1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821230303321

Autore

Gerson Kathleen

Titolo

Hard choices : how women decide about work, career, and motherhood / / Kathleen Gerson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c1985

ISBN

1-282-35528-7

9786612355288

0-520-90813-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xix, 312 pages)

Collana

California series on social choice and political economy

Disciplina

305.4/0973

Soggetti

Women - United States - Social conditions

Mothers - United States - Social conditions

Women - Employment - United States - History

Mothers - Employment - United States - History

Family size - United States - History

Women - United States - Psychology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-301) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF FIGURES -- LIST OF TABLES -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. Women's Work and Family Decisions: The "Subtle Revolution" in Historical Perspective -- 2. Explaining Women's Behavior: A Theoretical Overview -- 3. Baselines -- 4. Veering Away from Domesticity -- 5. Veering Toward Domesticity -- 6. Homemaking Versus Childlessness -- 7. Combining Work and Motherhood -- 8. The Changing Contours of Women's Place -- 9. The Politics of Parenthood -- APPENDIX A. Tables -- APPENDIX B. Methodology -- APPENDIX C. Sample Characteristics -- APPENDIX D. Interview Schedule -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

How do women choose between work and family commitments? And what are the causes, limits, and consequences of the "subtle revolution" in women's choices over the 1960's and 1970's? To answer these questions, Kathleen Gerson analyzes the experiences of a carefully selected group of middle-class and working-class women who were young adults in the 1970's. Their informative life histories reveal the



emerging social forces in American society that have led today's women to face several difficult choices.