Containing interviews with more than 100 middle-class working parents in the Boston area, Bookman vividly illustrates the inherent conflicts faced by today's two-working-parent families and the often unfortunate consequences for the community. In an important departure from the ongoing debate, she offers a new paradigm for the relationship between paid and unpaid work that could invigorate both family life and the quality of civil society.

Focuses on working-class women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds employed in a variety of jobs. This work documents the story of women learning about the sources of their powerlessness and mobilizing to increase their power.