This book examines changes in family practices and paid work in the 21st century. Focusing principally on highly qualified women who combine the mothering of very young children with employment, it makes a valuable contribution to current debates. Unlike other books in the field that focus on one gender only, this innovative book also takes into account the views of fathers, making it a rounded study of family practice in the new millennium.

The first part of Hard Labour provides an up-to-date, comprehensive and readable overview of the literature on motherhood, fatherhood, family practices, and women in employment. The second part draws on a qualitative study of the lives of 20 mothers and their husbands/partners, each of whom is educated to degree level or above, and has at least one child under five. Key aspects of the family lives of the men and women interviewed are considered, for example how they manage their commitments to one another, their children and their professional work, and how they share out family tasks such as childcare and housework. At each stage, the empirical research is explicitly placed in the context of the literature referenced in the first part, and of the wider debate on career motherhood.

Essential reading for students and academics in sociology, family policy, family studies, women’s or gender studies and the sociology of management/employment.