The Second Shift

July 6, 1989
As more women work outside the home (54% in 1986) more tensions arise within their families. In this study of two-career parents, Hochschild, professor of sociology at UC Berkeley and herself a dual-career parent, identifies as ``second shift'' the domestic activity that occupies parents before they go to and after they return from office or shop. Conducted from 1981-1988, her interviews with working parents with children under age six reveal the inner lives of these families. We hear from women who are lawyers, executives, word processors, garment pattern cutters--and from their husbands, baby-sitters, friends and neighbors. There is agreement as to the difficulty of both parents working full time and raising children well; however, the perceptions of which partner shoulders prime responsibility vary. Even in self-perceived egalitarian couples, inequity appears, with women generally spending much more time than men on housework and childcare. This well-researched popular sociology book is presented with style and sympathy.