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For the first time, one-half of all U.S. workers are women.

By Christy Harvey, Mic Check Radio
October 19, 2009

For the first time in our nation’s history, one-half of all U.S. workers are women. [Guardian]
The shift of women in the workplace is nothing short of revolutionary: Women are more likely to work outside the home and their earnings are more important to family well-being than ever before in our nation’s history. [CAP]
Although this shift is impacting every institution in American life, many of them – government, business, faith, education, and media – haven’t kept up with the shifting nature of American families. [CAP]

For the first time, 4 in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners, bringing home the majority of the family’s earnings. [CAP]
Why are there more women breadwinners: Technology advanced, freeing women from working inside the home, and more importantly, the creation of the pill gave women the opportunity to plan when they would have their children, and could instead, focus on their careers. [CAP]
The real issue: Although most women today provide for their families by working outside the home, they still earn less than men. [CAP]

The Rockefeller Foundation, in collaboration with TIME, conducted a landmark study set out to determine how “men and women view one another in the new era.” [CAP]
Feelings on women taking up nearly one-half of the U.S. workforce:77 percent of Americans view this change positively, with more than 4 in 10 saying that it has been a “very positive” change. [CAP]
On women becoming primary breadwinners: 89 percent of both men and women are comfortable with the notion of a woman becoming the breadwinner, though 69 percent of women think men resent women who have more power than they do. [Time]
On fewer children growing up with a stay-at-home parent: A large majority — 70% of men, 61% of women — believe this has had a negative effect on society.[Time]

Although women continue to progress in the work place, the media rarely portray women as they really are, as everyday breadwinners and caregivers. [CAP]
Even cable news programs seem to feature an odd mix of highly paid and typically very attractive women as reporters, yet, minimal coverage of women and the issues affecting them. [CAP]
Some examples of ways in which women have been misportrayed in the media:
- The Superwoman: Unrealistically, this woman amazingly appears to handle the demands of a high-stressed job, raising beautiful children and attending to her husband’s every need.[Helium]
- Fantasies of Power: Women’s professional success and financial status are significantly overrepresented in the mainstream media, suggesting that women indeed “have it all.” Yet in real life, there are few women among the highest ranks of the professions. [CAP]
- TV Occupations vs. Real Life: The top five jobs for women on TV: Surgeon, lawyer, police lieutenant, district attorney or cable news pundit. The top five jobs for women in 2008: secretaries, registered nurses, elementary middle school teachers, cashiers and retail salespersons. [CAP]
Conclusion: One of main effects of today’s media: Overemphasizing certain kinds of women and their lifestyles only makes it harder to imagine other alternatives.

While there’s much to cheer about these days on the equality front, we still have a long way to go.
The Gender Wage Gap: Women form 40% of total world employment, but earn only 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.[Communicating Labor Rights][CAP]
Women are now facing higher unemployment rates than 10 years ago, due in part to the recession. [Senate]
Women in the workplace lack maternity protection rights and face violence and sexual harassment in or near the workplace. [Time][USA Today]
The U.S. still is the only industrialized nation without a child-care policy. [Newsweek]
New research found that lesbian couples and older women are among the poorest segments of our society. [Campus Progress]