ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a profile of the Soviet female labor force and its place in the national economy. It examines the interaction of female work and family roles and the major sources of strain between them. The chapter explores the variety of Soviet responses to the dilemma raised by the interdependence and their possible implications for broader economic and social policies, and a concluding section focuses on the impact of Mikhail Gorbachev's political and economic restructuring on women's roles. The role of women in the Soviet labor force was shaped by a distinctive set of assumptions and historical developments that influenced Soviet policy until late 1991. In the USSR as in the United States, men have derived greater benefits from educational and occupational attainments, even when women's work experience and levels of current labor force participation have been comparable.
