Sharing It All: The Rewards and Struggles of Two-Career Families

In this well-reasoned study of dual-career marriages, psychologist Gilbert ( Men in Dual-Career Families ) and her husband, Jack, both professors at the University of Texas, open with statements of how they themselves managed an unusual circumstance 14 years ago. While she was completing her doctorate, their daughter was born and the father took care of the baby. Recalling the stresses and satisfactions of the period, the author pinpoints situations that can make or break a relationship, when the partners' outside occupations demand cooperation between spouses. From her research, Gilbert cites case histories that tend to prove that the wife/mother continues to do the most ``sharing'' of housework and children's needs, despite advances in women's status. To collect the benefits of a two-career marriage, husband and wife must overcome problems arising from a male's viewpoint of his wife as dependent in order to strengthen the partners' mutual support, stresses the author. The lengthy text contains quotes from other writers on the subject, and offers advice on when to get help from a marriage counselor, etc. (October)