October 2009, a remarkable number of events, studies and statistics to come out and the progress women have made (and still has not) in the past few decades, a wide range of social parity with men. Overall, the good news is that women have achieved some impressive gains over the past 50 to 60 years in the social and legal equality, including employment, education and social services.
An entertaining and informative new resource detailing the steps of the women in these areas is the new book, Gail Collins, columnist for the New York Times and will be the first female editorial page editor of Times: When everything changed: ‘The Amazing Journey American women in 1960 from that present ‘. Collins, who is touting her new book all lunches on the New York Public Library, The Colbert Report, funny anecdotes illustrate how much has changed for women, beginning with the story of a hapless New York woman, who in the 1960s was thrown out of court traffic tries to pay parking ticket in a skirt instead of trousers. Collins reminds us that not so long ago, some states were not allowed women to credit, work outside of ‘women-proper’ job, participate in the jury, or even an airplane to fly. But in 1972 everything changed – at least legally – the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments, the approval of the Equal Rights Amendment in Congress and the Supreme Court decision supporting the right to unmarried people to use contraceptives. Of course, then started the long road to changing social attitudes towards women, which even today.
Maria Shriver at the end of October, in partnership with the Center for American Progress launched, ‘the report Shriver’ – a kind of status report on the situation of women in American society. This includes the statistical surveys and research all of today’s gender pay gap is the high rate of female labor in America. The research has some surprising discoveries:
• Since the recession began in December 2007, men accounted for three out of every four jobs (73.6%).
• Women now, for the first time, make up half (49.9%) of all staff employed in the U.S. while the third is the labor force in 1969, only a generation ago.
• Approximately 4 10 mothers (39.3%), primary breadwinners, bring home most of the family income, and nearly two-thirds (62.8%) of the breadwinners or co-breadwinners, so at home at least a quarter of the family income. And yet, women continue to be paid 23 cents less than men for every dollar earned in the economy.
• 52% of women receive a high school diploma, 62% of associate’s degrees, 57% of Bachelor’s degrees, and 50% of doctoral degrees and professional degrees.
Such a detailed study has not been around 50 years ago that John F. President Kennedy, Shriver’s uncle, said Eleanor Roosevelt, the first chair of the Commission on the Status of American women. To publish a year-long investigation by Time Magazine and NBC News have joined the partnership, each characteristic long coverage of the report and profiles of remarkable women. The cover of Time Magazine’s October 26, 2009 issue ‘The American Woman’ and NBC made the women at the heart of programming a week.
Ultimately, the take-away message of the report, although the role of women has changed dramatically over the past 50 years, the social institutions have not kept pace. The schools will continue to let children before the end of the day, and almost three months every summer, although both parents in most families work. The doctors and dentists offices are rarely open on weekends to accommodate the needs of the family despite the fact that the national culture, where the business is open 24 / 7 Quality, affordable child care in short supply, and every family with children to juggle the needs of the personal needs of their children, employers, some help from the government or the company.
‘Men and women agree that the public and operators of touch with reality, how big families live and work today. Their families a more flexible work schedules, a comprehensive child policy, a redesigned family and medical leave and equal pay, ’said Shriver. In addition to the statistical report of the meat Shriver crisscrossed the country to collect interview people, to show the personal level, what the data show. The girl and the Center for American Progress, concluded that the country is a major turning point in our nation’s social and economic history, and we hope to provoke a national debate on the report where to go from here.
Capping off the month was the wildly popular women’s annual conference in 2009 in California, founded and hosted by Maria Shriver. In recent years, interest in the conference set a record 25,000 tickets to this year’s two-day event selling out in only two hours in July. Shriver asks a variety of luminaries such as Madeleine Albright stateswoman, Olympian Dara Torres, photographer Annie Leibovitz and child-kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart to speak, teach and inspire the participants. The participants of the conference was even bigger success than in recent years.
Events in October 2009 was the month it seems, is the same as a celebration of women and the achievements of recent decades. It is also clear, however, major challenges still women socially, professionally, economically and personally. Of course, if the rate of change over the last five years continues, it is interesting to examine whether the American woman for nearly 50 years.