The economics of gender

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Liz Sperling, Mairead Owen

"This title was first published in 2000: The 1990s have been heralded as the 'age of women' based on the facts that, globally, more women are benefiting from formal education and are in paid employment in greater numbers than ever. As such, the possibility that an age of post-feminism has been reached, in which battles for women's basic rights have largely been won, is implied. This book, based on research across academic disciplines, challenges such claims. Using women and work as the basis analysis, the authors consider whether such things as flexible working, equal opportunities initiatives and even contemporary conceptions of citizenship are universally beneficial to women. The book presents research ranging from issues of immigrant sex-workers in Japan to the implementation of EU equality policies and raises the ironic question that, as the global economy increasingly depends on women, could a growing but uneasy alliance be developing between capitalism and feminism?"--Provided by publisher.

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Translated and edited by H. M. Parshley

**The Second Sex** (French: *Le Deuxième Sexe*) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women throughout history. Beauvoir researched and wrote the book in about 14 months between 1946 and 1949. She published the work in two volumes: *Facts and Myths* (*Les faits et les mythes*), and *Lived Experience* (*L’expérience vécue*). Some chapters first appeared in the journal *Les Temps modernes*. One of Beauvoir’s best-known books, *The Second Sex* is often regarded as a major work of feminist philosophy, and as the starting inspiration point of second-wave feminism.

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Mariko Lin Chang

This book focuses on the differences in wealth between women and men. It is an examination of why women struggle to accumulate assets, who has what, and why it matters. Women now receive more college degrees than men, and enter the workforce with better job opportunities than ever before. Indeed, the wage gap between men and women has never been smaller. So why does the typical woman have only 36 cents for every dollar of wealth owned by the typical man? How is it that never-married women working full-time have only 16 per cent as much wealth as similarly situated men? And why do single mothers have only 8 per cent of the wealth of single fathers? The author draws on the most comprehensive national data on wealth and on in-depth interviews to show how differences in earnings, in saving and investing, and, most important, the demands of care-giving all contribute to the gender-wealth gap. She argues that the current focus on equal pay and family-friendly workplace policies, although important, will not ultimately change or eliminate wealth inequalities. What she calls the "wealth escalator", comprised of fringe benefits, the tax code, and government benefits, and the "debt anchor" must be the targets of policies aimed at strengthening women's financial resources. She proposes a number of practical suggestions to address the unequal burdens and consequences of care-giving, so that women who work just as hard as men will not be left standing in financial quicksand. This is a comprehensive portrait of where women and men stand with respect to wealth; it not only sheds light on why women lack wealth, but also offers solutions for improving the financial situation of women, men, and families.

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Dylan Sutherland and Jennifer Y.J. Hsu

"Providing a up-to-date, comprehensive analysis of the most critical aspects of the growth of HIV/AIDS in China, this book moves beyond biomedical explanations to link the epidemic to broader issues of economic and social development."--Publisher's description.