Try free for 30 days

  • Making Motherhood Work

  • How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving
  • By: Caitlyn Collins
  • Narrated by: Xe Sands
  • Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Making Motherhood Work cover art

Making Motherhood Work

By: Caitlyn Collins
Narrated by: Xe Sands
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.37

Buy Now for $24.37

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

The work-family conflict that mothers experience today is a national crisis. Women struggle to balance breadwinning with the bulk of parenting, and stress is constant. Social policies don't help. Of all Western industrialized countries, the US ranks dead last for supportive work-family policies: No federal paid parental leave. The highest gender wage gap. No minimum standard for vacation and sick days. Can American women look to European policies for solutions?  

Drawing on interviews with 135 working mothers in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the US, Caitlyn Collins shows that mothers' desires and expectations depend heavily on context. In Sweden - renowned for its gender-equal policies - mothers assume they will receive support from their partners, employers, and the government. In the former East Germany, with its history of mandated employment, mothers don't feel conflicted about working, but some curtail their work hours and ambitions. Mothers in Western Germany and Italy, where maternalist values are strong, are stigmatized for pursuing careers. Meanwhile, American working mothers stand apart for their guilt and worry. 

Policies alone, Collins discovers, cannot solve women's struggles. Easing them will require a deeper understanding of cultural beliefs about gender equality, employment, and motherhood.

©2019 Princeton University Press (P)2019 HighBridge Company

What listeners say about Making Motherhood Work

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.