This is the first book of the semester I had to read for my class The Psychology of Work, Women, and Family.
To say that the findings Ann Crittenden writes about made me angry would be an understatement. She was moved to write about the price paid by mothers and other caregivers when after leaving The New York Times she was asked if she "used to be Ann Crittenden."
Women, even those with degrees from prestigious schools, make less and move up the corporate ladder slower than their male and their childless female counterparts.
Caregiving, those who provide childcare for children that are not their own, and mothers who devote themselves full time to raising their children, are considered unskilled labor.
Stay at home mothers don't have any kind of protections if they get injured on the job, they don't get retirement benefits of their own from social security, and woe to them if they get divorced because the courts offer little or no protection.
Crittenden lays out facts and statistics, she speaks with real women and shares their stories.
While most of the studies she quotes were done in the very later 90's they are still very relevant. A very interesting even if frustrating read. I hope you feel moved to want to help make changes to the system. I am not sure how but I know I am on the look out for the opportunity.
(Finished February 7, 2015)
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