Long-Range Causes and Consequences of the Employment of Married Women

The remarkable postwar increase in the employment of married women will be intensified by the eventual decline of the American birth rate, the earlier completion of child-rearing, and the decreasing work week. However, automation will require renewed attention to professional education for women, especially continuing education following the child-rearing period. Maternal employment is producing a more symmetrical family structure with greater equality between husbands and wives and between sons and daughters. Short-run effects frequently differ for sons vs. daughters, the masculine side of the family appearing demoralized as a result of the father's relative loss of status.