Taking Time (Women In The Political Economy) [Paperback]

Mindy Fried (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1998 | Series: Women In The Political Economy

There is a growing movement among corporations to provide family benefits in order to attract and retain women workers. They recognize that these benefits have become a cost of doing business. Many of these benefits, like child-care and elder care, are aimed at supporting employees' ability to stay on the job. Parental leave policies are an exception, because they involve taking time away from the job. This timely book provides an inside look at life in a major U.S. corporation, focusing on the impact of workplace culture on the use of parental leave and those who use it. Fried begins by describing why parental leave is critical to making parenting the job of both parents in two-parent families. She examines the varied experiences of different levels of workers in how parental leave policy is used. The author tells a rich and textured tale of day-to-day life in the skyscraper offices of a large corporation. How people dress, what their offices look like, which cafeteria they eat in, how the supervisors and supervised talk-all these things are part of the fabric of corporate culture that Fried describes. Most of us live in work cultures that value overtime. Fried argues that, as a 'time policy' parental leave clashes with the powerful norm that corporate employees must work long and hard. Taking time for parenting-a job that is devalued in our culture-may be perceived as 'taking time away' from the company, and, in particular, from the company's productivity. Author note: Mindy Fried is the Project Director for the National Work/Life Measurement Project at Boston College Center for Work and Family. She has worked for nearly twenty years on work and family issues. Her other books include "Babies and Bargaining: Working Parents Take Action" and "How Does Your Community Grow: Planting Seeds for Quality Day Care", co-written with Elaine O'Reilly.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In her highly readable study of parental leave at a 'best practices' company, Mindy Fried gives us a multi-faceted picture of life for working parents who take parental leave, their co-workers, managers and others. Her eyes are open to the problems but she is looking for the solutions. It's 'must reading.'" --Arlie Hochschild, author of The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work "Corporate executives who are at all serious about creating family-friendly policies need to curl up with this book tonight. They will learn from this study how workplace culture affects the assumptions and practices of parental leave policy and those who use it. More importantly, they will be provoked and challenged to implement the whole array of work life benefits needed to create family-friendly corporations." --Bradley Googins, Director, Center for Corporate Community Relations, Boston College "One of the most astute analyses of corporate culture available today and a vivid and compelling story that shows how even the best of companies struggles to make good on its family-friendly policies. If employees and managers are to develop collaborative ways of transforming workplace cultures, then innovators and policymakers will have to confront the questions that this book so profoundly raises." --Carmen Sirianni, Brandeis University

From the Publisher

How flexible is the American workplace in supporting the family needs of employees, when it involves the temporary loss of their labor? --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (November 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566396476
• ISBN-13: 978-1566396479
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 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: #2,082,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read; felt like I was reading about my company., May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Taking Time (Women In The Political Economy) (Paperback)

As a dad working in corporate America, this book really pulled me in. I could relate to the issues presented about the struggles parents have trying to balance their work responsibilities and their family responsibilities. But it wasn't just a lot of anecdotes. The author provided an analysis that made sense to me, and leaves me feeling less hopeless. Initially, it made me feel more frustrated with the people I deal with every day, as I thought about how our daily lives could be better. I am a very committed worker and a very committed dad. But ultimately, this book made me think about what I'm up against, and maybe some things I could do to change it. A really good read for any parent who is dealing with feeling overworked, and trying to figure out why and what to do about it.