In spite of this book's age (1978) it's quite an interesting look into how women fit into the workforce in North America. This is a study of women in the 30-year period before publication and has some interesting information. Women get paid less than men because they (1) tend to follow their men in their jobs and (2) tend to drop out of the workforce for pregnancy and childcare.

Here's another interesting tidbit: before capitalism and modern work methods families were economic units and therefore childhood was defined differently than it is today. A family was an economic and production unit and therefore everyone had a role to play, even the youngest child. Childhood was not thought of in today's terms but rather in terms of the economic unit. Besides the economic unity of this structure it also provided a familial unity not now possible nor desired. In fact, child labor is considered abhorrant in our society.