centage of women with young children entering the workforce.
(See Table 2.1.)
Clearly, everyone benefits from equal employment opportuni-
ties for women. Freedom for women to enter the workforce in
greater numbers and earn greater incomes than ever before must
be a sign of economic vitality. That many dual-income couples find
itnecessary for both people to work just to make ends meet can
hardly be a sign of economic well-being.
The Economy and the Media
The economy always has been a prominent topic in the news me-
dia. In contrast to the media practice of focusing on bad news such
as wars, natural disasters, and accidents, the focus is different when
it comes to economic news. Positive economic news gets more cov-
erage than negative. For example, here is an article from the Asso-
ciated Press reprinted in its entirety.
FEDTHINKSJOBMARKETMAYNOTRECOVER TILL’05
Washington—The Federal Reserve policymakers expressed
concern at their October meeting that the battered job mar-
ket might not fully recover until at least 2005 even if the eco-
nomic recovery grew stronger, according to minutes
released Thursday of the discussion. That concern was one
reason Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues
who set U.S. interest rate policy held a main short-term rate
at a 45 year low of 1 percent and suggested rates might stay
in that range for a “considerable period.”
“Members generally anticipated that an economicThe Economy and the Media 21TABLE 2.1 Percentage of Women with Child
under Six Years Old in the Labor Force
Year %
1960 18.6
1970 30.3
1980 45.1
1993 59.6
2003 70.0
Source:U.S. Congressional Children’s Caucus.