Not-So-Nuclear Families: Class, Gender, and Networks of Care [Paperback]

Karen V. Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2004

"In vivid portraits drawn from the top and bottom of the social-class ladder, Hansen shows the profound effect social class has on care. Well observed, beautifully written, this book is a must read." --Arlie Hochschild, author of The Commercialization of Intimate Lives: Notes from Home and Work "Not-So-Nuclear Families explains the often painful choices that parents have to make for their children's--and their own--well-being." --Barbara Schnieder, professor of sociology and human development, director of the Data Research and Development Center, and codirector of the Alfred P. Sloan Center on Parents, Children, and Work at the University of Chicago In recent years, U.S. public policy has focused on strengthening the nuclear family as a primary strategy for improving the lives of America's youth. It is often assumed that this normative type of family is an independent, self-sufficient unit adequate for raising children. But half of all households in the United States with young children have two employed parents. How do working parents provide care and mobilize the help that they need? In Not-So-Nuclear Families, Karen V. Hansen investigates the lives of working parents and the informal networks they construct to help care for their children. She chronicles the conflicts, hardships, and triumphs of four families of various social classes. Each must navigate the ideology that mandates that parents, mothers in particular, rear their own children, in the face of an economic reality that requires that parents rely on the help of others. In vivid family stories, parents detail how they and their network of friends, paid caregivers, and extended kin collectively close the "care gap" for their school-aged children. Hansen not only debunks the myth that families in the United States are independent, isolated, and self-reliant units, she breaks new theoretical ground by asserting that informal networks of care can potentially provide unique and valuable bonds that nuclear families cannot. Karen V. Hansen is an associate professor of sociology and women's studies at Brandeis University and is the coeditor of Families in the U.S.: Kinship and Domestic Politics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen V. Hansen is an associate professor of sociology and women’s studies at Brandeis University and is the coeditor of Families in the U.S.: Kinship and Domestic Politics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (November 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813535018
• ISBN-13: 978-0813535012
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hansen Reveals New Dimensions of American Family Life, May 22, 2005

By 

Sonja "Sonja" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not-So-Nuclear Families: Class, Gender, and Networks of Care (Paperback)

In Not-so-nuclear Families Karen Hansen reveals the truth behind many of our country's self-proclaimed "self-sufficient" families. Hansen's research focuses on several families and how they care for their children, and make family life work. The end result is a book that demonstrates that American families rely on networks of care to perform the basic daily functions of family life. This is important for anyone examining society and the structures and institutions that exist within it.

In American society we take pride in our emphasis on individualism; Hansen's book reveals that we are not who we are, or in the position we are in, without the assistance of others within our networks of care. This book is a must read for anyone interested in society, gender, class and the institution of the family in modern America.