The Second Shift [Paperback]

Arlie Hockschild (Author), Arlie Hochschild (Author), Anne Machung (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

In this landmark study, sociologist Arlie Hochschild takes us into the homes of two-career parents to observe what really goes on at the end of the "work day." Overwhelmingly, she discovers, it's the working mother who takes on the second shift. Hochschild finds that men share housework equally with their wives in only twenty percent of dual-career families. While many women accept this inequity in order to keep peace, they tend to suffer from chronic exhaustion, low sex drive, and more frequent illness as a result. The ultimate cost is the forfeited health and happiness of both partners, and often the survival of the marriage itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant, urgently needed analysis of the new problems...of the working woman who 'has it all.'" -- Betty Friedman

"A fascinating read that makes us think twice about how much the Women's Movement still has to accomplish." -- Parenting

"Brings the dilemma of the working mother to life as never before. -- Newsweek

"No book analyzes the human impact of the work-family track for both sexes more perceptively or thoroughly than this...study..." -- Newsday

"The Second Shift is like a scream in the dark. It aches with truths. It cries out for change." -- Seattle Post Intelligencer

"The best discussion I have read on what must be the quintessential domestic bind of our time." -- The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Arlie Russell Hochschild is the author of The Time Bind and most recently Global Woman, which she edited with Barbara Ehrenreich. She is a tenured professor at University of California, Berkeley. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 325 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380711575
• ISBN-13: 978-0380711574
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read this, February 23, 2003

By 

Phil_D (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Second Shift (Paperback)

As a college-age male, one might think that I would have little reason to read a study about the struggles of working women. That is wrong.
This insightful, modest study of family life (witnessed by the capable Arlie Hochschild as a fly-on-the-wall) gives perspective on a dillemma everyone should think about before marriage: how to reconcile economic and personal needs with having children. This problem affects women and men, mothers and fathers.
Unfortunately, it is rarely talked about. People are forced to muddle through using their parents as examples, or to try to construct new strategies from scratch. Hochschild provides a useful structure for discussing the problem and avoiding the emotional and marital cost of relying on "myths." Any serious couple should be able to talk about these subjects to avoid misunderstanding and conflict.
One problem with this book is the writing - the points do not always flow together, and sometimes the sentences are simply awkward. This study is also weighted toward middle class families, though it explores others as well. Despite being over a decade old, this book is still relevant.
Well worth reading, whether you are deciding on a career, getting married, or already trying to balance both.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for modern families, September 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Second Shift (Paperback)

Hochschild's book is a superb description of what so many of of us live but barely understand. She examines the demands of work in the home and outside, the gender identities that shape our feeling toward work, the goals that shape our chices and the intentions that define our commununication about responsiblity. The author validates the struggle of working women, without bashing men and talks about how to resolve the "stalled revolution" of shared responsibility both at home and in the workplace. Most importantly, Hochschild illuminates how our methods of dealing with the second shift, not the second shift itself per se, negatively impact our children.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!!, June 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Second Shift (Paperback)

This book, which voices something that has been long silent, explains how women have been overburdened as a result of living in a world which no longer accepts part-time work. Even though women have resulted in incredible gains in the latter half of the 20th century, and have gained enfranchisement into many careers that were formerly only the domain of men, there still lurks the job of being a mother, which is NOT a part-time job. This book is highly recommended, not for only the truth and candor that it tells, but for the questions that it poses.

Dexter Fabi