This innovative book examines changes in family practices and paid work in the 21st century. Focusing on highly qualified mothers who combine childcare with employment, it makes a valuable contribution to current debates. It also takes into account the views of fathers, making it a rounded study of family practice in the new millennium. Hard Labour puts forward some new and thought-provoking arguments about both mothers' and fathers' commitments to parenting and paid work. The first part of the book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive and readable overview of the literature on motherhood, fatherhood, family practices, and women in employment. The second part draws on a qualitative study of the lives of twenty mothers and their husbands or partners, each of whom is educated to degree level or above, and has at least one child under five. This study considers key aspects of the family lives of the men and women interviewed, including: How they manage their commitments to one another, their children and their professional work Sharing out family tasks such as childcare and housework At each stage, the empirical research is placed in the context of the literature referenced in the first part, and of the wider debate on career and motherhood. Hard Labour is essential reading for students and academics in sociology, family policy, family studies, women’s or gender studies and the sociology of management/employment.

This text examines the changes in family practices and paid work in the 21st century. Its main focus is highly qualified working mothers with very young children, but also takes into account the views of fathers.

What is the relationship between women’s reproductive bodies and women’s productive work? How does women’s potential for maternity affect women’s workplace opportunity? How far can women ’choose’ and maintain their own embodied boundaries in relation to work and working practices? This fascinating and topical book evaluates the growing debate on gender, women’s bodies, and work. Through the lens of the body - and from a feminist perspective - Gatrell considers women’s work from two angles, the first conceptualizing the labour of maternity as women’s work, the second exploring the dynamics between women’s bodies and employment. The author suggests that maternity constitutes women’s work, with some women ‘expected’ to produce children, while others are criticised for giving birth. She calls for the re-conceptualization of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding as forms of labour – asserting that mothers are required to perform particular forms of body work in order to comply with ideals of ‘good’ mothering and norms of the workplace. The book observes that these are conflicting requirements, which place irreconcilable demands on women and constrain women’s choice. At the heart of Embodying Women’s Work is the idea that women’s bodies are central to gendered power relations, and remain a negotiated site of power between men and women within late modern society. The book considers women’s bodies in the context of different forms of paid work, discussing how far women remain at an economic disadvantage in comparison with male workers. Embodying Women’s Work is of key interest for students and academics of sociology, social welfare and women’s studies.

Considering part-time study? If so, then this is the book for you! Managing Part-time Study is perfect for the increasing number of students who are considering, or taking, academic courses part-time, whether at postgraduate or undergraduate level. It offers the kind of advice and encouragement that part-time students find difficult to source elsewhere, by recognizing that many of the challenges confronting them are unique to their situation. For example, problems can include the stress of combining study with family or work commitments, alongside pressures caused by studying over a prolonged period. In response to these issues, the book offers part-time students strategies to: Manage their own learning Sustain their motivation and keep going Prioritize the competing demands on their time Anticipate the challenges which they will encounter Managing Part-time Study provides the most appropriate solutions to frequently encountered situations and offers advice and 'real life' experiences from other part-time students. The book draws upon up-to-date research and also upon Caroline Gatrell's own experience both of teaching part-time students, and of being a part-time student herself.

It is a very impressive book. Its coverage of contemporary discourses of fatherhood is comprehensive. The theoretical stance is one that allows for complexity and fluidity. The authors write well, making even esoteric sociological and cultural theory accessible. I recommend it' - "British Journal of Social Work " Constructing Fatherhood provides an analysis of the social, cultural and symbolic meanings of fatherhood in contemporary western societies. The authors draw on poststructuralist theory to analyze the representation of fatherhood in the expert' literature of psychology, sociology and the health sciences, and in popular sources such as television, film, advertisements and child-care and parenting manuals and magazines. Men's own accounts of first-time fatherhood are also drawn upon, including four individual case studies.

The Second Edition of this best selling book provides a comprehensive examination of the role that gender plays in work environments. This book differs from others by comparing women′s and men′s work status, addressing contemporary issues within a historical perspective, incorporating comparative material from other countries, recognizing differences in the experiences of women and men from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Relying on both qualitative and quantitative data, the authors seek to link social scientific ideas about workers′ lives, sex inequality, and gender to the real-world workplace. This new edition contains updated statistics, timely cartoons, and presents new scholarship in the field. It also provides a renewed focus on reasons for variability in inequality across workplaces. In sum, the second edition of Women and Men at Work presents a contemporary perspective to the field, with relevant comparative and historical insights that will draw readers in and connect them to the wider concern of making sense of our dramatically changing world.

Multi-award-winning author Rachel Cusk’s honest memoir that captures the life-changing wonders of motherhood. Selected by The New York Times as one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years “Funny and smart and refreshingly akin to a war diary—sort of Apocalypse Baby Now . . . A Life’s Work is wholly original and unabashedly true.” —The New York Times Book Review A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother is Rachel Cusk’s funny, moving, brutally honest account of her early experiences of motherhood. When it was published it 2001, it divided critics and readers. One famous columnist wrote a piece demanding that Cusk’s children be taken into care, saying she was unfit to look after them, and Oprah Winfrey invited her on the show to defend herself. An education in babies, books, breast-feeding, toddler groups, broken nights, bad advice and never being alone, it is a landmark work, which has provoked acclaim and outrage in equal measure.

Caroline Gatrell argues that a woman's employment is inextricably linked to her gender and that expectations regarding family practices and women's labour have a strong and often negative impact on women's career progress.

Widening global inequalities make it difficult for parents in developing nations to provide for their children, and both mothers and fathers often find that migration in search of higher wages is their only hope. Their dreams are straightforward: with more money, they can improve their children's lives. But the reality of their experiences is often harsh, and structural barriers—particularly those rooted in immigration policies and gender inequities—prevent many from reaching their economic goals. Sacrificing Families offers a first-hand look at Salvadoran transnational families, how the parents fare in the United States, and the experiences of the children back home. It captures the tragedy of these families' daily living arrangements, but also delves deeper to expose the structural context that creates and sustains patterns of inequality in their well-being. What prevents these parents from migrating with their children? What are these families' experiences with long-term separation? And why do some ultimately fare better than others? As free trade agreements expand and nation-states open doors widely for products and profits while closing them tightly for refugees and migrants, these transnational families are not only becoming more common, but they are living through lengthier separations. Leisy Abrego gives voice to these immigrants and their families and documents the inequalities across their experiences.

Shadow Mothers shines new light on an aspect of contemporary motherhood often hidden from view: the need for paid childcare by women returning to the workforce, and the complex bonds mothers forge with the "shadow mothers" they hire. Cameron Lynne Macdonald illuminates both sides of an unequal and complicated relationship. Based on in-depth interviews with professional women and childcare providers— immigrant and American-born nannies as well as European au pairs—Shadow Mothers locates the roots of individual skirmishes between mothers and their childcare providers in broader cultural and social tensions. Macdonald argues that these conflicts arise from unrealistic ideals about mothering and inflexible career paths and work schedules, as well as from the devaluation of paid care work.