After a first child is born or a parent falls ill, I think every woman at some point goes, “Holy Crap. You expect me to do what? How the hell is that going to happen? I have to go work!” I had that “Holy Crap moment” when my kids were babies, which coincided with the time that I was completing my PhD. In Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net, Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at University of Wisconsin, is having her Holy Crap moment now. 

She and a team of grad students interviewed and surveyed 4,000 parents to get a picture of how women were managing their caretaking duties. The answer is not very well. She tells the story of single mothers working three part time jobs with their kids in daycare all day. Others have to resort to welfare just to feed their children. Others feel forced to make sub-optimal career choices, which makes them vulnerable to changes in the economy. 

Calarco does a great job telling these women’s stories. Too many women’s stories are never heard, so I appreciate that she honors their sacrifices and provides important details about Food Stamps and medical insurance. However, she blames the situation on right wing “engineers and profiteers,” when the blame should be spread around more broadly. She also focuses too specifically on the caretaking of young children, and doesn’t grasp the full extent of caretaking that women do. 

Read more at Apt. 11D, the newsletter