This article questions the benefits of globalization for low-income women through an analysis of 1997 data on women export-processing workers in the Dominican Republic. Export processing has contributed to an increase in women’s labor-force participation and their greater economic autonomy. But the percentage of men employed in export processing has also increased and efforts to improve working conditions through collective bargaining or other means are still weak. The increasing percentage of female heads of household, who rely heavily on extended kin for financial and emotional support, provides additional evidence of the erosion of the male-breadwinner model.