Work and Family

Despite calls for a renewal of family values and the proliferation of corporate work-family programs, the goal of achieving a healthy balance between the demands of work and a satisfying family life remains elusive. Dr. Parasuraman, Dr. Greenhaus, and the contributors to this well-balanced and thoughtful volume examine this increasingly prevalent social dilemma from a "stakeholder perspective." They see work-family tensions as a multifaceted social issue, and they examine the nature and consequences of these tensions from the viewpoints of individuals, employers, consultants, counseling professionals, and other service providers. Their inclusion of legal, cultural, international, and research perspectives and recognition of the unique concerns of vulnerable groups, such as nonexempt employees and ethnic minorities, add to the breadth of coverage. Academics in the tocial and behavioral sciences, executive decision-makers in government and business, human resource professionals, and employed men and women interested in achieving work-life balance will find this volume insightful, stimulating, and useful.

The first longitudinal academic study of the phenomenon of working from home--who is doing it, what they are doing, and how it affects family life and community.

From leading expert James Levine, the groundbreaking guide to navigating the Daddy Track that Arlie Hochschild calls "must reading for all fathers"

In Unbending Gender, Joan Williams takes a hard look at the state of feminism in America. Concerned by what she finds--young women who flatly refuse to identify themselves as feminists and working-class and minority women who feel the movement hasn't addressed the issues that dominate their daily lives--she outlines a new vision of feminism that calls for workplaces focused on the needs of families and, in divorce cases, recognition of the value of family work and its impact on women's earning power. Williams notes that good jobs in America are designed for the ideal employee, who works full-time and often overtime, with no career interruptions. Even today, most American mothers do not meet this ideal: a majority do not work full-time, and only a small fraction work overtime. Williams points out that women will never achieve equality until mothers do: she argues that employers need to implement parent-supportive policies--or face liability for sex discrimination. She also maintains that ideal-worker fathers are supported by a flow of family work from mothers, yet divorce courts treat the family wage as owned solely by the ideal worker. The result is the impoverishment of women and children, who comprise the bulk of the poor in the United States. Unbending Gender questions the idea that women simply choose between staying at home with their children or going to work. Given the limited options that contemporary American culture allows them, mothers are forced to make compromises. Joan Williams' solution is an inclusive, family-friendly feminism that supports both mothers and fathers as caregivers and as workers.

This hard-hitting book draws on the first systematic national research on how the need to meet family obligations is affecting working Americans of all social classes and ethnic groups. What happens when kids get sick? When an elderly parent is hospitalized? How do poor families -- who have been studied in less depth than their middle-class peers -- cope with work-family demands? Jody Heymann's research, documented here in stunning detail, points to a widening gap between working families and the health and development of children. She demonstrates how lack of essential services and support lead to increased school failure, chronic illness, and diminished chance of success for adults and children. Outdated labor policy and practice must be brought into the twenty-first century, argues Heymann. Her findings make it amply clear that we cannot depend on corporations to provide care or to accommodate family needs. We must create a national commitment to childcare (not unlike our mandate for universal education) and a guaranteed safety net for emergency care and special needs. To do less is to abandon the precepts of equal opportunity on which America is founded.

This innovative book examines the nature of work and reward, and the place each has in today's society. The author examines why so many people feel "trapped" in the workplace today, and develops a framework that can be used to improve life both in and out of the workplace. The author states that the current definition of work today is sacrifice' and the reward is frequently money. He argues that employees also need access to such things as truth, good, beauty, and power. Concentration on the work ethic will give way to the development ethic which minimizes sacrifice and maximizes development through the use of technology and the structuring of our value system.

Thirty years after the feminist revolution, women have a wealth of opportunities their mothers never dreamed possible. But whether women opt for corporate careers, strike out on their own as entrepreneurs, or leave their jobs to pursue the "Mommy Track," their choices always come with a price. And often, after the first shift working at the office and the second shift working on the home, in those quiet hours of contemplation that Michele Bolton calls the third shift, even the most outwardly successful women are plagued by doubts about the decisions and trade-offs they've made. In this book, Bolton gives women techniques for turning the third shift from a time of guilt and self-doubt into an opportunity to build self-awareness and self-confidence. Bolton examines the three most important dilemmas women face: expressing your true identity or conforming to the expectations of others; focusing on the task at hand or worrying about the feelings of coworkers; working on your own goals or serving the needs of others. Then, using case studies drawn from her consulting work and a three-year study conducted with women in Silicon Valley, she conveys effective strategies real-life women have used to deal with these dilemmas in the corporate world, in an entrepreneurial environment, and in life at home and in the community. In each chapter, Bolton provides handy summaries of these strategies. She also captures the actual thoughts women have about each issue in a dialogue that contrasts self-awareness with self-doubt, so that women can begin to change their own internal dialogue into one of self-guidance, self-acceptance, and inner harmony. By identifying and analyzing the unique challenges women face, Bolton helps them make more effective decisions about their lives and attain personal satisfaction no matter which path they choose.