From Marriage to the Market: The Transformation of Women's Lives and Work (review)

This work focuses on the latter half of the 20th century and what Thistle argues persuasively were the profound changes in American women's relationship to marriage, motherhood, and the marketplace. As women were moving into paid employment in record numbers during this period, Thistle draws our attention back into the home to better understand the connections between the domestic economy and women's growing market experiences. With rich detail, and a special emphasis on tracking the different experiences of African American and white women, she shows how familial and institutional arrangements that had supported women's domestic role collapsed in the last half of the 20th century. Post war expansion and greater opportunity, as well as the economic difficulties and economic necessity of the 1970s and 1980s, led to a dismantling of the domestic economy. Not only did women move increasingly to paid employment, but much of the economic prosperity of the period was garnered by the profits made from former domestic labor and goods production. The changes that have occurred for women are dramatic and often invisible; they also help to explain the increased struggles for women, especially those caring for children and dependents.

An example of how dramatic these changes have been comes from Thistle's data collection on women's sources of economic support. In 1960, wives relied for the majority of their support on the incomes of their husbands; by 2000, however, this trend was completely reversed and wives relied on their own earnings for the majority of their support. In 1960, African American women relied on income from husbands for 63% of their economic support while white wives relied on income from husbands for 73% of their economic support. By 2000, African American wives relied on their own earnings for 66% of their economic support, and white wives relied on their own earnings for 53% of their economic support. As Thistle points out, "Today, less than one-third of white women and barely over one-tenth of black women rely mainly on men's income for support. Instead, the livelihood of the great majority rests primarily on their own earnings." (171). Women's reliance on paid employment for earnings has not meant a complete diminishment of domestic labor nor an increase in extra time for the majority of women, but rather increased financial need and overwork with little social policy support. Even though American economic prosperity was significantly helped by moving earlier domestic jobs and homemade products into the marketplace, the profits of such a transferal to the market have not fallen to women and their families. As Thistle argues, ". . . the potential created by market takeover of women's household work has gone primarily to other groups." (172).

This book is a significant contribution in understanding the complex links between home and work. It shows how the domestic economy influenced both paid employment and market conditions, and raises important questions about social policy and economic inequality in the 21st century.