Families That Work

by Gornick, Janet C.; Meyers, Marcia K.

• ISBN13: 9780871543561
• ISBN10: 0871543567
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Summary

"In many countries in Europe and in Canada, family leave policies grant parents paid time off to care for their young children, and labor market regulations go a long way toward ensuring that work does not overwhelm family obligations. In addition, early childhood education and care programs guarantee access to high-quality care for their children. In most of these countries, policies encourage gender equality by strengthening mothers' ties to employment and encouraging fathers to spend more time caregiving at home." "In sharp contrast, Gornick and Meyers show how in the United States - an economy with high labor force participation among both fathers and mothers - parents are left to craft private solutions to the society-wide dilemma of "who will care for the children?" Parents - overwhelmingly mothers - must loosen their ties to the workplace to care for their children; workers are forced to negotiate with their employers, often unsuccessfully, for family leave and reduced work schedules; and parents must purchase care of dubious quality, at high prices, from consumer markets. By leaving child care solutions up to hard-pressed working parents, these private solutions exact a high price in terms of gender inequality in the workplace and at home, family stress and economic insecurity, and - not least - child well-being. Gornick and Meyers show that it is possible - based on the experiences of other countries - to enhance child well-being and to increase gender equality by promoting more extensive and egalitarian family leave, work-time, and child care policies."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Marcia K. Meyers is associate professor of social work and public affairs at the University of Washington. Janet C. Gornick is associate professor of political science at the Graduate Center and Baruch College at the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Chapter 1 Introduction: The Conflicts Between Earning and Caring	1	(23)
Chapter 2 The Changing American Family and the Problem of Private Solutions	24	(34)
Chapter 3 The United States in Cross-National Perspective: Are Parents and Children Doing Better Elsewhere?	58	(26)
Chapter 4 Reconciling the Conflicts: Toward a Dual-Earner Dual-Carer Society	84	(28)