The Economic Emergence of Women

This new edition of a classic feminist book explains how one of the great historical revolutions - the ongoing movement toward equality between the sexes - has come about. Its origins are to be found, not in changing ideas, but in the economic developments that have made women's labour too valuable to be spent exclusively in domestic pursuits. The revolution is unfinished; new arrangements are needed to fight still-prevalent discrimination in the workplace, to achieve a more just sharing of housework and childcare between women and men, and, with the weakening of the institution of marriage, to re-erect a firm economic basis for the raising of children.

"Recommended for specialists and laypersons who want a compact but thorough treatment of this area and for courses in women's studies and labor studies. - Library Journal Praise for the First Edition:

"This is a wonderfully provocative book. Professor Bergmann traces how women's participation in the economy has grown and its implications for how we do and could live. The reader may not agree with all of Professor Bergmann's twelve-point policy agenda for further transforming the work place, the economy, and the home, but will most certainly be forced to consider anew our present arrangements and the usual policy prescriptions." - Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women's Policy Research

"The Economic Emergence of Women is a lively discourse on the status of women in the work place and at home...At her verbal best, the author displays a keen ability to to show up the flaws in an opponent's position...this is an excellent book . The author offers fresh insights and interesting recommendations on public policy for a broad range of topics including the welfare system, the plight of the single parent, the job of the housewife, and the industrialization of housework and childcare. The book is well worth its modest cost for both those who are actively concerned with the economic and social issues on feminist agendas, and for more general readers." - Journal of Economic Literature

"The Economic Emergence of Women documents an economic revolution that hasoccurred with women entering the labor force in very large numbers, but a sociological revolution that has not occurred where women would be treated as economic equals in every respect. To get this sociological revolution started will take an ideological revolution in the roles (at home, work, and in society) that women are expected to play. Professor Bergmann pointedly describes both what has happened, what is happening, and what will have to happen if women are ever to be full participants in the American economy." - Lester C. Thurow, Cordon Y. Billard Professor of Management and Economics, MIT

" 'Economic Woman' is the focus of this superb analysis of the constraints and opportunities American women face in today's labor market. Barbara Bergmann lucidly sorts out the complex factors and theories that account for the place of women in the economic structure, and offers sensible and realistic suggestions for analysis and remedy for women's difficulties in achieving equality in the work world. This book is a must for the policy maker, social scientist, and general informed reader." - Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, author, Women in Law

BARBARA R. BERGMANN is Professor Emerita of Economics at American University and the University of Maryland, USA. She is the author of Saving Our Children from Poverty: What The United States Can Learn from France.