I thought this book got off to a strong start, but lost its way a bit in the second half. The sweeping suggestions for cultural and political change lacked the specifics that would have made them seem tenable.

This book talks about the tension between women and work - the desire to have a work/family balance but the lack of structures that enable many families to thrive in careers and care well for family members. There is a need for the valuation of caregiving of both the young and the elderly for the betterment of our society. Businesses can help by embracing flexibility for their workforce and not penalizing workers who utilize it as well as recognize the research that shows these policies can increase productivity and work satisfaction for the employees. This needs to be seen as a problem that affects everyone not just women.

A very interesting and rational layout of the issues in today's work world.

I tried to read this book with an open mind and I was hopeful that this would be a genuine, real discussion and instead, it really read like the Atlantic article, but stretched into book form. There were moments when I thought the author was going to get into a real discussion and analysis of the argument "Men don't have it all either" and she touches on it ever so briefly, but falls back on the idea of "but men still have more than we do". The book reads like one giant, over-privileged whining session. I am a highly-educated, female professional who is married and does not have children. I was raised in a blue-collar home by a single father. He raised me as a person, who was encouraged to think myself, follow my gut, and do what was right for me, and to never look at what others are doing and judge. None of my business. I wanted to gain a better understanding of working parents...mothers in particular. I would include working fathers, but they've never brought it up. Whenever a woman takes maternity leave, I pick up the slack, do the extra work, cover the extra hours, and I never see an increase in pay. It's just expected because I am there. I think the issue is everyone works too much in the white-collar world and is too connected. I make it a point to leave the office at a set time, I don't check emails when I'm not at work and I take my vacations. This is respected at my job, because I set my boundaries, I keep to them, and I am productive while I am there. I value my time and that of my team. But it gets old being asked to do certain things "because I don't have kids". My time is just as valuable as theirs...we just made different choices in our personal lives. My family may look different from theirs, but is a family nevertheless.

This is a completely different issue than the struggles faced by working-class jobs...where you have to be somewhere at a specific time and you can't come and go. That's a whole other book of issues to discuss. I also got annoyed by the complaining and the inferences made. The only who can make you feel like you "have no name", are "less than"...you can go on, is you! What happened to taking personal responsibility for our choices and decisions and owning them. If you want to stay home, stay home. If you want to work, work. If you want to work and have a family, do it. If you don't want kids, don't. If you are a man and you want to stay home...do it. Design the life and family that makes the most sense to you. At the end of the day, your family and your collective happiness is what matters. Quit worrying about being"judged". The only person judging you, is you. And if others act this way, they are terrible people, and their judgment shouldn't matter to you anyway. I'm not sure where we got the idea that life was supposed to be fair and we should be happy all of the time. Life isn't fair, it's full of unexpected events. People get sick, people get divorced...the list goes on and on. It's your character that helps you navigate the unexpected.
Cultural shifts are hard and take time. We need to step up and be the role models and the examples to the next wave of workers, who undoubtedly will have it easier than we do. So suck it up, take charge, and own your decisions with pride and grace. That's how you effect real change.