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The Second Shift Paperback – Bargain Price, April 29, 2003

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

4.3 59 ratings

Fifteen years after its first publication, The Second Shift remains just as important and relevant today as it did then. As the majority of women entered the workforce, sociologist and Berkeley professor Arlie Hochschild was one of the first to talk about what really happens in dual-career households. Many people were amazed to find that women still did the majority of childcare and housework even though they also worked outside the home. Now, in this updated edition with a new introduction from the author, we discover how much things have, or have not, changed for women today.

Review

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.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

April 29, 2003
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

5.14 x 0.63 x 7.8 inches
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000CDG842
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (April 29, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.14 x 0.63 x 7.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,683,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,990 in Sociology of Marriage & Family (Books)
- #8,978 in Deals in Books
- #17,062 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 59 ratings

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Arlie Russell Hochschild

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Arlie Russell Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, now available in paperback from The New Press, addresses the increasingly bitter political divide in America. A finalist for the National Book Award, and New York Times Best Seller, the book is based on five years of immersion reporting among Tea Party loyalists -- now mostly supporters of Donald Trump. Hochschild tries to bridge an “empathy wall” between the two political sides, to explore the “deep story” underlying the right that remains unrecognized by the left. Mark Danner calls the book “a powerful, imaginative, necessary book, arriving not a moment too soon." Robert Reich writes” Anyone who wants to understand modern America should read this captivating book." In its review, Publisher’s Weekly notes: “After evaluating her conclusions and meeting her informants in these pages, it’s hard to disagree that empathy is the best solution to stymied political and social discourse.”

Her 2012 The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times, explores the many ways in which the market enters our modern lives and was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Her other books include: So How’s the Family?, The Managed Heart, The Second Shift, The Time Bind, The Commercialization of Intimate Life, The Unexpected Community and the co-edited Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy. In reviewing The Second Shift (reissued in 2012 with a new afterword) Robert Kuttner noted Hochschild’s “subtlety of insights” and “graceful seamless narrative” and called it the “best discussion I have read of what must be the quintessential domestic bind of our time.” Newsweek’s Laura Shapiro described The Time Bind as “groundbreaking.” In awarding Hochschild the Jesse Bernard Award, the American Sociological Association citation observed her “creative genius for framing questions and lines of insight, often condensed into memorable, paradigm-shifting words and phrases.” A retired U.C. Berkeley professor of sociology, she lives with her husband, the writer Adam Hochschild in Berkeley, California.

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AC

Great book to read about family from 1950s to now.

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2011

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I love this book.

In THE SECOND SHIFT: WORKING PARENTS AND THE REVOLUTION AT HOME, Arlie Hochschild holds up to the light this and many other strategies by which women and men in two-career marriages juggle work pressures and family needs. Between 1980 and 1988, Hochschild and her research associates interviewed fifty couples at great length. Hochschild also observed family life in a dozen homes. At the heart of her book are the stories of eleven couples. All but two are members of the middle and upper-middle class; each couple has made decisions and developed justifying myths a bit differently. Each has its own "economy of gratitude."

Hochschild is very much interested in the interrelationships between power--perceived and actual--and bonds of human caring. Her phrase "economy of gratitude" makes reference to what is given and received as gifts between spouses and how those gifts are valued. For example, if a woman earns more money than her husband, his male pride may suffer. His willingness to bear the affront may be viewed by both as a sacrificial gift, and out of guilt and gratitude she may assume most of the household responsibilities. Hochschild found many such contorted notions of what merits gratitude among the couples she studied.

As a college-age adult, I thought I would have little reason to read a study about the struggles of working women. That is wrong. I learned so much from reading this book. Learn more about family in this book.

6 people found this helpful

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michele rzewski

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2010

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I read this book because I am working in a doctoral program and wanted to read a good example of qualitative research. However, I enjoyed this book so much that I am passing it along to friends who have no interest in academia. It is an excellent analysis of the negotiations that occur in many marriages regarding housework and childcare. The book was fascinatiing and depresssing - it made me wonder how we will ever find real equality in our homes when the majority of marriages do not have anything close to equality. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of getting married - it is a great thing to start a discussion with a fiance.

2 people found this helpful

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Sabina Torres

Happy

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2014

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The book was in good condition expect for a couple writings and highlighting on some of the pages. There was a bit of wear on the book in the front cover.I like the fast delivery.

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Lobsterfrosting

Read the whole thing before you start an argument!!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2013

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Lol.. this book will really stir 's***' in your relationship, especially if you do not read the entire book before you attack your husband for being a lazy a**. It is true that men need to step up and take part in the daily household chores (when the children have not yet come.. j/k) and after reading this book, I haven't had much of a problem doing the dishes. My fiance is pretty happy about that, but I haven't been completely useless in the past. I had to read this for a sociology class in college and am happy I did. Read the whole thing, spend a little time thinking about your life and relationship or future relationship, and take care!

One person found this helpful

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Pat

Great information!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2011

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Great read. I would recommend it as a gift for girls beginning at age 14 (and every year after that, if they haven't read it). This book will scare you straight regarding the trap that American women are in. We've been bamboozled! This book is not for ladies who don't want to know the truth about what's really happening in (most) two-career American homes and families! Well written and straight to the point!

4 people found this helpful

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Jake

Good book and a quick read

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2016

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Very interesting book from an engaging author. Hochschild presents a common problem through a series of case study vignettes that have an easy to read narrative style. Hochschild's other book, The Managed Heart also makes for an interesting read.

One person found this helpful

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George G. Roberts

Polemics, not scholarship.

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2006

To reach her spurious conclusions, the author presents decades-old data on men and housework as if these studies came out last week. Credible research from the University of Michigan shows that men and women work about the same amount of time when you include both work done inside and outside the home. Ladies, if you want to read a great book that will help you earn more money, read "Why men earn more" by Warren Farrell. Studies show that the claims of feminism are questionable at best, and at worst misleading and damaging to women and all who earnestly seek the truth. "The second shift" is part of the backlash against equality that has been gradually building up steam in western culture since the Renaissance.

6 people found this helpful

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Joe

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2016

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A bit dated but gives great perspective on different family dynamics and parenting styles.

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