In my last blog post I wrote about "A Woman's Nation," the project Maria Shriver launched this week to focus attention on a world in which women now make up 50% of the workforce.

Not "A Vibrant Woman's Nation"

While Shriver at 54 is herself a Vibrant Woman (a smart, successful woman over 50), her report pays little attention to issues directly affecting other women like her. It is apparently not "A Vibrant Woman's Nation."

This is disappointing, given that women over 50 represent the fastest-growing portion of the workforce – and the fact that women are more likely to be the leading breadwinner in Boomer households than any other.

Gloria Steinem offered another critique of the report this week, by noting that the risks of this report come from "portraying women’s arrival at 50/50 as an irresistible force that by itself 'changes everything.'"

That said, I strongly anyone interested in doing business with women to read the various articles and essays in the Shriver Report. First, reading it is an encouraging activity in itself. Without whitewashing the life of real women it portrays a world in which women's importance in all areas of activity is here to stay. That was not a foregone conclusion even 25 years ago.

Second, while the report alone won't improve the lives of women, reading and studying it can represent a real first step on the way to achieving the progress women's success requires.

What can the Shriver Report teach a Vibrant Nation?

With that perspective, what does it offer that might help those who do business with Boomer woman? Too much to cover here, but here are a few highlights:

1. Workplace policies. In "Family Friendly for All Families," we learn that 27% of women respondents wanted to take time off from work to care for their parents but were not able to do so. We know that women are disproportionately responsible (compared to men) for childcare; but the study also suggests that women are even more disproportionately responsible than men for parental care; the caregiving burden is too often a woman's burden alone. Supporters of this Vibrant Nation should read the Shriver Report's recommendations that government increase its protection for women who take time off (and spend money) caring for their parents and other family members. Resources necessary to care for aging parents will grow much faster over the next ten years than additional resources needed for childcare.
2. Women keep changing. I once heard the CEO of a multi-billion company complain about his women managers, "Every time we give them something, they decide they want something else!" Jamal Simmons, a male contributor to The Shriver Report, writes about men coming to terms with women's changing desires and goals over the course of her life (sometimes over the course of a day). In "Genders Full of Questions Marks," he writes that "The woman you commit to today may have the same name and Social Security number as the woman you are with tomorrow, but she may want completely different things in her life at different times in your life with her. The only remaining rule seems to be: Stay flexible." I can't think of a better message for the employers and marketers who work with Vibrant Women. Conclusion
   
   The Shriver Report has many failings. Presenting itself as a start turn for California's First Lady is one. Not addressing Vibrant Women directly is another. But if people who can make the world a better place for women read it and determine to incorporate some part of it in their own work, their businesses will thrive and they will make the world a better place for women – and men – of all ages. more flash forward»