Glass Ceilings and Dirt Floors, by Christine Firer Hinze

Hitting a glass ceiling is a metaphor for the experience professional women have of finding subtle obstacles in the way of their advancement. But most working women in the world don’t hit a glass ceiling. They scratch out a meager income while caring for domestic concerns at home. For both groups of women, the market economy doesn’t take into consideration the labor they put into what Hinze calls “care work,” household work that is essential to the well-being of families. Drawing on both feminist and Catholic ethics, she calls for a reorientation of our thinking to provide for both a flourishing economy and flourishing households, offering six practical ways to attain this balance.