Taxing Women [Hardcover]

Edward J. McCaffery (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226555577 | ISBN-13: 978-0226555577 | Publication Date: April 15, 1997 | Edition: 1

Taxing Women comprises both an insightful, critical analysis of the gender biases in current tax laws and a wake-up call for all those concerned with gender justice to pay more attention to the pervasive impact of such laws. Providing real-life examples, Edward McCaffery shows how tax laws are actually written to punish married couples who file jointly. No dual-income household can afford not to read this book before filing their taxes.

"Taxing Women is a must-have primer for any woman who wants to understand how our current tax system affects her family's economic condition. In plain English, McCaffery explains how the tax code stacks the deck against women and why it's in women's economic interest to lead the next great tax rebellion."—Patricia Schroeder

"McCaffery is an expert on the interplay between taxes and social policy. . . . Devastating in his analysis. . . . Intriguing."—Harris Collingwood, Working Women

"A wake-up call regarding the inequalities of an archaic system that actually penalizes women for working."—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, passed in July 1996, Congress directed the Secretary of the Treasury and the General Accounting Office to report on the current system's effect on working spouses, responding to allegations that gender biases were deeply imbedded in federal tax laws. McCaffery (law, Univ. of Southern California and the California Inst. of Technology) here offers an earnest, scholarly dissection of those biases. While intended for general audiences, the book is rather dry and would have benefited from more charts and summaries and less theory. However, it is significant in its demonstration that the tax system is biased against working wives and mothers, favoring traditional male-headed families. The author criticizes the Contract with America as an attempt to take America back to the 1950s but concludes that, while necessary, change is unlikely.?Harry Charles, Attorney at Law, St. Louis
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Supply-siders tout a flat tax; Republicans want middle-class tax cuts as a part of any balanced budget deal; McCaffery, a law professor at the University of Southern California and California Institute of Technology, argues that the current tax structure is built on gender bias and urges change. Tax provisions developed to benefit the dominant single-earner family of the mid-twentieth century work "against stable families at the lower-income levels, against working wives at the upper-income ones and, by limiting satisfactory options, against the many families in between . . . [with] dramatic effects on fundamental decisions such as whether to marry or stay married, to work or not, to work part time or full." McCaffery analyzes the effects on individuals and families of joint filing, Social Security, child-care expenses, and so on, demonstrating that, amid rapid social change, "women have had to alter and even contort their behavior to fit traditional male patterns, while men, families, and the workplace have changed little, if any." A provocative call to action. Mary Carroll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226555577
• ISBN-13: 978-0226555577
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,604,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ATTENTION WORKING WOMEN: READ THIS BOOK!, November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Taxing Women (Hardcover)

Taxing Women is a must-read for working women across America. Any woman who works while raising a family knows how hard it is to balance all of life's responsibilities. However, few women know how the tax system makes it even harder.

Taxing Women explains how the system operating today was created by males with a 50's mentality (think Pleasantville or Ozzie and Harriet). His well researched discussion elaborates on this philosophy and how the system it engendered is ill-equipped to deal with the two-earner family reality of today. By the way, don't let the word "tax" scare you. McCaffery provides easy to understand examples of situations where women are penalized for working.

I highly recommend this compelling book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew taxes influenced decisions so much?, January 3, 2007

By 

Tax Lawyer (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taxing Women (Paperback)

A fascinating read. I never knew how taxes played such a large affect on marriages and on working women. After reading this book, I suddenly understood that some of the root causes of the economic dilemmas for working mothers are actually caused by our tax system.

McCaffery is right--we need change, and this book explains why.