Seminars

The book argues that the rise of states in the first millennium BCE moved the family from a patrilineal Tribal family to a bilateral Nuclear family, with the Patriarchal family (which started out patrilineal but can be bilateral) as a halfway house. The transformation of power in the family is relevant for understanding the status of women and the young in society. The importance of the former is self-evident; the latter matters for society's capacity for innovation-driven growth.

This book is based on following a sample of 30 New York City mothers and their children, all born between 1996 and 1998 with longitudinal qualitative interviews and participant observation. A prior book, Putting Children First: How Low-wage Mothers Mange Child Care, chronicled the families’ stories with a focus on children’s care arrangements and their implications between birth and age four. The book is based on the data collected and analysis for the families through the 18th birthday of the focal child, and is extensive across the domains of children’s care and schooling, mother’s employment, family structures and changes, housing, and a host of other areas of their lives. The book is divided into two primary parts of findings – one on mothers’ work and the other on family life. There is a policy chapter that identifies which public policies would support the needs and development for low-income families and children. This chapter is the third chapter of the part of the book on Mothers’ Work, and builds on analysis from the two prior work chapters.