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By Root 1230 0

been a great deal of news (much of it bad) about the plight of the low-income single mother. Trapped in poverty without a husband, with a limited education and dismal career prospects, garnering little support from the state, the community, or from the child’s father, chronically poor mothers have become the living symbols of the rough underside of the economy. But what about middle-class single mothers, women like Gayle Pritchard who have a good education, substantial work experience, a decent income, and, in most cases, an ex-husband solidly on the hook for child support? These women have followed the go-to-work prescription faithfully, making astounding gains in nearly every arena over the past generation—gains that should have translated into rising fortunes for the postdivorce family.

What happened when millions of middle-class mothers headed into the workplace? The media tends to focus on the bad news—the shocking sexual harassment of a female employee at Mitsubishi or antiquated policies that keep women out of prestigious military colleges and off fancy golf courses. The bad news makes for good headlines, but it shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow one very important fact: American women have come a very long way in a very short time.

Consider, for example, women’s enhanced legal protection. The mantra of equal opportunity in the workplace has become so ingrained in our collective consciousness that it can be easy to forget the (not so distant) days when the playing field wasn’t nearly so level. When I (Elizabeth) was an elementary school teacher fresh out of college in 1970, the public school district didn’t even bother to hide the fact that there were two separate pay scales—one for men and one for women. The differential was a matter of public record, and it produced little concern among either the public or my fellow teachers. Indeed, the policy was widely viewed as a normal feature of almost every “family-friendly” workplace. After all, men needed those higher wages to support a family at home. Today public schools, along with virtually every other employer in the country, have dismantled their separate pay structures, thanks largely to sweeping reforms in federal and state laws. Moreover, nearly every major employer in the United States has adopted a formal policy of equal opportunity for women. The battle for full legal equality may not be entirely won, but during the past generation women have made phenomenal strides—progress that has translated into material gains on the job.

Bolstered with protection from the courts, today’s women are better prepared for the workforce than any other generation in history. Not only are they better educated than any previous cohort of women, but by some measures they are now even better educated than men. Today’s young women are more likely to finish high school than young men—reversing the situation of a generation ago. They are also more likely to pursue higher education. In 1970, six out of ten college students were men; today that figure is exactly inverted—nearly six out of ten college students are women.5 Armed with better educations, women have seen their professional opportunities mushroom. In the early years of my [Elizabeth’s] career, it seemed that at nearly every step along the way, my compatriots and I were the “first” women to achieve something or other. In 1975, at a prestigious law firm on Wall Street, my friend Valerie and I were the first women ever offered summer internships. (Over the course of that summer I was mistaken for a waitress, a secretary, a cleaning person, and “Harry’s daughter,” despite the obligatory suit and floppy bow tie I donned every day.) Today, women account for nearly one-third of practicing attorneys nationwide, and women are almost as likely as men to be managers or supervisors. Women also account for 41 percent of university professors, and they now hold at least one seat on the board of directors of nearly three out of four major corporations in America.6

All that progress has translated into just what the feminists and politicians