ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book introduces four concepts—exclusion, disability, decoupling, and scarcity—to explain the limits on people's opportunity. It shows that racial and ethnic discrimination continues to limit people's opportunity to enter many lines of activity. The book argues that liberal democracy does not give people an equal chance to get what they want out of life. It examines that if women are to achieve balance between paid work and family life, families will need to find better, fairer ways of integrating their members' interests and schedules. Some solutions to the problem of inequality and overwork are purely economic. One approach is to provide more goods and services directly to the families of women who work outside the home—for example, more, better, and cheaper day care. Reducing the amount of housework that women do by lowering housekeeping standards might ease the pressure of daily family life.
