ABSTRACT
The data from 1971 to 1982, suggest an increase in the polarization between men and women, in which women will increasingly be used as "cheap labor," especially in female "job ghettoes." The problem faced by social scientists in determining the impact of the global economy on black Americans is the difficulty in separating the variety of effects influencing the economic conditions of blacks. As June Nash has documented in her research, women have been affected by the new international division of labor through their employment on the "global assembly line." Certainly, the export of women's production jobs enables employers to use the cheaper labor of Third World women to reduce manufacturing costs. In March 1980, there were approximately 5 million women production workers employed in domestic manufacturing. "Comparable pay for comparable worth" is critical for reducing inequality, particularly between men and women, but also for black/white inequality through its impact on black women.
