'Pregnancy discrimination across corporate America is still rampant,' author says

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Fatcamera | E+ | Getty Images To understand why women are still fighting to catch up to men economically, author Josie Cox turns to the past. She doesn't have to look too far back. The Women's Business Ownership Act, which allowed women to obtain business financing without a male co-signer, didn't pass until 1988, Cox, a financial journalist, writes in her new book, "Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality." Women weren't admitted into Ivy League colleges before 1969, and could be fired from their jobs for getting pregnant as recently as 1978. "Pregnancy discrimination across corporate America is still rampant," Cox said. Cox's book traces the centurieslong battle by women to gain their economic equality to men, bringing many fascinating characters out of the shadow of history along the way. Speaking with CNBC this month, she said it is clear that the quest for justice has a long way to go. (The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.) 'Money is a gauge of power' Annie Nova: You give so many examples of how women, in the past, needed men to even engage with the economy. Why was our society set up that way? Josie Cox: In societies that are set up around the principles of capitalism, money is a gauge of power. And women have historically just not had as much power as men. In my book, I write about the concept of "coverture." Coverture is a legal practice rooted in English law that dictated that no woman or girl had an independent legal identity. At birth, a girl was covered by her father's identity, and, when she married, by her husband's. Under the laws of coverture, a woman didn't even have the right to her own body, which meant that any wages she generated through her own labor legally belonged to her husband. Gradually, the power of coverture has weakened. But even today, there are traces of its influences — the tradition of a woman taking a man's name through marriage is an obvious example. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Women Money Power by Josie Cox AN: You write about how women could be fired from their jobs for getting pregnant until 1978. Do you know how common that was? What issues did this lead to for women? Are things much better today? JC: It's impossible to know how many women got fired for getting pregnant before 1978. It was just a commonly accepted and unremarkable thing to do. Many women working in the paid labor market hid their pregnancies for as long as possible to avoid getting fired. When they did get fired, it was tough for many who needed the money. Today it is, of course, illegal to fire a woman for getting pregnant. But as I write in my book, women still have to contend with bias and discrimination that is more subtle. Pregnancy discrimination across corporate America is still rampant. AN: How was the repeal of Roe v. Wade a familiar story for women of previous generations? What are some of the economic consequences of the decision? JC: Access to health-care and reproductive rights are inextricably linked with women's economic empowerment, and personal freedom. As such, the decision dealt a tragic blow to the progress we'd made toward gender equality over the preceding 50 years. It will take time before we can gauge the precise cost — both economically and otherwise — of the severe abortion restrictions that have come into effect since the Dobbs decision, but it's fair to say that it's significant. Economy is 'failing menopausal women' AN: In what fields do we still need to see a lot more women? JC: In many! Women still only account for about a 10th of Fortune 500 CEOs. Men still vastly outnumber women in political leadership. We know that biases about who and what makes a good leader are reinforced when the visible image of a leader doesn't change. So it's critical that more women move into these positions of power. At the same time, we need to ensure that we're also chipping away at the ridiculous notion that men shouldn't be primary caregivers and that they shouldn't be doing as much unpaid labor as women.