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Title details for Work Matters by Maureen Perry-Jenkins - Available

Work Matters

How Parents' Jobs Shape Children's Well-Being

by Maureen Perry-Jenkins
Katherine Fenton
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
3 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 3 copies available
This audiobook narrated by Katherine Fenton explores how new parents in low-wage jobs juggle the demands of work and childcare Low-wage workers make up the largest group of employed parents in the United States, yet scant attention has been given to their experiences as new mothers and fathers. Work Matters brings the unique stories of these diverse individuals to light. Drawing on years of research and more than fifteen hundred family interviews, Maureen Perry-Jenkins describes how new parents cope with the demands of infant care while holding down low-wage, full-time jobs, and she considers how managing all of these responsibilities have long-term implications for child development. She examines why some parents and children thrive while others struggle, demonstrates how specific job conditions impact parental engagement and child well-being, and discusses common-sense and affordable ways that employers can provide support. In the United States, federal parental leave policy is unfunded. As a result, many new parents, particularly hourly workers, return to their jobs just weeks after giving birth because they cannot afford not to. Not surprisingly, workplace policies that offer parents flexibility and leave time are crucial. But Perry-Jenkins shows that the time parents spend at work also matters. Their day-to-day experiences on the job, such as relationships with supervisors and coworkers, job autonomy, and time pressures, have long-term consequences for parents' mental health, the quality of their parenting, and, ultimately, the health of their children. An overdue look at an important segment of the parenting population, Work Matters proposes ways to reimagine low-wage work to sustain new families and the development of future generations.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 9, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780691243719
      • File size: 177568 KB
      • Duration: 06:09:55

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 1, 2022

      Perry-Jenkins (psychology, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) presents a multi-year study concerning work and American families, particularly "the transition of parenthood coupled with the second transition back to paid employment." Beyond Perry-Jenkins's psychology research, the book uses anecdotes from parents, as in the chapter "They Sure Don't Make It Easy for Parents," about adjusting to parenthood, worrying about family finances, and dealing with workplace matters, with frank discussion of income, educational attainment, and occupational status. Readers will come to understand the social issues at hand through the parents' stories: parents without college degrees who end up at dead-end jobs; the ambiguities of social class as a category, in an era when "middle-class" covers a broad socioeconomic spectrum; workplaces where "flexibility" means something different to supervisors and workers. Perry-Jenkins's book is scholarly but accessible, supported by many charts and endnotes. VERDICT This empathetic study shows how hard it is for many Americans to raise families.--Barbara Kundanis

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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