Women and Economics

Since the middle part of the 1960s my mother earned more than either of her husbands. I am well aware of the general rule that women in the U.S. earn about 75 cents on the dollar as men do. That statistic, however, does not tell the whole story. Women of her generation with bachelor's and master's degrees could at least count on earnings sufficient to be economically independent of their husbands provided they worked full time and didn't spend much time on maternity leave. That fact alone probably contributed more to the quality of her relationships than anything else - good and bad. She had the power to abandon any men she believed were harmful to me or her, in that order.

We're still sold on the idea that men make more money than women who do the same work. One of the only places where that is not true is teaching. Leaving aside the benefits, including better-than-average health coverage, teaching is generally a pretty safe career with good pensions and a couple of months off per year.

When these women become widowed, as my mother did in 2008, they may be horribly depressed, despondent and alone for a year or two but their retirement income prevents them from being pulled from their houses. That's a big deal. It is an especially big deal to their children. In my case, my sister and I don't need to worry about my mother's economic situation. We can visit our ancestral home without the fear that she sold all the paintings, rugs, etc., in order to pay the mortgage, the pool guys and the utilities. She can travel modestly when she chooses.

Every time I hear a misogynist rant or a call for "traditional marriage", I always go back to my own life history. I loved my father and my stepfather but I know that the reason we lived a middle class life was because of her profession and willingness to stick with it even when times were tough. For those of you with daughters, take heed. They need to find their way to economic freedom. If you value having choices, it's doubly important.