What it means to be successful in many careers today is best captured by Slaughter (2012): "The American definition of a successful professional is someone who can climb the ladder the furthest in the shortest time.... It is a definition well suited to the mid-20th century, an era when people had kids in their 20s, stayed in one job, retired…

Married couples consisting of female breadwinners and male primary caretakers are increasing in prevalence and visibility. However, little is known about the experiences of these families, particularly about salient challenges and dynamics related to this work-family arrangement. Through inductive qualitative analysis, the current study…

This study examines how industry and occupation sex segregation are related to the use of flexible scheduling policies and perceptions of the career repercussions of using such policies. The analysis is performed on data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 2,810). Findings suggest that the percentage of women per industry…

Social institutions that have been around for thousands of years generally change slowly, when they change at all. But that's not the way things have been playing out with marriage and family since the middle of the 20th Century. Some scholars argue that in the past five decades, the basic architecture of these age-old institutions has changed as…

Investigated three hypotheses regarding structural predictors of domestic work of fathers of 48 families with a preschooler or kindergartner. Father involvement was greatest when the father was jobless and held a flexible view of the male role, the mother was working, and the target child was the oldest or nearly the oldest. (RJC)

Using data from a U.S. midwestern sample of mothers and fathers, the authors examine whether using workplace flexibility policies alters time spent in housework and child care. They hypothesize that an individual's policy use will lead to more time in domestic labor and that his or her spouse's policy use will lead to less time in domestic labor.…

Studies on the differences in socialization experiences of boys and girls are reviewed. The effects of increasingly common maternal employment on this process are considered. (SJL)

A survey investigated the interaction of sex role attitudes, division of household and child care responsibilities, role strain, work satisfaction, and family functioning among 87 working-class Mexican American women in dual-earner families with children. Respondents did not subscribe to the "superwoman" myth but, rather, endorsed an expansion of…

This study of 75 families with at least one preschool child examined the effects of sex-role orientation and wife's employment status on the division of housework and child care and husband and wife's satisfaction with that division. Results indicate that where wives work outside the home, husbands and wives share child care and housework more.…

Compared preschoolers' and parents' reports of division of labor in single- versus dual-earner homes. Found that children with nonemployed mothers underestimated mother's responsibilities and overestimated sharing of caregiving by parents. Daughters in dual-earner families believed fathers engaged in more caregiving than parents indicated. All…

Examined attitudes of 76 Mexican-American females and 62 Mexican-American males about the role of the woman in the workplace and child care responsibility of working parents. Controlling for age, marital status, number of children, and acculturation, males were more likely to hold traditional attitudes than women. (SLD)

Discusses ways in which working situations could be changed to increase the role of men in childrearing. Considers present American attitudes, examples from Norway and Sweden, and possible ways of restructuring working situations in the U.S. (SB)

Considers various social changes affecting the American family including: the rise in single-person households; growing percentage of older adults; the increase in single-parent families; and the increase in working married women. Discusses various needs of children and older adults, as well as the role of community organizations. Prepared by The…

Presents a report from an oceanographer in New Zealand who analyzes the predominant moves of the citizens of New Zealand when it comes to rearing children and apportioning sex roles. She relates her own background and proposes measures for social reform. (Author/SA)

This paper discusses ways in which maternal attitudes may serve as mediating variables linking social class characteristics of the family to the socialization of children. Reference is made to the Family Problem Scale (Ernhart and Loevinger) which provides a psychological characterization of social class levels on five dimensions or subscales:…