SHE WORKS/HE WORKS

A significant and unabashedly optimistic assessment of two- income families, expressed in lively, straightforward prose. The stressed-out, harried working wife and mother so often reported in the media is a myth, according to Harvard psychologist Barnett and journalist Rivers, who have written several books on women and society. Based on the findings of a study of 600 working- and middle-class subjects in the Boston area, Barnett and Rivers (coauthors of Beyond Sugar and Spice: How Woman Grow, Learn, and Thrive, 1979, etc.) contend that husbands, wives, and children in two-income families are doing just fine. Unlike 40 years ago when the male breadwinner and the female homemaker were the ``natural order of things,'' today 60 percent of all couples are two-earner couples, and traditional roles have relaxed. Men today are contributing more to housework and are more involved in day-to-day child-rearing tasks; the result is happier fathers. As for working mothers, they are for the most part less stressed than stay-at-home mothers and don't spend any less ``quality'' time with their children. Instead of two separate halves with distinct roles, today's dual-earner marriage is a partnership wherein husband and wife ``enrich their respective lives.'' And, of course, the increased income that a two-earner family provides is often a necessity in today's shaky economy. Given this reality, the authors further explore what steps may be taken to help dual-earner couples deal with the pressures that inevitably arise. Their proposals include encouraging parental leave; developing a sick-leave policy that includes fatherhood in the equation; providing extended vacation time; and creating workplaces free of sexual harassment. With striking statistics and engrossing case studies, Barnett and Rivers deliver a timely and lucid exposition of the contemporary American family.