ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the survival adaptations and lessons of farm families and the psychosocial experience of loss and recovery among the displaced. It also investigates some implications of life changes for parents and children. These include the quality of marital support, intergenerational ties, and emotional health. For most farm families, off-farm employment entailed costs and benefits. The costs of women's employment involved an increase in time pressure and stress, less shared time as a couple and family, and the loss of farm work. A good many of these women spoke of the radical decline of a valued life-style. The benefits were economic and social, and depended in part on the quality of the employment itself and the economic returns. Off-farm employment gave some women a chance to develop their personal and occupational skills, especially in management and the professions, though a good many jobs were both menial and low-paying.
