A Cultural History of the Working Family in Postindustrial America, 1970-2020

FAIN: FEL-289392-23

Kirsten Swinth
Fordham University (Bronx, NY 10458-9993)

Writing a book on the emergence and impact of the “working family” in late twentieth-century discourse and public policy. 

This project examines how the idea of the “working family” came to dominate cultural discourse and national policy. Born after the 1970s’ collapse of a male-breadwinner norm, the “working family” is the product of immense cultural effort. In the 1980s and 1990s, academics, politicians, journalists, and activists constructed two versions of the model working family. Whereas mainstream conservatives argued that mothers had to “choose” how to manage work and family, liberals called for employers and society to collectively meet working parents’ needs. In both versions, the norm excluded some families—most significantly poor, single Black mothers. The working-family ideal also faced opposition as both hardcore conservatives and feminists led efforts to unseat it. This study traces the working-family norm’s rise to hegemony in law and culture, showing how it structured debates about a post-Fordist workforce, family leave, welfare reform, and mothers’ “choices” about work and family.