ERIC Number: ED473266
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 266
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: ISBN-0-415-92800-1
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Getting By on the Minimum: The Lives of Working-Class Women.
Johnson, Jennifer
The lives of working-class women were explored through interviews with 63 middle-aged women, most of whom were employed in working-class jobs and living working-class lives in Baltimore, Maryland. The following were among the areas covered in the interviews: the women's lives on and off the job; their job satisfaction; the reasons they work and the meaning of work in their lives; the impact of work on their families; their work as paid and unpaid caregivers; what it means to grow up poor in the postwar United States; their educational attainment and its impact on their working lives; the reasons those who dropped out of school did so, and their educational and/or career aspirations while in still in school. Social class had a big impact on the educational opportunities available to those interviewed, which in turn had a big impact on their attitudes toward education, career aspirations, and eventual employment opportunities and experiences in adulthood. Those women who upgraded their qualifications did improve their chances of finding a better job; however, they still had to face labor market inequities. It is therefore critical that policymakers not only make education more accessible but also address labor market inequities and unfair labor practices. (196 references) (MN)
Descriptors: Career Choice, Caregivers, Definitions, Disadvantaged, Education Work Relationship, Educational Attainment, Educational Attitudes, Educational Mobility, Educational Opportunities, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Employed Women, Employee Attitudes, Employment Level, Employment Opportunities, Employment Patterns, Employment Problems, Equal Opportunities (Jobs), Family Problems, Family Violence, Family Work Relationship, Interviews, Job Satisfaction, Middle Aged Adults, Minimum Wage, Occupational Aspiration, Policy Formation, Postsecondary Education, Poverty, Public Policy, Quality of Life, Relevance (Education), Service Occupations, Social Mobility, Socioeconomic Status, Student Educational Objectives, Trend Analysis, Womens Studies, Work Attitudes, Work Environment, Working Poor
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Publication Type: Books; Opinion Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Maryland (Baltimore)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A