Work and Family Research: A Public Policy Perspective

With the rising labor force participation of women, and particularly women with young children, comes an increasing interest in family-friendly policies that might address the links among work, family, health, and well-being. Two thirds of U.S. children now live in families where every adult is working-up from only one third in 1975 (Smolensky & Gootman, 2003; Waldfogel, 2001a). Thus, the issues of workforce-workplace mismatch, and how work and care arrangements affect child and family well-being, now touch a majority of American families.