Hard Choices

How do women choose between work and family commitments? And what are the causes, limits, and consequences of the "subtle revolution" in women's choices over the 1960s and 1970s? To answer these questions, Kathleen Gerson analyzes the experiences of a carefully selected group of middle-class and working-class women who were young adults in the 1970s. Their informative life histories reveal the emerging social forces in American society that have led today's women to face several difficult choices.

Kathleen Gerson is Professor of Sociology, New York University.

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments

I Womens Work and Family Decisions:
The "Subtle Revolution" in Historical Perspective
Changing Work and Family Patterns
Cohorts and Social Change
Alternative Paths in Adult Development

2 Explaining Womens Behavior:
A Theoretical Overview
The Structural Coercion Approach
The Voluntarist Approach
A Developmental Approach

3 Baselines
Childhood Socialization
Starting Points
Ambivalence and Change

4 Veering Away from Domesticity
Rising Work Aspirations and Family Ambivalence
Conclusion

5 Veering Toward Domesticity
Declining Work Aspirations and the Home as a Haven
Comparing Domestic and Nondomestic Groups
Stability and Change in Adulthood
Conclusion

6 Homemaking Versus Childlessness
The Persistence of Domestic Patterns
Nondomestic Responses
Choosing to Stay Childless

7 Combining Work and Motherhood
Reluctant Motherhood
Childlessness Versus Reluctant Motherhood
Domestic Versus Nondomestic Responses

8 The Changing Contours of Womens Place Development, Choice, and Structured
Alternatives
The Limits of Socialization, Personality, and Dominance Models
Work and Family Structures in Transition
Conclusion

9 The Politics of Parenthood
The Limits of Change and the Conflict Among Women
Gender Equality, Social Policy, and the Role of the State

Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Bibliography
Index

Tables
Methodology
Sample Characteristics
Interview Schedule

LIST OF FIGURES
1 Comparisons Between the U.S. Birthrate and the
Female Labor Force Participation Rate, 1890-1980
2 Alternative Adult Pathways
3 Alternative Adult Pathways and Future Plans
4 Rates of First Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage for U.S. Women: 1921-1977
5 Real Disposable Income for Workers with Three Dependents,
1947-1979 (in Constant Dollars)
List of Tables