Contemporary Motherhood: The Impact of Children on Adult Time

By: Lyn Craig

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Synopsis: In this timely book Lyn Craig provides the first comprehensive account of how parents divide their time between caring for children, housework, paid work and leisure. Using large-scale quantitative time-use data , the book provides a detailed analysis of the impact of children upon adult time. This research reveals a unique picture of how parenthood affects daily life within households, and how people’s (paid and unpaid) workload is affected by parenthood. By looking at how the costs and benefits of children are currently conceptualized and apportioned, Contemporary Motherhood shows what becoming a mother entails and why it is so challenging to raise children. Suggesting an explanation for why fertility rates are dramatically dropping, the book makes a significant contribution to the debate on contemporary motherhood and will interest scholars and students in sociology and social policy with an interest in the sociology of the family, gender and sexuality, and the sociology of youth.