The dynamics of work and parenthood are in the midst of a revolutionary shift in the United States. Focused around a major factor in this shift—the rise of dual-income families—this groundbreaking volume provides a highly informative snapshot of the intricate fabric of work and family in the United States. With selections written by leading scholars both inside and outside academia, Working Families offers intimate stories of how families manage and how children respond to the rigors of their parents' lives, as well as broad overviews developed from survey and census data. Taken together, these essays present an updated and integral view of the revolutionary changes in patterns of work and family life occurring today.
Using a broad range of methodologies, the contributors reach across gender, age, and class differences. They discuss working-class as well as affluent dual-career couples and work sites ranging from factories to offices. Straddling racial divides, the essays range from studies of white day care providers to a close look at a Mexican maid's daughter. The collection as a whole refutes the assumption that there is one normal type of family or workplace. These readable essays capture our attention as they build, cumulatively, to an absorbing picture of today's families and workplaces.
Rosanna Hertz is Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Wellesley College and author of More Equal Than Others (California, 1990). Nancy L. Marshall is Senior Research Scientist at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women.
"Working Families is a pioneering study by scholars of great capability and insight. This book is a gold mine of observations and information about new approaches to the study of work and family."—Arlene Daniels, co-editor of The Most Difficult Revolution
"Hertz and Marshall have pulled together an impressive collection. The range of well-known authors provide a broad perspective by looking at both women and men across class, work site, and race. Working Families provides cutting edge and original contributions that go well beyond previous research on work and families."—Naomi Gerstel, author of Families and Work
"The information age is transforming family life and the relationships between families, the workplace, and larger society. Working Families moves the discussion of work and family beyond the simplistic notion of 'balancing' by examining the complexity and diversity of everyday family life, as well as the wider economic and political contexts of our current dilemmas."—Arlene Skolnick, author of Embattled Paradise: The American Family in an Age of Uncertainty
"The worlds of work and family in which we live our lives are ever more complex. This important volume sheds lights on the issues faced by working families at home, at work, and in their community."—Kathleen Christensen, Director, Program on Working Families, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
399 pp.6 x 9Illus: 6 line illustrations, 38 tables
9780520226494$31.95|£27.00Paper
Sep 2001