American Women in Transition (The population of the United States in the 1980s: a census monograph series) - Hardcover

Bianchi, Suzanne M.; Spain, Daphne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871541114 ISBN 13: 9780871541116

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation, 1986

Synopsis

This is the first in a series of eighteen projected volumes, to be published over the next two years, aimed at converting the vast statistical yield of the 1980 Census into authoritative analyses of major changes and trends in American life. A collaborative research effort, funded by public and private foundations, this series revives a tradition of independent Census analysis (the last such project was undertaken in 1960) and offers an unparalleled array of studies on various ethnic, geographic, and status dimensions of the U.S. population.

It is entirely appropriate that the inaugural volume in this series should document trends in the status of American women. Dramatic social and demographic changes over the past two decades makeAmerican Women in Transition a landmark, an invaluable one-volume summary and assessment of women's move from the private domain to the public. Clearly and in detail, the authors describe women's increasing educational attainment and labor force participation, their lagging earning power, their continued commitment to marriage and family, and the "balancing act" necessitated by this overlap of roles. Supplementing 1980 Census data with even more recent surveys from the Census Bureau and other federal agencies, Bianchi and Spain are able to extend these trends into the 1980s and sketch the complex challenges posed by such lasting and historic changes.

This definitive and sensitive study is certain to become a standard reference work on American women today, and an essential foundation for future scholarship and policy concerning the status of women in our society.

A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series

About this title

Synopsis:

This series is aimed at converting the vast statistical yield of the 1980 census into independent, authoritative analyses of major changes and trends in American life. Few recent social changes have been as dramatic as the women's move from the private domain to the public, from traditional family life to the realms of work and higher education. This trend has been accompanied by an array of other social and demographic changes including: rising divorce rates, declining fertility and an increase in the number of households maintained by women. "American Women in Transition" draws on census data and other national surveys to document American women's increasing educational attainment and labour force participation and the "Balancing Act" required to reconcile these with their continued commitment to marriage and family. Pointing to the lack of affordable child care and women's lower earning power the authors describe the current realities of women's lives in a society which has not yet adapted to their changing status.

This study provides an insight into the roles and needs of women in contemporary American society, but, at its core, it has a rigorous statistical discipline, and to women throughout Western society its findings will sound familiar.

About the Author:

SUZANNE M. BIANCHI is a demographer at the Center for Demographic Studies at the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

DAPHNE SPAIN is assistant professor of sociology and urban planning at the University of Virginia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0871541114
• ISBN 13: 9780871541116
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320