Not Guilty The Good News For Working Mothers [Paperback]

In this provocative work, Betty Holcomb offers a fresh and thoughtful analysis of the real costs and benefits of women working outside the home. Puncturing popular myths, she takes a hard look at decades of research and shows that working mothers suffer stress, fatigue, and guilt, not as a natural outgrowth of juggling a job and family, but because of stereotypes, hostile workplaces, and policies that have yet to catch up with real life. With the right support, she argues, the revolution of the working mother could lead to richer and more satisfying lives for women and children -- and men -- alike.
Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

1Supermom's Daughters:

The Birth of a New Pessimism

2Homeward Bound?

The Feminine Mystique Circa the 1990s

3Marketing the Mystique:

For Profit and Ideology

4What About Your Kids?

Stigmatizing Ambition

5Mothers Not Welcome Here:

How the Myths Fuel Discrimination

6You Had the Baby, It's Your Problem!

Justifying the Inflexible Workplace

7Will Only Mommy Do?

The Power of Scientific Myths

8In the Care of Strangers:

Day Care's Enduring Stigma

9The New Math: Does It Pay to Work?

The Myth of Choice About Working

10Women's Puny Paychecks:

How They Got So Small

11ItDoesTake a Village to Raise a Child:

The Myth of Personal Responsibility

12Whose Family Values?

The Politics That Devalue Working Mothers

13Yes, Families Are Changing --

For the Better

14Not Guilty!

From Angst to Anger

Endnotes

IndexCaryl RiversThe Boston GlobeA fresh breeze in a smog of myth and misinformation.Ellen GoodmanThe Boston GlobeRefreshingly new and daring....In the 19lóÁ