Abstract
It takes more work to maintain a middle-class life-style in the personalized economy than it did in the industrial economy. As businesses compete furiously with one another for ever smaller groups of customers, profit margins have been shaved razor thin, and salaries, too, have suffered. Consequently, more Americans are at work than ever before. Sixty-six percent of the population aged 16 or older is now in the labor force, up from 59 percent in the 1950s. As men’s salaries stagnated over the past quarter-century, women poured into the labor force to make up the difference.
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Notes
Sixty-six percent of the population ... U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings (January 1992), 162.
Thirty-six percent of Americans ... Roper’s The Public Pulse Research Supplement (June 1992), 2.
Sixty-eight percent of workers say ...”Job Dissatisfaction Grows; ‘Moonlighting’ On the Rise,” The Gallup Poll Monthly (September 1991), 2.
Most Americans now believe ...”Bring on the Weekend,” The Public Pulse (April 1991), 1.
More than nine out of ten men ... U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, 164.
Nearly all working men and three ... Ibid., 202.
According to a Roper Poll ...”Work Ethic Grows Weaker,” The Public Pulse (June 1992), 2.
Just 36 percent of 30 to 49 ...”Job Dissatisfaction Grows; Moonlighting on the Rise,” The Gallup Poll Monthly, 13.
As baby boomers have children ... Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Ralph Whitehead, Jr., “The Birth of a Trend,” Utne Reader (July/ August 1991), 68.
The proportion of women who say ...”Work Ethic Grows Weaker, The Public Pulse, 3.
Sixty percent of mothers say ...”Tense Times for Families,” The Public Pulse (January 1991), 2.
In 1990, this proportion ... The 1990 Virginia Slims Opinion Poll (New York: The Roper Organization, Inc., 1990), 67.
Among all women, 58 percent ... U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, 163.
Among women aged 25 to 44 ... Ibid.: 164; and U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Bicentennial Edition, Part 1 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), 131.
Over half of married women ... U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Fertility of American Women: June 1990,” 4.
According to a Gallup poll ... George Gallup, Jr., and Frank Newport, ‘Americans Widely Disagree on What Constitutes ‘Rich’,” The Gallup Poll Monthly (July 1990), 28.
Since 1987, Americans spend ... U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business (July 1990), 52.
Americans spent $290 billion ... U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business (July 1992), 59.
Even in the midst of recession ... Ibid., 60.
One of the most rapidly growing ... U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1991, 231; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business (July 1992), 59.
Retail sales of infant ...”Retail Sales of Infant/Toddler/Preschool Products Near $19 Billion in 1990,” press release from Packaged Facts, Inc., New York (July 1991), 1.
On the contrary, households ... Margaret Ambry and Cheryl Russell, The Official Guide to the American Marketplace (Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Publications, 1992), 176–178.
Beer, rent, and coin-operated ... Margaret Ambry, Consumer Power—How Americans Spend Their Money (Ithaca, NY: New Strategist, Publications, 1991), 11, 54, 95, 143, 230.
By 2000, people aged 35 ... Ambry and Russell, Official Guide, 173–175.
As baby boomers face ...”Is the Public Changing Its Financial Habits?” The Public Pulse (December 1989), 6.
Consumer installment debt—such as ...”Baby Boom Debt Likely to Shrink in 1990s,” The Boomer Report (15 April 1992), 3.
Currently, 58 percent of baby boomers ... A Rude Awakening from the American Dream, The Fourth Annual Merrill Lynch Retirement Planning Survey, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (June 1992), 13–14.
The net worth of households headed by ... Arthur Kennickell and Janice Shack-Marquez, “Changes in Family Finances from 1983 to 1989: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances,” Federal Reserve Bulletin (January 1992), 3.
Most of the baby boom’s wealth ... Ibid., 9, 11.
Forty-four percent had a retirement ... Ibid., 5, 7.
Ninety percent of baby boomers ... Ibid., 13, 15.
In any event, economists predict ... Nick Ravo, ‘A Windfall Nears in Inheritances from the Richest Generation,” The New York Times (22 July 1990), E4.
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© 1993 Cheryl Russell
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Russell, C. (1993). A Preference for Leisure. In: The Master Trend. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6016-0_13
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