I like this article because it gives a wide-ranging view of women workers in Western societies. On the other hand, the section describing the challenges posed by and to working mothers gives me mixed feelings. It avoids unpleasant language like "woman problem," but I can't shake the feeling that those old ugly attitudes underlie the analysis. For example:
Many children have paid a price for the rise of the two-income household. Many women—and indeed many men—feel that they are caught in an ever-tightening tangle of commitments. If the empowerment of women was one of the great changes of the past 50 years, dealing with its social consequences will be one of the great challenges of the next 50. [Emphasis mine]Granted, this is the Economist. Hardly a bastion of progressive, let alone feminist, thought. And the final section, describing innovations meant to help women and men balance work and family life, rings full of optimism.
We're a child-free family, so my perspective is limited. Any moms out there want to put two cents in?
