Impact The missing children campaign fostered
growth of nonprofit organizations with protocols for
registration and tracking of missing and runaway
children, and some children were reunited with
parents and guardians. Informational guidelines for
child safety were created for children and parents.
Sadly, runaway children whose backgrounds re-
flected complicated social ills such as abuse, neglect,
drug use, and family disintegration were a harder
story to sell to the public, and society lost the oppor-
tunity for a discussion of these issues.
Further Reading
Finkelhor, David, Gerald T. Hotaling, and Andrea
Sedlak.Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrown-
away Children: First Report—Numbers and Character-
istics National Incidence Study. Darby, Pa.: Diane,
1990.
Forst, Martin L., and Martha-Elin Blomquist.Missing
Children: Rhetoric and Reality. New York: Lexington
Books, 1991.
Kryder-Coe, Julee H., et al.Homeless Children and
Youth: A New American Dilemma. New Brunswick,
N.J.: Transaction, 1991.
Walsh, John, and Susan Schindehette.Tears of Rage:
From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice—The Un-
told Stor y of the Adam Walsh Case. New York: Pocket
Books, 1997.
Nancy Meyer
See also AIDS epidemic;America’s Most Wanted;
Crime; Lucas, Henry Lee; Tabloid television; Televi-
sion.
Mommy track
Definition Nickname for a slower, lower-paid
career path tailored to women who combined
motherhood with employment
The mommy track controversy increased awareness in cor-
porate America of the value of women employees and of the
need to create innovative strategies to use all workers’ tal-
ents by accommodating career and family demands for both
men and women.
Prior to the 1980’s, the baby boom of the 1950’s had
created large entry-level labor pools, and corpora-
tions seeking to fill executive positions almost always
hired men who graduated from prestigious universi-
ties in the top 10 percent of their class. With the post-
boom drop in birth rates, the potential male work-
force declined as well, leading corporations to recruit
and train women for managerial positions. Further-
more, women were obtaining more degrees from
top-tier universities and were entering the workforce
in greater numbers.
Women generally cost more to employ in mana-
gerial positions than do men, because, in addition to
bearing children, they are more likely to bear the
brunt of raising children and taking care of family
members than are men. These familial obligations
cause women to experience more career interrup-
tions and greater job turnover than do men. Conse-
quently, time and money invested in recruiting and
training women produce fewer corporate executives
on average than do comparable resources spent on
men.
To maximize productivity and recognize talented,
creative women, 1980’s corporations had to con-
sider how to recruit and retain women while mini-
mizing the costs resulting from women’s biological
and social roles. In 1989, Felice N. Schwartz pro-
posed constructing more flexible work environments
to balance the personal and professional obligations
of women, thus maximizing the chances of success
for corporate women. In an article published in
theHarvard Business Reviewintended for a corpo-
rate readership, Schwartz asserted that businesses
increasingly depended on women workers. She clas-
sified these workers into two types: “career primary”
women, who focused on professional advancement
over family in a fashion similar to most male employ-
ees, and “career and family” women, who sacrificed
some career growth and compensation in order
to spend more time fulfilling family commitments.
Many women entering middle management,
Schwartz contended, wanted accommodations to
help balance their familial and career responsibili-
ties. Schwartz proposed judging and rewarding “ca-
reer primary” women on the same criteria as men,
while allowing flexibility for “career and family”
women. For example, employers could offer job-
sharing, part-time work, and child-care support to
maximize productivity while accommodating these
working mothers.Opportunity or Insult? Although Schwartz never
used the term “mommy track” in her article, the me-
dia quickly applied the term to the “career and fam-660 Mommy track The Eighties in America