Women have long reported worse self-rated health than men. This difference, however, may be changing. Rising educational attainment and labor force participation over the last two decades may have improved women's health, yet some have speculated that such benefits are increasingly threatened by a variety of other important changes, including growing difficulty balancing work and family. This article explores trends in women's health, employment, and family life between 1974 and 2004, using the cumulative General Social Survey and recent waves of the National Health Interview Survey, focusing specifically on the relationship between work hours, family responsibilities, and self-rated health. On the one hand, the results are consistent with research and speculation regarding health and women's changing roles. More women are employed and working longer hours, often combining work with parenting. Furthermore, the health benefits of employment decline somewhat when employment is combined with the care of a young child. Nevertheless, women reported much better health in the 1990s than they did in earlier periods and the gender gap has narrowed. The upward trend in women's absolute health reflects a progressive increase in women's education, while the closing of the gender gap reflects women's growing rates of labor force participation. These positive health trends will likely continue in the future. Indeed, judging from evidence among some select groups-including the college educated and those working fulltime- the well-known gender gap in self-rated health might soon reverse, mitigating patterns once thought rooted in more innate sex differences.

A burgeoning literature considers the consequences of mass imprisonment for the well-being of adult men and—albeit to a lesser degree—their children. Yet virtually no quantitative research considers the consequences of mass imprisonment for the well-being of the women who are the link between (former) prisoners and their children. This article extends research on the collateral consequences of mass imprisonment by considering the association between paternal incarceration and maternal mental health using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Results show that recent paternal incarceration increases a mother’s risk of a major depressive episode and her level of life dissatisfaction, net of a variety of influences including prior mental health. The empirical design lends confidence to a causal interpretation: effects of recent incarceration persist even when the sample is limited to mothers attached to previously incarcerated men, which provides a rigorous counterfactual. In addition, the empirical design is comprehensive; after isolating key mechanisms anticipated in the literature, we reduce the relationship between recent paternal incarceration and maternal mental health to statistical insignificance. These results imply that the penal system may have important effects on poor women’s well-being beyond increasing their economic insecurity, compromising their marriage markets, or magnifying their risk of divorce.

Using the 1996 General Social Survey, the antecedents of feminist self-identification and their link to gender-related social attitudes are explored. Although most sociodemographic variables show either no relationship or a weak relationship with feminist self-identification, there are strong differences across cohorts. Males and females who were young adults during the “second wave “ of feminism (birth years 1936 to 1955) are more likely to identify as feminists than are those younger or older. In addition, the link between feminist self-identification and some social attitudes is cohort specific: Seemingly profeminist positions distinguish self-identified feminists from nonfeminists only among members of the “second-wave” generation. These results reinforce the importance of political generation and suggest increasing heterogeneity in public conceptions of feminism.

Using the 1996 General Social Survey, the antecedents of feminist self-identification and their link to gender-related social attitudes are explored. Although most socio-demographic variables show either no relationship or a weak relationship with feminist self-identification, there are strong differences across cohorts. Males and females who were young adults during the second wave of feminism (birth years 1936 to 1955) are more likely to identify as feminists than are those younger or older. In addition, the link between feminist self-identification and some social attitudes is cohort specific: Seemingly profeminist positions distinguish self-identified feminists from nonfeminists only among members of the second-wave generation. These results reinforce the importance of political generation and suggest increasing heterogeneity in public conceptions of feminism.