With new predictions showing that by mid-year women will have surpassed men in the workforce, what are your reactions?

Barbara Atkinson

With the great gap that still exists between the top level CEO’s and company employees, with the huge amount of conglomerates, and with the wage gap between men and women still in effect, I suggest that more women in the workplace does not necessarily translate into high-paying jobs or equality. More women in the workplace may also be reflecting aspects of the difficult economic times we are in. I am grateful for, and don’t deny, the progress that has been made, but there is still much to be done.

Angie King

Now, it would be nice if the women were actually paid a wage equal to the men. April 20th was equal pay day – that day in 2010 when women’s earnings finally reached the same level of pay as men earned in 2009.

Kathleen Deragon

I’d be more interested in having statistics on how many of those jobs are family friendly: part-time with benefits, allow job sharing, have child care onsite, pay women equal to men even if they work part-time, allow flex time and flex place when possible. Having more of us in the workplace isn’t necessarily a statistic we can be proud of if we work in an environment that does not respect and honor our being our children’s primary caregiver and so offer flexibility and adequate compensation.

Melanie Senn

Is this a boon for women’s lib or a consequence of the tanked economy–or both? Or neither? Hard to say. Women are working, in higher numbers than men. Hmmmm. Are they still earning $.75 on the dollar, these women? Are men still contributing far less than women when it comes to housework, cooking, and child care?

I support women working; I know I like to work (I refuse to add the phrase “outside the home”). In my case, I know that having a job makes me a better person–and a better spouse AND mother, but only because I really like my job. I hope the high numbers are women working because they want jobs, not because they desperately need them.

Caroline Janney

I think it is wonderful that there are many job opportunities for women. But it is not so good that they have surpassed men in the workforce just like they have surpassed men in the Universities. Women would like to find partners that are their equal. Who wants a man without a job or without an education? This has been a problem for African American women for some time—they cannot find men who are their equals.

Kristin McNamera

Technology was supposed to give us more leisure and family time, but it seems to be forcing more people into the workplace, working longer hours, to maintain the expected standard of living. Is this a symptom of a bigger problem of capitalism, or is it a great success for feminism? I don’t have the answers.

Next month our Voices around the Table question is: Where do you find the most peaceful place to visit on the Central Coast?