ABSTRACT
The ‘new economy’ is reshaping the logics of gender, work and care worldwide, but the US lacks state and market supports to ease this transition. Interviews with a cross-section of Americans provide an overview of the strategies emerging to cope with this new reality. These include neo-traditional arrangements, with women responsible for caregiving even when both partners work; remaining single, with individuals living without support from or obligations to a partner; gender-reversed arrangements, with women performing breadwinning and men becoming caretakers; and egalitarian efforts, with couples striving to share work and care. All these strategies entail difficulties that highlight the need to restructure market and state institutions to foster flexible, integrated reconciliations for everyone.
