"Women and the paradox of economic inequality in the twentieth-century".

Michael B. Katz, Mark J. Stern, Jamie J. Fader, "Women and the Paradox of Economic Inequality in the Twentieth-Century"

This article uses the history of women in twentieth-century United States to explore the paradox of inequality in American history: the coexistence of durable inequality with immense individual and group mobility. Using census data, the article traces inequality along four dimensions: participation, distribution, rewards, and differentiation. Differentiation, the article argues, resolves the paradox of inequality by showing how mobility reinforces rather than challenges existing social structures. The analysis highlights differences in women's experiences by cohort and race and emphasizes the role of education, technological change, and, especially, government's impact on labor markets. The article concludes by evaluating and extending Charles Tilly's theory of durable inequality in light of the trends in women's experience.