American Women in Transition.

This study undertaken for the National Committee for Research on the 1980 Census is the first in a planned series of volumes presenting analyses of the data from the 1980 U.S. census. The authors combine 1980 census data with data from previous censuses and national surveys to describe the changes affecting American women over the past 30 years particularly their move from the home to the labor force and from traditional family life to the realms of work and higher education. The authors document womens increasing educational attainment and labor force participation their continued commitment to marriage and family and the balancing act necessitated by this overlap of roles. Pointing to the lack of affordable child care and womens lower earning power the authors describe the current realities of womens lives in a society that has not yet adapted to their changing status. (EXCERPT)