Work and Family in America: A Reference Handbook

by Leslie F. Stebbins

Surveying current research findings, social trends, and public controversies, Work and Family in America examines the changing cultures of the workplace, family, and home.

Once viewed as a "women and day care" problem, work-family now encompasses a vast and complex set of issues. Eldercare. Fatherhood. Telecommuting. Pay equity. Employee productivity and retention. Feminism. Child care and childcare development. Youth violence. Welfare. Nontraditional families and family values.

This extensive overview of this burgeoning field includes everything from a detailed history and statistics comparing trends in the United States and abroad to key legislation and legal cases. It gives biographical sketches of well-known activists like Betty Friedan, Arle Hothschild, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Lesser-known advocates like James A. Levine, director of the Fatherhood Project at the Family and Work Institute and MIT professor Lotte Bailyn, who believes work should be organized around tasks, not time, are also included.

262 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Leslie F. Stebbins is an independent researcher and the director of Research4Ed, where her clients include Harvard University, the U.S. Department of Education, Tufts University, and the Gates Foundation. She has more than thirty years of experience in higher education with a background in library and information science, instructional design, research, and teaching. Leslie lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.