Institute for Social Science Research

A common assumption about women as laborers made in past unemployment research has been that their participation in the labor force is optional (Schlozman 1979). This assumption suggests that when unemployed, such women should be less susceptible than are males, to personal, familial or social sources of stress (Rundquist and Sletto 1936). Additionally, this view sug- gests that women, especially Latino women who are accustomed to the role of homemaker, should not object to job loss nor to a return to this role, particularly since they are supported by their husbands (Romero 1986).