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WOMEN'S WORK & THE SWEATSHOP ECONOMY
The sweatshop conditions faced by the DKNY garment
workers are not so far removed from the experiences of most women
workers in this country. Women are disproportionately concentrated
in clerical, service-sector and manufacturing jobs. Among all women
workers in the U.S., one in five is a cashier, secretary or teacher.
Nearly six out of 10 African American women work as nursing attendants,
janitors, cleaners, cooks and maids. Immigrant women often take
jobs as domestic workers, hotel and restaurant workers, orderlies,
nursing assistants and laborers in manufacturing jobs such as garment
and meat processing. Unfortunately, these very important areas of
work, which we all depend on, tend to be devalued and lower-paid.
And regardless of educational levels, in any occupation women are
routinely paid less than men doing the same work.
And this is just the woman's "official" job. Regardless
of race or class, women are still the primary caretakes of children
and elderly relatives, and still take on a disproportionate responsibility
for housework. This "women's work" is never recognized
or valued as work, but is simply expected of women.
Adding insult to injury, women who have been caring for their children
at home and receiving welfare benefits are now being forced into
workfare, a government-supported cheap-labor program. These women
are working starvation wages doing demeaning and dead-end work,
while often having no choice but to pay a babysitter to watch their
children.
Stuck in low-wage jobs and shouldering primary responsibility for
their children, many women lack the economic autonomy to escape
abusive relationships at home. Those who do are sometimes forced
to work several jobs or turn to sex work as a quick way to put food
on the table. Nearly a third of all families headed by women are
living below the poverty-line. Even well-paid professional women
cannot escape hard choices around career and motherhood. For many,
advancement means giving all your time, which means having no time
for children. Moreover, many bosses fail to offer maternity leave
or to guarantee that mothers' jobs will be available when they return.
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