ABSTRACT
The National Organisation for Women, the leading, largest and most conspicuous group, is, after 20 years, suffering from internal differences and from a hail of criticism, much of it from women whose feminist credentials are not in doubt. Some 9% of white married couples remain in poverty if the husband is the sole breadwinner; the figure for black couples is 24% and for Hispanics nearly 29%. National organization for women has concentrated on equality for women rather than special treatment; it has long opposed the passage of protective legislation for women of the kind that is common in most advanced countries, because it fears that employers would respond by not employing women. Such legal coyness makes it harder to deal with the fact that women with children, especially very young children, need special provision if they are to be able to compete with men for jobs.
