Sociology

Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net

Name: Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net
Rating: 4.8 (1000 reviews)
Author: Jessica Calarco

Jessica Calarco

24 minAudio9 insights

What you'll learn

•How American social and economic policies have positioned women as the de facto social safety net
•The structural and cultural mechanisms that trap women in caregiving roles with little support
•The myths and misconceptions that justify underinvestment in social safety nets and blame individuals
•The economic and social costs borne by women across different income and racial groups
•How privilege influences caregiving choices and perpetuates exploitation of vulnerable women
•The political and economic forces that have dismantled the social safety net in the US
•Potential pathways to rebuild an equitable social safety net that supports all families

Who should read this

✓Policy Makers and Social Advocates
✓Sociologists and Gender Studies Scholars
✓Working Mothers and Caregivers
✓Labor Economists and Union Leaders

About this book

An incisive exploration of how American women have become the informal social safety net amid systemic underinvestment and cultural myths, and what it would take to build a fairer society.

Did You Know?

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The book is based on over 400 hours of interviews with families, mostly in Indiana, conducted between 2018 and 2022.

Audio Summary

Section 1

The Invisible Backbone: How Women Became America’s Safety Net

3:45

8 Sections

Preview: The Invisible Backbone: How Women Became America’s Safety Net

Imagine a country where the social safety net is not a government program, but the collective unpaid labor of millions of women. American women have long been the invisible backbone holding families and the economy together, often without recognition or support. This story begins in the crucible of World War II, when the United States faced a labor shortage as men went off to fight. The government, desperate to keep factories running, turned to women to fill those roles. Yet, despite efforts to recruit them, many women stayed home, bound by caregiving responsibilities and the lack of childcare alternatives. The government’s initial solution was a bold, unprecedented expansion of affordable childcare funded through the Lanham Act, offering full-time care for working mothers at minimal cost. This program allowed many women to enter the workforce, increasing labor force participation among mothers from one in thirty to one in six by war’s end.

Yet this progress was short-lived. Once the war ended, funding for childcare was abruptly cut, and policies reverted to traditional gender roles, pushing women back into unpaid domestic labor or low-paying, feminized jobs. The dismantling of this wartime childcare infrastructure set the stage for decades of underinvestment in social supports for families and caregivers.

Today, despite women making up nearly half of the workforce, they continue to bear the brunt of unpaid caregiving, spending on average two hours more per day on housework and childcare than men. This unpaid labor acts as a de facto social safety net, patching holes left by inadequate government programs, but at great personal and societal cost. This dynamic is not only exhausting but also economically inefficient, as it limits women's opportunities and perpetuates inequality.

As we begin this journey, keep in mind that the struggles faced by women today are deeply rooted in historical policy decisions and cultural expectations. Understanding how women became the social safety net helps us see why change is necessary and possible. In the next section, we will explore how girls are groomed from childhood to assume caregiving roles and how laws and culture trap many women into motherhood, often without choice.