Working moms = poverty?

Continuing my economic theme...an interesting trend is unfolding among progressives who deal with economic issues - using women's entry into the workforce as evidence of the middle class being squeezed. Nathan Newman writes:

[L]argely missing in the debate is a measure of the value of the unpaid work of stay-at-home moms of a generation ago-- and the financial costs for two-earner families of replacing it...[F]or two-paycheck families struggling with child care bills and other costs, the economic value of the unpaid labor done by all the stay-at-home moms of a generation ago is clear-- and economic statistics should catch up.

The argument is that, with women working, lots of "household labor" is not getting done, and so income gains in the U.S. were actually less than we thought during the last quarter of the 20th century. Stirling Newberry is another writer who's made this argument.

The fundamental idea - that Americans are having to work harder to earn our wealth - is sound. But I am wary of this line of reasoning, because A) I see women gaining economic equality as an end in and of itself, and B) household conveniences have made a lot of that "housework" redundant anyway. While some effects of the demise of the homemaker are undoubtedly negative - TV dinners and fast food are accelerating the obesity epidemic - a lot of what's happening is just Americans taking advantage of the productivity increases that technology and our economy have made possible. Compare our country to Japan, for instance, where housewives don't even buy dryers because hanging clothes on the line gives them something to do with their time.

Newman is right when he adds:

[S]tate policymakers need to step up with more help for working parents, both with policies to promote a more family-friendly workplace that respects time taken off by parents for family needs and a greater commitment to promote affordable, quality child care for families.

Those are good policies. But the overall tone of this new progressive argument worries me; I think women entering the workforce has done more good for our society than any other social development in two centuries, and I think that other countries around the world need to emulate us in that regard. So we shouldn't mix our messages.