The widening gap : why America's working families are in jeopardy and what can be done about it / Jody Heymann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Heymann, Jody, 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Work and family--United States.

Work and family.

United States.

Physical Description:

254 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, [2000]

Summary:

As the twenty-first century begins, the overwhelming majority of children in the United States are raised in households in which both parents work. Yet decent, affordable child-care is available to only a fraction of these families. As the population ages, one in four American families cares for elderly relatives, a responsibility that adult children shoulder with little or no help. Other families who must care for disabled adult members receive little support. And the situation is getting worse as employers demand longer hours and government safety nets become frayed. This hard-hitting book combines the first systematic national research on how the need to meet family obligations is affecting working Americans of all social classes and ethnic groups with personal stories of the struggles of individual families.

What happens when a child gets 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? Heymann's research, documented here in stunning detail, and illustrated with revealing case histories, 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, deteriorating child health, and diminished chance of success for adults and children. Outdated labor policy and practice must be brought into this century, argues Heymann. Her findings make it amply clear that we cannot depend on corporations to provide care or to accommodate to 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.

Contents:

2 Predictably Unpredictable: The Lives of Working Americans 15

3 Outdated Working Conditions and Inadequate Social Supports: The Impact on Children 39

4 Special Needs: The Experience of Particularly Vulnerable Children and Their Families 67

5 Impact Across the Life Span: Extended Family Fantasies and Realities 91

6 Economic Inequalities Magnified: Greater Strains, Fewer Resources 113

7 Gender Inequalities: At the Core Lies Our Failure to Address Working Families' Needs 139

8 Society's Best Prospect: An Equal Chance for All Children and Adults 161.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-211) and index.

ISBN:

0465013082

OCLC:

44045684