most instances. Quality childcare became increas-
ingly costly, and abuses of children by caregivers re-
vealed that childcare could be risky. Women often
mentioned trying to find work-life balance, which
usually meant trying to juggle work and family re-
sponsibilities. For most men, work-life balance has
historically not been a pivotal career issue. Men have
had growing family responsibilities, but the brunt of
the responsibility for home and family has remained
women’s domain.
Over time, specific measures have assisted some-
what with work-life balance, including products that
made home care easier and more prepared foods
available to working women. Significant among le-
gal measures in the 1990’s was the Family and Medi-
cal Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), which gave an em-
ployee up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to care for
a personal or family health condition or for the birth
or adoption of a child.
Women in Jobs with Hourly Wages There are many
studies of women lawyers, doctors, and executives.
Relatively few study women in support jobs, from
sales clerk to administrative support staff, from cus-
todian to service worker. Women in support jobs
play a valuable and necessary role in society but are
often invisible in studies of women. By the 1990’s,
women in jobs paid at an hourly rate greatly outnum-
bered women in executive positions and prestigious
occupations. The median wage of women in jobs
paid on an hourly basis was $8.24 in 1998. Women in
hourly jobs have not usually earned as much as
women in salaried positions, but the gender gap was
less in hourly-rate jobs than in salaried positions. On
the other hand, women constituted 59 percent of
workers holding low-wage jobs, defined as jobs that
average 2,082 hours a year (52 weeks, 40-hour
weeks), which could not sustain a family of four at a
minimal level. In 1998, 16 million women (39 per-
cent of all working women) worked in low-wage jobs.
Occupational Segregation Despite women’s prog-
ress in a number of fields, there was still de facto seg-
regation in many occupations. Construction work-
ers and electricians were usually men. Nurses and
secretaries were usually women. Occupations in
which women were a majority were likely to be less
well paid. Teachers and social workers were less well
paid than businessmen. Nurses were less well paid
than doctors. Secretaries were less well paid than
construction workers.
Special Achievements The 1990’s were marked by
a number of firsts for women. Madeleine Albright
was the first woman to become secretary of state
(1997-2001) and thus the highest-ranking woman in
the history of U.S. politics at that time. Janet Reno
was the first female attorney general (1993-2001)
and served for the entire administration of Bill
Clinton. Oprah Winfrey was one of the highest-paid
television personalities in the United States and pe-
rennially one of the most influential women. A num-
ber of women achieved high positions in large U.S.
business firms, including Meg Whitman, president
of eBay (1998-2008) and Carly Fiorina, chief execu-
tive officer of Hewlett-Packard (1999-2005).
Impact By the end of the 1990’s, women had pene-
trated many areas in the workplace that had previ-
ously rarely seen women. There was progress but rel-
atively few gained positions in the highest strata of
the corporate and public sectors. Women’s partici-
pation in the workforce by the 1990’s had become a
permanent part of American life. The United States
had come a long way from Rosie the Riveter, who was
recruited to replace men during World War II and
then told to return home. Women had not yet
achieved full equality in the workforce but had made
considerable gains.
Further Reading
Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy, and Gregg Lee Carter.
Working Women in America: Split Dreams. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2005. Presents the his-
tory of women in the workforce and their family
and work roles and responsibilities.
Moen, Phyllis, and Patricia Roehling.The Career Mys-
tique: Cracks in the American Dream. Lanham, Md.:
Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Examines how the
myth of the American Dream is not in line with
twenty-first century realities.
Rhode, Deborah L., ed.The Difference “Difference”
Makes: Women and Leadership. Stanford, Calif.:
Stanford University Press, 2003. Diverse accounts
about women in leadership positions, the obsta-
cles they faced as well as their influence.
Smith, Dayle M.Women at Work: Leadership for the Next
Centur y. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall,- Examines the barriers that women face in
the workplace.
Steiner, Leslie Morgan, ed.Mommy Wars: Stay-at-
Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices,
Their Lives, Their Families. New York: Random
The Nineties in America Women in the workforce 927