She Works/He Works: How Two-Income Families Are Happy, Healthy, and Thriving

by Rosalind C. Barnett and Caryl Rivers

Book Overview

Readable and challenging, this four-year study of three hundred middle-class and working-class couples debunks the myth of the overwrought working mother with her insensitive husband and neglected children. Drawing on extensive cross-disciplinary research, Rosalind Barnett and Caryl Rivers argue that "collaborative couples," busy as they are, thrive in their diverse roles, and inspire competence and confidence in their children.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067480595X
• ISBN13: 9780674805958
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Info!

This book finally debunks many of the myths that tend to dog working parents. It turns the table around to show that, in many cases, working parents provide a healthier and happier lifestyle for their families.Let's face it, the two-income family is hear to stay. It is highly unlikely that we as a society will go back to having a parent stay at home just to tend to its children. It didn't work in the '50s, and it won't work now. We need meaningful change based on a real assessment of the situation--and this book gives one.Based on Barnett and Rivers' 4 year study of 600 working class and middle-class COUPLES (don't know WHAT that other review is talking about--this book is not based on the study "A Reader" suggests--the data was compiled by 1996 from a study funded by [I think]Radcliff). Many real-life examples are given, and their invaluable insights compliment Barnett and Rivers' points.Brava!

Wonderful Optimistic View of Couples Who Work

Barnett and Rivers do a wonderful job of presenting real facts that support a phenomenon so many of us experience. Thank you for the support and optimism!

Yeah! Research supports a positive view of working families.

This book gives research to support that working families do not ruin children. I particularly liked the different view of families in the past and the contradictions with the "Leave it to Beaver" time. Historically, women have either worked or even when home did not interact as much with children (they were just "there"). The research also does not seem to show much more happiness for moms that work outside the home part time (which really surprised me). Women as individuals are taking care of themselves and sharing the load. The husbands have become partners more often than not so the marriages are healthier. Gender roles are becoming less rigid. I really enjoyed reading this book and felt a lot of affirmation from it. The only negative side is that some of the information is repetitive.

ALARMING COMMENTARY ON STATUS OF AMERICAN FAMILY

This is an extremely well written book that takes scholarlyinquiry and re-packages it for the popular lay audience. While I wouldlike to refer to this style as entertaining, I refrain from doing so because of the seriousness of the subject and the alarm bells it sets off in me regarding its message. "She Works/He Works" explores the present state of the two earner income family and forcefully debunks the myth based on nostaglia regarding life in the fifties where Mom was a full-time happy homemaker and Dad was the sole breadwinner. The author's derail the Ozzie and Harriet syndrome and discuss how this period of post-war euphoria was really just a blip on the screen and should not be seen as an idyllic time. In reality, Harriet was miserable and was probably spending most her time sipping Vodka and Tonics while she wisked away at her husband's ring around the collar and doted on her children. The authors do a marvelous job in pointing out the really positive outcomes that have emerged as a result of women entering the workforce as serious full-time workers. In summary, women are happier in challenging jobs, their husbands are are happier that they are no longer the only source of income for the family in a time of frequent downsizing and economic uncertainty. Unfortunately, while the facts are optimistic when it comes to the improvement in physical, mental, and economic health for the adults in the family, it is extremely alarming for the well-being of young children. The authors spend an entire chapter in trying to discredit those like Penelope Leach("Children First") that do not feel that the picture of the two-earner family is a rosy one because of its impact upon young children in daycare. One can be totally in agreement that Ozzie and Harriet should remain forever "dead" without succombing to the assumption that this must be at the expense of the young child. One can be in support of the benefits of the workplace without being in support of placing children in a warehousing mode while this goes on. The "collaborative couple" might need to seriously re-think whether they should have children from an economic, emotional, and career vantage point. If they do, then perhaps, they can come up with a temporary and flexible alternative that would allow ONE (not necessarily the women) to stay home and become a "personal manager" for their young child. All of the recent fanfare on brain development during the birth to three years of age period is extremely compelling. This is a critical period of time that really requires one-on-one "qualified" parenting in order to optimize the growth(emotional,cognitive,physical)of the child. The new "collaborative couple" which the authors so brilliantly bring to the reader's attention, really needs to go back to the problem-solving chalk board and come up with some creative alternatives to placing their young off-spring in a less than optimal environment. This is not a mis-directed wish to return to so

Excellent summary of a randomized, representative sample of dual-earner families

Studies of this topic have historically used "snowball" samples due to difficulties in getting enough participants via random mechanisms. Rivers and Barnett ditched secondary criteria (Hertz used corporate careers in _More Equal ThanOthers_ from the early 80s; Schwartz used equality in the relationship in _Peer Marriage_ more recently) in favor of focussing on the primary one: a marriage of two people who both work full time. The result applies across income ranges and job types in a way that the work of Hertz and Schwartz did not. And the results are wonderfully encouraging! A two-earner family is less stressed, more flexible, has a stronger relationship between the adults and with the kids and is intellectually and emotionally a more rewarding environment for child-raising. The women are less subject to depression and the men are more actively involved in family life. The big downside: these people are *busy*. I highly recommend this readable and insightful look at what is now the norm for American households