Caring for Children and Working: Dilemmas of Contemporary Womanhood

American women are entering the labor force in increasing numbers; currently 53% of women in intact families are in paid employment as are 41% of those with children under 18; this despite the fact that women earn less than 60% of the wages paid men in similar occupations. Women are responding to the pressures of an inflationary economy, to the costs of higher education for their children, to opportunities for personal fulfillment, and to a growing market for service occupations. Yet married women continue to carry 70% to 80% of child care and household duties when both parents work. Conventional stereotypes of feminine passivity, formalized in the last century, grossly misperceive women's roles and abilities and constitute a psychological barrier to self-realization for both men and women. Social innovations in child care will be necessary if we are to provide optimal conditions for child development at a time when family roles are in sharp transition. The pediatrician, as family counselor, can help to support mothers and fathers seeking to fulfill parental, occupational and personal needs in a rapidly changing society.