The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does so by conducting public opinion polling and social science research; by analyzing news coverage; and by holding forums and briefings. It does not take positions on policy issues.
In this 1950 short film, "Joan Spencer" learns the importance of office etiquette and career building. Many of the principles endure today. However, it's interesting to see how the workplace has changed in 60 years. For example, if you pause the film at 2:12, you can see a job application from the era which asks for height, weight, marital status, number of children, and other questions that are discriminatory and illegal today. Yet some advice is timeless - enjoy your work and enjoy your coworkers. And enjoy this film!
Women Entering Workforce When Husbands Become Unemployed During the "Great Recession"
September 14, 2010
During the recent recession in the United States, many industries suffered significant layoffs, leaving individuals and families to revise their spending and rethink income opportunities. Many wives are increasingly becoming primary breadwinners or entering the labor market. A new article in Family Relations tests "the added worker" theory, which suggests wives who are not working may seek work as a substitute for husband's labor if he becomes unemployed, and finds that during a time of economic downturn wives are more likely to enter the labor force when their husbands stop working.
Remember Rosie the Riveter? Women served on the homefront during WWII, performing many of the tasks left vacant as men went off to war. In the war era video seen below, Eleanor Roosevelt (then First Lady) celebrates the female contribution to the war effort. Aspects of this video are dated, including the language. But this newsreel shows the U.S. Zeitgeist at this unique era.
The Sloan Work and Family Research Network form Boston College has a series of "topic pages" that provide helpful information on a wide variety of work-life issues.
