ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore how working-class families like Vinnie and Donna face the challenges of work and family life as they become new parents and juggle the demands of two jobs. To foreshadow the story, as the data from the Work and Family Transitions Project (WFTP) and that of other researchers illustrate, it is impossible to characterize the working-class experience in any typical or monolithic way. As with any attempt to group individuals by a specific criterion, be it race, ethnicity, gender, or social class, there is often more variability within groups than between groups. However, an important aim of this chapter is to highlight some of the challenges facing low-wage workers-those with low levels of education who are working in unskilled or semiskilled jobs trying to manage the demands of work and family life. Looking within the lives of working-class families, rather than comparing them with families in other classes, uncovers unique work and family issues and themes in working-class families.
