study concludes, “the challenge or
anticipated challenge of raising children apparently induces a change of attitude, if not
employment behavior, in some people” (The Family and Work Institute, 2002). For many
on the ideological right, it is a short jump from tradition to an ordained duty for care
thereby further complicating the political discussion.
When I first came to the City I smelled the smell and recognized it immediately as
power…The way I look at it, women in the City are like first-generation immigrants. You
get of the boat, you keep your eyes down, work as hard as you can and do your damnedest
to ignore the taunts of ignorant natives who hate you just because you look different and
you smell different and because one day you might take their job. And you hope. You know
it’s probably not going to get much better in your own lifetime, but just the fact that you
occupy the space, the fact that they had to put a Tampax dispenser in the toilet—all that
makes it easier for the women who come after you…we are the foundation stones. The
females who come after us will scarcely give us a second thought, but they will walk on
our bones. –Kate Reddy p. 122
To even begin to resolve “our deepest conflict,” we must start by publicly admitting that
the majority of women are not in the home serving as full-time, uncompensated caregivers
anymore. There is a crisis of care in America. A problem of this magnitude will require a
public solution. The gaping hole in the fabric of caregiving cannot stand, nor can we
continue to ignore the social costs that accompany a reliance on the private market for the
provision of care. Very few can afford to purchase care in sufficient quantities to meet
their current needs. It is not only women moving from welfare to work that require
childcare. The vast majority of families in America cannot afford the quantity, let alone
the quality, of childcare they require. Eldercare is even more problematic. The problem
will not be solved by women returning home and it will not be solved by pretending that
women are still at home or by sustaining a model of work that is hostile to women and
oblivious to the fundamental human requirements for care.
The Facts: Women Work
According to the most recent Census data, 60 percent of women and 74 percent of men are
in the paid labor force (by comparison, 80 percent of men and 36 percent of women were
employed in 1960). The workplace itself is nearly evenly divided between men and
women (51 percent men, 49 percent women). Seventy two percent of mothers with
children age one and older work and 61 percent of mothers (30 and older) with infants
under the age of one are employed. Only one in three men are the sole breadwinners for
their family today, down from 51 percent in 1977. The more educated the woman, the
more likely she is to be in the active labor force, regardless of whether she has children.
Over 78 percent of mothers with a graduate or professional degree are in the paid
workforce, and they are three times as likely to work full-time as part-time.
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