The major focus of this book is on patterns of family life that emerge when viewed through the perspective of the different phases of the family life cycle and the various pressures that have changed or reshaped family life during the course of history. Regardless of its title and because the U.S. government does not have a national policy on…

Recent changes in the social and economic roles of women are examined. These changes affect the lives of the largest single group in the United States and have resulted from a movement aimed not only at increased access to society's resources and power, but also at a redefinition of the identity of American women. Topics reviewed include women in…

Articles collected in this book address issues arising from the fact that the American workforce is increasingly composed of parents. Included in the collection are short newspaper and magazine selections as well as longer magazine articles and book chapters. These materials provide primary sources documenting an historical movement of social…

In the area of child rearing, U.S. society has largely allowed "expert" ideas and theories to dominate public discussion and literature on child development, at the expense of the attitudes and experiences of those women actually involved with child rearing. This book argues the need for a feminist discussion of childrearing because of the…

This collection of articles by scholars and policy makers from 14 countries presents multidisciplinary perspectives on the formation of national policy on families. Central topics common to many of the articles include: (1) the differences between policies aimed at affecting the family and policies which have other aims but which do influence the…

In this anthology, Chicana voices of the past and present illuminate the experiences of Mexican American women as they strive to integrate wage work, family life, and community engagement. Sections cover confrontations with the state through community action, court litigation, and union organizing; negotiating work, marriage, and children; stories…

The papers discuss the social and economic forces that have enabled women to explore new and expanding roles, and examine the profound effect the resulting changes are having and will continue to have on the economic and social potential of our nation. "Looking Backward in Order to Look Forward: Women, Work, and Social Values in America" puts the…

This book, written jointly by a working professional couple, looks at the reality of two-career marriages and explores strategies to help couples develop optimally in their careers and in their personal lives. The book is organized in three sections. The first section examines the challenges facing working couples--their role expectations and…

Focusing on Third World countries, this book examines the undereducation of women, causes of women's undereducation, changes in female education patterns, and the significance of such changes in society and in women's lives. The book consists of four parts, comprising different chapters written by social scientists, researchers, and educators.…

The competing demands of the workplace and the home have intensified over the last 25 years as the nation has experienced dramatic social and economic changes affecting businesses, employees, and families. In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide a national policy that supports families in their efforts to strike…

During the 1920s, progressive women activists invented welfare to help mothers and their children survive when breadwinning fathers either died or abandoned their families. During the 1930s, the local mothers' pension programs of the Progressive Era became part of the emerging national welfare state, which was conceived to relieve poor single…

This book proposes a new, multidisciplinary theory for explaining and predicting current and future patterns of women's choice between employment and family work. Chapters 1 and 2 present main tenets of preference theory and explain the need for the theory. Chapters 3 through 8 elaborate four principal tenets of preference theory. Chapter 3…

The 5-year impacts of mandatory welfare-to-work programs on welfare recipients and their children were examined by using a rigorous research design called a social experiment to examine 11 welfare-to-work programs in 6 states (California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon). Four employment-focused and seven education-focused programs…