Dear Amy,

I am doing sociology at Bury College in Manchester, I will shortly be doing some coursework and I would be interested in basing my hypothesis on the problems faced by working mothers in the modern age. I wonder if you have any relevant information that would be of use to me.

Thank you for your time,
Karen

Dear Karen,

I think that your work on the problems faced by working mothers in the modern age is certainly one that needs to be further explored. As it stands, working mothers have a "double burden" - most women have two jobs, one outside the home and one inside the home. And until the workforce changes to be more respectful of our family lives, this will continue to be a problem that the majority of women face. Of course, men face this, too, but women are certainly the majority of those impacted, which probably has a direct correlation to the fact that men remain the majority of employers and, therefore, more removed from these demands on our time, etc.... There are several books that have explored this in greater detail and have offered strategies for remedying it. I suggest you check those out:

• Arlie Hochchild - The Second Shift
• Anne Crittenden's new book - The Price of Motherhood

There is a book coming out this spring by Joan Peterson, Not Your Mother's Life. All of these will give you greater details into this problem.

Good luck and let me know if you need further resources.

Amy