Sociology 397WF - ST-Work&FamilyPubPolicy

Becoming a parent profoundly shapes the work and family lives of both men and women, although often in very different ways. While father spend more time with children than in the past, women continue to provide the greater part of childcare and housework. This has important implications for gender inequalities in the home, and in the workplace. This class examines how families with small children negotiate paid and unpaid work, and how work-family policies shape who takes care of small children, how parenthood impacts women and men's experiences in the labor market, including how much they work, and how much they earn. We will examine how these experiences vary by social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. The class takes the United States as a starting point, and looks across the borders to compare how public policies in other countries have addressed parents' work-family conflicts. Examining social inequalities across countries shows us that inequalities are not a given, but can be changed.

Pre Req: 100 or 200 lvl SOCIOL Subtitle: Who is Taking Care of the Children? The Impact of Work&Family Public Policy