From Denied Credit to Running the Show: How the 1990s Changed Everything for Women

You might wonder: when were women allowed to get credit cards? The answer isn’t straightforward—while legal barriers technically fell with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1974, real financial equality took decades to materialize. The 1990s became a turning point where women didn’t just participate in the economy, they started to reshape it entirely.

The Money Talk: Income and Workplace Reality

By 1999, women made up 60% of the workforce—a dramatic shift from previous decades. But here’s the catch: they were still earning just 76.5 cents for every dollar men made. The racial gap made it even worse. White women pulled in 75.7 cents per dollar earned by white men, while Black women got 64.1 cents and Latina women only 54.5 cents.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 marked a watershed moment. For the first time, employers couldn’t fire women for taking medical leave due to pregnancy. While leave remained unpaid, the law mandated companies with 50+ employees hold jobs for up to 12 weeks. This protection extended to adoption and foster care situations too—though eligibility required one year of tenure and 1,250+ work hours at that company.

That same spirit of supporting the next generation showed up in Take Our Daughters to Work Day, launched in 1992 by the Ms. Foundation for Women and Marie Wilson (with a boost from Gloria Steinem). The message was clear: girls could envision themselves in any career.

Politics: Women Broke Through the Glass Ceiling

The year 1992 got a fitting nickname: “The Year of the Woman.” Four women entered the Senate that year—Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein from California, Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois (the first Black female senator), and Patty Murray of Washington. Another 24 women claimed House seats. A year later, Janet Reno shattered another barrier by becoming the first female U.S. Attorney General.

The TV Girls That Changed Everything

Here’s where culture caught up with politics. While '70s and '80s TV showed women grudgingly doing “men’s work” to survive, the '90s flipped the script entirely—centering on girls themselves.

Shows like Clarissa Explains It All, Pepper Ann, and Moesha introduced audiences to feminists-in-training who weren’t apologizing for being smart and opinionated. Clarissa, a sarcastic teen programmer, demolished the myth that boys wouldn’t watch shows with female leads. Pepper Ann brought her feminist mom’s values to a show about a sporty, independent 12-year-old proving girls could do anything. Moesha tackled racism and sexism in her community while living an authentic teenage life.

The ripple effect mattered more than the shows themselves. A generation of girls grew up learning that womanhood wasn’t a fixed template—it was whatever they made it. Career paths weren’t limited to nursing, teaching, or motherhood. Every opportunity belonged to them, obstacles be damned.

The Bottom Line

The 1990s didn’t solve women’s financial inequality overnight, but they planted seeds. From legal protections around motherhood to women breaking into politics to girls on TV dreaming without limits—the decade proved that progress, once started, compounds across every level of society.