Work Matters

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The transition to parenthood is a profoundly transformative experience, often destabilizing for adults, regardless of their financial and social resources. While much attention is given to dual-career couples facing challenges like wage penalties and career derailment due to motherhood, less is known about how low-wage employed parents navigate the demands of full-time work alongside new parenthood. This group represents the majority of working parents in the country. The author investigates the workplaces of low-income workers, highlighting their critical role in shaping family life and child development. Drawing on extensive research and over 1,500 interviews with new parents and their children from the first year through six years postpartum, the author explores how work conditions influence parents' abilities to engage effectively as partners and caregivers, impacting child development. Key factors such as workplace policies, schedules, autonomy, job pressure, and social support are shown to directly affect the healthy development of infants and children. The author identifies job conditions that hinder parental care and those that enhance parenting outcomes. The final chapter provides actionable recommendations for parents, employers, and policymakers aimed at benefiting all, particularly children.