Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict

by Heather Boushey

Overview

“Ambitious, fast-paced, fact-filled, and accessible.”
—Science

“A compelling case for why achieving the right balance of time with our families…is vital to the economic success and prosperity of our nation… A must read.”
—Maria Shriver

From backyard barbecues to the blogosphere, working men and women across the country are raising the same worried question: How can I get ahead at my job while making sure my family doesn’t suffer? A visionary economist who has looked at the numbers behind the personal stories, Heather Boushey argues that resolving the work–life conflict is as vital for us personally as it is essential economically. Finding Time offers ingenious ways to help us carve out the time we need, while showing businesses that more flexible policies can actually make them more productive.

“Supply and demand curves are suddenly ‘sexy’ when Boushey uses them to prove that paid sick days, paid family leave, flexible work schedules, and affordable child care aren’t just cutesy women’s issues for families to figure out ‘on their own time and dime,’ but economic issues affecting the country at large.”
—Vogue

“Boushey argues that better family-leave policies should not only improve the lives of struggling families but also boost workers’ productivity and reduce firms’ costs.”
—The Economist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674241497
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	10/08/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Heather Boushey is President and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and former Chief Economist on Hillary Clinton’s transition team. She is the author of Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict and coeditor of After Piketty: The Agenda for Economics and Inequality (both from Harvard). The New York Times has called Boushey one of the “most vibrant voices in the field” and Politico twice named her one of the top 50 “thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics.”

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

I Our Roots 23

II Stalled: Today's Middle Class 46

III Stuck: Today's Low-Income Families 71

IV Soaring above and Sounding the Alarm: Today's Professional Families 96

V Thinking Like an Economist 123

VI Here at Home: Paid Time off to Care 151

VII There at Work: Scheduling Time 174

VIII Care: When You Can't Be at Home 199

IX Fair: Finding the Right Path 226

Conclusion 249

Appendix: Data and Methods 257

Figure Sources 271

Notes 273

Acknowledgments 327

Index 331

Editorial Reviews

[Boushey] present[s] evidence that workplaces with flexible, accommodating schedules are more productive than those that emphasize long hours and rigid schedules…[Finding Time] note[s] that countries with extensive work-life policies have higher social mobility and are often more competitive than the United States.

Stephanie Coontzn Prospect

Time is our most precious asset, and families feel like they have less and less of it. Heather Boushey’s important book shows that there is much that policy can do to reclaim our time and our lives. In a rational world its arguments would have an important impact on the future of American economic policy.

Lawrence H. Summers

Heather Boushey presents a compelling case for why achieving the right balance of time with our families and at our workplaces is vital to the economic success and prosperity of our nation. I’ve been honored to see her work up close through ‘The Shriver Report’ and I’m now glad that it’s going to be available to an even wider audience. This is a must read for the public and policymakers alike.

Maria Shriver

[An] ambitious, fast-paced, fact-filled, and accessible book…[Boushey] has a masterful understanding of the nuts and bolts of policy design and has impressively cataloged an array of promising state and local examples. Her policy proposals are not off the beaten path, but her overall argument—simple as it sounds—is a fresh one.

Science - Janet Gornick

This thoughtful and engaging book exposes a vitally important and timely topic, and Boushey is uniquely positioned to address it.

Ruth Milkman

The feminist econ book I never knew I needed…Finding Time is just as essential as Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and Anne-Marie Slaughter’s Unfinished Business. In fact, it picks up where they left off…Boushey makes the financial case for reform, pointing to data that proves that policies like paid leave increase productivity in the workplace, decrease turnover, and, in turn, fuel the economy as a whole.

Vogue - Michelle Ruiz

Boushey offers an ambitious public policy agenda to address the increasingly common situation where both the mother and father work outside the home and thus have less time to care for their families… [A] brilliant book.

Dissent - Suzanne Kahn

This is a thoughtful and intelligent book.

Bloomberg View - Tyler Cowen

Boushey argues that better family-leave policies should not only improve the lives of struggling families but also boost workers’ productivity and reduce firms’ costs.

The Economist

Boushey presents detailed innovations to help Americans find the time they need and help businesses attract more productive workers, revealing how economic efficiency and equity do not have to be enemies.

ISE Magazine

[Boushey] present[s] evidence that workplaces with flexible, accommodating schedules are more productive than those that emphasize long hours and rigid schedules…[Finding Time] note[s] that countries with extensive work-life policies have higher social mobility and are often more competitive than the United States.

American Prospect - Stephanie Coontz