Karen Kornbluh: All Related Content

Trying to make sense of the steady stream of economic news can be frustrating. Is the economy getting better or worse? The news seems to change weekly and, depending on what is measured, can seem bleak or sunny. Wages are stagnant but productivity is up. The unemployment rate declines but so does labor force participation.

We can't even begin to understand how America is faring economically unless we first establish how its families are doing -- how much they're earning and how many hours they must work to earn this income.

President George W. Bush has framed his domestic agenda in recent speeches as a response to women's economic security concerns. In fact, in the president's "Ownership Society," women would be less -- not more -- economically secure.

Father’s Day holds few surprises. A gift from the kids-usually a bad tie-and dinner with the family. Fatherhood itself, however, has undergone dramatic changes over the past few decades as Dads have taken on far more responsibility at home and, in many ways, changed the very definition of Father. The rest of the world has yet to catch up with the new Dad. As a result, even in 2004, too many fathers must still choose between being good breadwinners and good parents -- when they’d like to be both.

The American family changed dramatically over
the last decades of the twentieth century. In
1960, 70 percent of families had a parent home
full-time. Today, this is reversed. Fully 70
percent of families with children are now headed
by two working parents or by an unmarried
working parent. The breadwinner and homemaker have been replaced by “juggler parents” with responsibility for both making
ends meet and caring for the family. And this
family can now include elderly relatives. More
than 21 percent of households have at least one

The American family changed dramatically over the last decades of the twentieth century. In the postwar years up to the early 1970s a single breadwinner -- working forty hours a week, often for the same employer, until retirement -- generally earned enough to support children and a spouse. Today fully 70 percent of families with children are headed by two working parents or by an unmarried working parent.

The Bush administration has largely ignored the nation's $700-billion telecommunications industry's free fall, a costly mistake for the U.S. economy. Stock prices are down 75%, and telecom companies are expected to reduce their capital spending for the second year in a row.

President Bush should use today's White House high-tech industry forum to announce a national broadband strategy.

On the last Friday in August, President Bush, fresh from his vacation in Texas, was asked by a reporter about his plans to address the frustration so many Americans currently face trying to get high-speed Internet access. The president didn't appear terribly worried. "The technologies are evolving," he said, with equanimity.

In attempting to "unite" the country, Gov. George W. Bush should focus attention on women. Women voters favored Vice President Gore by 11 points in the recent election. For the first time, women will make up more than 10 percent of the Senate -- and could form the basis for a bipartisan coalition supporting policies that favor women, children and families. Most important, women are in need of solutions to the daily dilemma they face: balancing family and work, and the high price they and their families pay despite their efforts.

TechNet and CSPP, two coalitions of high-tech CEOs, recently asked the government to set an ambitious goal - a National Broadband Policy - to connect 100 million homes and businesses to a next generation Internet 50 to 100 times faster than today?s broadband connections. President Bush is expected to preview his broadband initiative in Tuesday?s State of the Union.