Synopses & Reviews
Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a War on Poverty and enlisted Sargent Shriver to oversee it, the most important social issue of our day is once again the dire economic straits of millions of Americans. 1 in 3 Americans today live in poverty or teeter on the brink. 70 million are women and the children who depend on them. The fragile economic status of millions of American women is the shameful secret of the modern era—yet these women are also our greatest hope for change, and our nations greatest undervalued asset.
The Shriver Report: A Womans Nation Pushes Back from the Brink asks—and answers—big questions. Why are millions of women financially vulnerable when others have made such great progress? Why are millions of women struggling to make ends meet even though they are hard at work? What is it about our nation—government, business, family, and even women themselves—that drives women to the financial brink? And what is at stake?
To answer these questions, we examined in detail three major cultural and economic changes over the past 50 years:
- Women work more outside the home, but still earn less than men.
- Women lead more families on their own.
- Women today need higher education to enter the middle class.
To forge a path forward that recognizes this reality, The Shriver Report brought together a power packed roster of big thinkers and talented contributors, including Hillary Clinton, Anne-Marie Slaughter and Lebron James, and challenged them to collaborate with us to develop fresh thinking around practical solutions. This reports unique combination of academic research, personal reflections, authentic photojournalism, groundbreaking poll results, front line workers, and box office celebrities, is all focused on a single issue of national importance: women and the economy. In The Shriver Report, Davos meets Main Street.
Synopsis
An in-depth look at American women and families around transformational moments in our history--full of new data and fresh commentary on the current status of women in America
Synopsis
The Shriver Report: A Womans Nation Pushes Back from the Brink chronicles American women and families and the dire situations they face on a daily basis, with the latest data on women in the economy and labor force, poverty statistics, the growing multiplicity of family structures, and rates of educational attainment, among others.
The book analyzes the current American economy and culture through the lens of women who are doing it all and still struggling to get by. Over 70 million women and children--a third of all women and children--live in or near poverty. Thats an astounding number given the enormous advances women have made in the 50 years since President Johnson announced his War on Poverty. Women are now half the nations workforce, earn the majority of college and advanced degrees, and are the majority of our countrys breadwinners, caregivers, consumers, and voters. But if women have gained so much power, why are so many of them financially insecure and living in less stable families than ever before? The Shriver Report takes a deep dive into the economic, educational, and family and relationship choices that American women are making today, and explains how our nations policy makers, business leaders, and we, ourselves, must adapt to the new realities that are causing our women and families to live in a perpetual state of insecurity. The book also includes personal stories from women living on the brink as well as new perspectives from thought leaders and public figures.
About the Author
Maria Shriver is a mother of four, a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer, a six-time New York Times best-selling author, and an NBC News Special Anchor covering the shifting roles, emerging power and evolving needs of women in modern life. Since 2009, Shriver has produced a groundbreaking series of Shriver reports that chronicle and explore seismic shifts in the American culture and society affecting women today. Shriver was Californias first lady from 2003 to 2010 and, during that time, she spearheaded what became the nations premier forum for women, The Womens Conference.
The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. CAP develops new, progressive policy ideas, challenges the media to cover the issues that truly matter, and shapes the national debate. Founded in 2003 by John Podesta to provide long-term leadership and support to the progressive movement, CAP is headed by Neera Tanden and based in Washington, DC.
Table of Contents
Contents
Opening
A Photograph and life snapshot of Julie Kaas
Foreword
By Neera Tanden
Part I: How We Got Here 8
Power
Powerful and Powerless by Maria Shriver
When We Were 9, We Were Honest By Professor Carol Gilligan
A photograph and life snapshot of Nikki Brown
Gender Equality is a Myth! By Beyonce Knowles
Time to Wake Up: Stop Blaming Poverty on the Poor By Barbara Ehrenreich
The Workplace
A Womans Place is in the Middle Class by Heather Boushey
The Gender Wage Gap: A Civil Rights Issue for Our Time By Maya Harris
Making the Care Economy a Caring Economy By Ai-Jen Poo
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Broke By Danielle Moddie-Mills
The Changing Face of American Women By Angela Glover Blackwell
Empowering Latinas By Eva Longoria
The Family
Marriage, Motherhood, and Men by Ann OLeary
What About the Fathers? By Kathryn Edin
To the Brink and Back By Catherine Emmanuelle
Americas Working Single Mothers: An Appreciation By LeBron James
A Call to Men: Ending Mens Violence Against Women By Tony Porter
Women and Poverty: The Role of Lawyers and Family Law By John Bouman
Marriage and Children, Another View By Ron Haskins
Evolution of the Modern American Family By Stephanie Coontz
Education
Get Smart: A 21st Century Education by Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale and Nicole Smith
Turning Poverty Around: Training Parents to Help Their Kids By Jennifer Garner
Living the Head Start Dream By Almeta Keys
Preschool for All: The Path to Americas Middle-Class Promise By Sec. Arne Duncan and Sec. Kathleen Sebelius
Afterschool Programs: Investing in our Cities by Investing in our Kids By Mayor Betsy Price
Single Mother in College: Willpower and a Lot of Help By Cara Cortez
Higher Education: Interrupting the Cycle of Poverty By Eduardo Padron
Part II: Why We Must Push Back
The Consequences of Living on the Brink
The Chronic Stress of Poverty: Toxic to Children By Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
The Trap: Mental Illness and Women in Poverty By Dr. Ron Manderscheid
Human Trafficking and Slavery in the United States: ‘You Dont See the Chains
By Jada Pinkett Smith
Armed and Vulnerable: Women in the U.S. Military By Dr. Sonya Borrero
Part III: Solutions
Public Solutions
Putting Women At the Center of Policymaking: Public Solutions to Help Women Push Back From the Brink By Melissa Boteach and Shawn Fremstad
We Have Blown a Huge Hole in Our Safety Net By Peter Edelman
From VISTA Corps to Shriver Corps: Providing Solutions for 50 Years By Shirley Sagawa
A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out By Idaho Governor C.L. Otter
On the Brink with a Disabled Child By Katie Bentley
The Circle of Protection: Balancing the Budget Does Not Require Burdening the Poor By Leith Anderson
Private Solutions
Private Solutions: What If Employers Put Women at the Center of Their Workplace Policies? By Ellen Galinsky, James T. Bond, and Eve Tahmincioglu
Smart Business: Reviving the American Dream By Howard Schultz
A photograph and life snapshot of Jessica McGowan
Empower Women and You Recharge the World By Muhtar Kent
Microfinancing Women: Great Return on Investment By Tory Burch
Personal Solutions
Personal Action, Collective Impact By Anne Mosle
Are Women Devalued by Religions? By Sister Joan Chittister
When Working Women Thrive, Our Nation Thrives By Sheryl Sandberg
A photograph and life snapshot of Britani Hood-Mongar
When Women Achieve Their Full Potential, So Will America By Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Part IV: Where Do We Go From Here
Where Do We Go From Here? By Olivia Morgan and Karen Skelton
Epilogue By Hillary Rodham Clinton
Appendix
Failure to Adapt to Changing Families Leaves Women Economically Vulnerable By Anna Greenberg, David Walker, Alex Lundry, and Alicia Downs
Acknowledgements
About the Contributors