JESSE POWELL writes:
In 1900 and before, the rates of divorce, illegitimacy, and working married women were all very low. Indeed, they all had similar levels in the distant past and they all have similar levels today. It is widely agreed that divorce and illegitimacy are indicators of family breakdown but what about married women working? Isn’t a married woman working a sign of “empowerment” and vital to her sense of identity and a necessary part of her contribution to society?
In 1900, certainly, people didn’t think so. A look at family-related indicators from the distant past suggests that this view was correct. Married women working should be seen as just as significant an indicator of family breakdown as illegitimacy and divorce; all three phenomenon were rare in the past and socially stigmatized. Similarly, today, all three phenomena are common and widespread.
In 1900, the divorce rate was 8.1 percent (only 3.3 percent in 1870), the illegitimacy ratio was about 1 percent, and the proportion of married women working was 3.0 percent (I’m referring to white women here). In 2009, the divorce rate was 50 percent; the illegitimacy ratio was 29.0 percent, and the proportion of married women working was 61.3 percent. This represents about a twentyfold increase in all three measures over the course of 110 years (140 years on the measure of divorce). The annualized rates of growth in the quantity of the three measures are 2.5 percent for divorce, 3.5 percent for illegitimacy, and 3.7 percent for married women working. (more…)