Women, Work, and Families : Balancing and Weaving

by Angela Jean Hattery

• ISBN13: 9780761919360
• ISBN10: 0761919368
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-05
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

This study of 30 mothers looks at the varying ways women balance work and family life. It is carried out through intensive interviews and the data is examined from several theoretical standpoints, including structural theory, motherhood theory, and feminist theory. A supplemental text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in Family Studies Programs and Women's Studies programs.

Author Biography

Angela J. Hattery is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University. She joined the department in 1998 after 2 years as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ball State University. She earned her PhD in sociology in 1996 at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison and her bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology at Carleton College in 1988. Her current research focuses on the ways in which mothers with young children balance and weave work and family

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction and History of Women's Labor Force Participation	1	(17)
The Purpose of the Book	3	(2)
Balancing and Weaving	3	(2)
Theoretical Perspectives	5	(2)
The Power of Ideology	7	(3)
A Look Ahead	7	(3)
History of Women's Labor Force Participation	10	(8)
Subsistence Cultures	11	(1)
Agricultural Era	11	(1)
The Industrial Era	12	(2)
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	14	(1)
Patterns in the 20th Century	15	(3)
Ideologies of Motherhood: Content and the Dominant Model	18	(23)
Therborn's Writings on Ideology	19	(3)
Ideology as a Concept	19	(1)
Ideology and Individual Agency	19	(1)
Ideology as a Framework	20	(1)
Ideology as a Social Process	21	(1)
The Power of Ideology	21	(1)
Content of Ideologies of Motherhood	22	(4)
Intensive Mothering	22	(3)
Competing Ideologies of Motherhood	25	(1)
Systems of Discourse	26	(13)
Family Interactions	27	(1)
Expert Testimony	28	(4)
Nonexpert High-Profile Testimony	32	(7)
Summary of Major Points	39	(2)
Balancing and Weaving to Be a ``Good'' Mother	41	(27)
My History of This Project	41	(4)
An Epistemological Point	43	(2)
My Own Standpoint	45	(1)
Profiles of the Mothers	45	(8)
The Interviews	46	(2)
Analytical Techniques	48	(1)
Personal Reflections	49	(1)
Ideal Types	50	(3)
Pinching Pennies: The Story of Cheryl, A Conformist	53	(1)
Entitled to Work: The Case of Emily, a Nonconformist	54	(2)
Trying to Balance It All: The Story of Tammy, a Pragmatist	56	(3)
I'M the Breadwinner: the Case of Bobbi, a Pragmatist	59	(1)
Nonoverlapping Shift Work: The Case of Jean, an Innovator	60	(2)
Working From Home: the Case of Haley, an Innovator	62	(1)
Taking the Children to Work: the Case of Kate, an Innovator	63	(2)
Summary of Main Findings	65	(3)
Theoretical Paradigms for Understanding Maternal Labor Force Participation	68	(28)
Structural-Functionalist Paradigm	69	(1)
Rational Choice Paradigms	70	(6)
New Home Economics and Human Capital Theory	70	(1)
Sociostructural perspectives	71	(1)
Economic Need	72	(1)
Occupational Opportunity	72	(1)
Child Care Costs	72	(2)
Family Size	74	(1)
Father's Employment Schedule	75	(1)
Neoclassical Economic Theory	76	(3)
Feminist Paradigms	79	(4)
Race, Class, and Gender Model	83	(2)
Motherhood Ideology	85	(4)
Motherhood Ideology as a Variable	87	(1)
Gender Role Strategy	87	(1)
Gender Role Strategy Versus Motherhood Ideology	88	(1)
My Model	89	(3)
Structural-Functionalism	89	(1)
Rational Choice and Human Capital	90	(1)
Economic Need	90	(1)
Feminist Paradigms	90	(1)
Motherhood Ideology	91	(1)
Synthesis	92	(2)
Summary of Main Points	94	(2)
To Work or Not to Work? That Is the Question	96	(30)
Conformists	99	(4)
Nonconformists	103	(5)
Pragmatists	108	(7)
Factors Influencing Labor Force Decisions	109	(3)
The Part-Time Ideal	112	(3)
Innovators	115	(6)
Factors Influencing Labor Force Decisions	116	(5)
Summary of Qualitative Data	121	(1)
Quantitative Data	122	(3)
Relationship Between Motherhood Ideology and Maternal Labor Force Participation	123	(2)
Summary of Main Findings	125	(1)
``Are Children Better Off If They Have New Bikes Rather Than Having You at Home?'' Motherhood Ideology and the Construction of Economic Need	126	(20)
The Economics of Employment	127	(1)
Assessing Economic Need	127	(1)
Women's Labor Force Participation	128	(4)
More Women at ``Work''	129	(1)
Men's Wages Decline	130	(1)
The Rising Standard of Living	131	(1)
The Actual Construction of Economic Need	132	(2)
Mother's Statements	133	(1)
Conformists	134	(3)
Motherhood Ideology: Staying at Home Is the Only Way to Be a Good Mother	134	(1)
Budgeting to Live on One Income	135	(2)
Nonconformists, Pragmatists, and Innovators	137	(6)
Motherhood Ideology: Providing Financially for the Family Is Part of Being a Good Mother	137	(6)
Summary of Main Findings	143	(3)
``He's Got to Learn That the World Is Not Just He Alone'': Solving the Child Care Dilemma	146	(19)
Conformists	148	(3)
Homeschooling	150	(1)
Innovators	151	(3)
Maternal Versus Parental Care	151	(1)
Creating or Taking Advantage of Preexisting Patterns to Weave Work and Family?	152	(1)
Which Comes First, Beliefs or Behaviors?	153	(1)
Pragmatists	154	(2)
Nonconformists	156	(2)
Responsibility for Child Care	158	(2)
Summary of Major Findings	160	(5)
The Power of Ideology and the Ideology of Power	165	(24)
Understanding the Issues Theoretically	166	(2)
Structural-Functionalism	166	(1)
Rational Choice Theories	166	(1)
Economic Model	167	(1)
Feminist Models	167	(1)
This Study	168	(15)
Four Distinct Types of Mothers	169	(2)
Measurement Issues	171	(3)
The Role of Fathers	174	(4)
Turkey Cookies	178	(5)
The Power of Ideology	183	(3)
Changing Ideology?	184	(2)
As Children Grow	186	(3)
Appendix A: Interview Schedule	189	(6)
Appendix B: Demographics of the Interview Sample	195	(7)
Appendix C: Frequency Distributions for Relevant Demographic Variables Broken Down by Entire Sample, Volunteer Sample, and Interview Sample	202	(3)
Appendix D: Sampling and Measurement	205	(5)
Appendix E: Quantitative Data	210	(3)
References	213	(6)
Index	219	(14)
About the Author	233