Women's Role In American Economy

In “Women now backbone of American economy,” Kate Snow presents the roles of women in the U.S. economy through percentages. Based on the article, women occupy fifty-one percent of managerial and professional jobs, which increase from twenty-six percent in 1980, and forty percent of working women are the primary breadwinners for their families. There are two factors affecting women’s economic and career choices. The two factors presented in “Women and Men: Historical Perspectives” are the importance of women’s role in the production, and the extent of women’s participation in activities outside the household and family or known as a public sphere. The factor of the role in production is influenced by the use of technology for the purpose of …show more content…
One disadvantage is that the specialization model only accounts one type of home good. In reality, home goods are varied and broad in activities from cooking to managing family finances. The notion of the woman having a comparative advantage in all aspects of household tasks is unrealistic, and often couples find it more necessary to share housework amongst them. For the cost of interdependence, the method leaves certain couples unprepared to deal with unforeseen circumstances such as separation to divorce to illness. In the cases of domestic violence, the specialization method leaves women with limited opportunities to escape an abusive situation. The chapter presented the correlation between female-male wage ratio over the span of 13 years: “led to a 9 percent decline in domestic violence against women” (44). Women who find employment during an abusive relationship find refuge and economic independence through the employment. The specialization method takes account only how “good” the individual is at either housework or market work oppose to the various factors that might affect the …show more content…
In comparison, women are most likely to participate in volunteer work than men. Based on a national survey conducted in 2011, on average women volunteer approximately 30%, while men volunteer approximately 24%. Another difference in the volunteer work is the area in which males and females contribute. Women donates time to health organizations and educational institutions while men volunteer for political and recreational organizations. Based on “Five ways Volunteering Can Save Your Job Search,” Karen Burns points out the various benefits volunteer work has on job applications. Such advantages are volunteer work broadens various opportunities in both the social and professional networks, improvement of skills, acquirement of new skills, and the influence in career