Chapter Three of Career and Family explores the career and family lives of the women in Group One. Through non-marriage and childbirth statistics, we learn that college-educated women born between 1878 and 1897 had a non-marriage rate of 30% and a birth rate of 50%. These numbers were even more striking among those who pursued careers and gained recognition as notables: 44% of these women did not marry, and 70% of these women, either married or not, did not have children.
Group One women faced structural barriers like marriage bars, which prevented women from working in certain professions, such as teaching. Anti-nepotism regulations also posed challenges, barring married women from employment at the same institutions as their husbands. For instance, Dorothy Wolf Douglas and Paul Douglas were unable to work at the same university due to such policies, which forced them to seek jobs in different places, physically separating family members. Interestingly, Dorothy Wolf Douglas having seperated from Paul Douglas went on to be involved with writer and sociologist, Katharine DuPre Lumpkin and both women gained employment at Smith college.
These women also contended with the domestic demands of the time. Housework and caregiving, done without the aid of modern appliances, were primarily their responsibility, leaving little time or energy to pursue careers. Economist Margaret Gilpin Reid, in her doctoral dissertation, delved into the economics of household labor. She argued that women’s unpaid domestic work contributed significantly to national income and should be formally recognized. Although her proposal gained some attention, household labor was ultimately excluded from the national productivity accounting system developed by Simon Kuznets.
Aware of the limitations that marriage could place on their careers and confident in their ability to support themselves, many college-graduate women of Group One were selective about marriage. Much of the 50% childlessness in this group can be attributed to this tendency toward non-marriage. Claudia Goldin notes that many of these women also deeply understood the burdens of motherhood, which likely further contributed to low birth rates. Among the 100 notable women in this group, only 56 ever married, and just 31 had children, either by birth or adoption.
Group One members were pioneers in movements for women’s freedom. They fought for suffrage, minimum wage, and birth control, and became doctors, lawyers, and politicians. These women chose ambitious paths at a time when it was rare for women to do so. They often had to choose between career and family, rarely having the luxury of both.
From this book, we learn that the group one society was full of movements to change the society and resulted in uncontrollable large forces championing several of the changes we see in the world todaywhen compared to the 19th century. But some of the causes pursued during the lives of group one members are still active challenges today: racial discrimination, irregular electricity supply and access to support house work in some developing countries like NIgeria.
This chapter prompts reflection on societal progress. The early 20th-century U.S. was shaped by transformative movements led by women like those in Group One. Many of the rights and opportunities we now consider normal were hard-won by their efforts. Still, some of the causes they championed such as racial equity and adequate infrastructure remain relevant challenges today. In developing countries like Nigeria, irregular electricity and limited domestic support still constrain care work.
The chapter encourages us to reflect on how unequal access to resources such as electricity for household appliances or childcare services like kindergartens can shape the distribution of labor and influence individuals’ ability to pursue career aspirations. It raises critical questions: Should unpaid domestic labor be accounted for in national income calculations? If so, what exactly qualifies as unpaid domestic labor? How can societies better support individuals in balancing career and family, or are we already at the peak of this challenge in today’s world? These are the kinds of questions this book continually prompts us to consider.