Ask the Children

First lines

Ask the Children has its genesis in a study that I and other colleagues at Bank Street College conducted more than a decade ago, during the early days of our attempts to understand work and family life.

About this book

"Here is important news for the millions of parents struggling to manage work and family, says Ellen Galinsky in this extraordinary study--the first comprehensive study ever conducted that asks children and parents for their views on work and family life today. The responses she has gleaned from in-depth interviews and nationally representative surveys of children and parents are surprising, useful, and guaranteed to break the frantic cycle of guilt and stress that often traps parents." "Five years in the making, the Ask the Children study questions accepted thinking on such issues as quality time vs. quantity time, how mothers parent their children compared to fathers, how much children really know about the daily lives of parents at work, how much parents like their work, what messages we're sending children about work, and much more.^ For example, while many parents worry that they may not be spending enough time with their children, time is not at the top of children's lists when they are asked to name their one wish for changing how their parents' work affects their lives. And while the debate rages about whether mothers' working is good or bad for children, it turns out that children learn more about the world of work from their mothers than they do from their fathers." "For the first time, parents will hear children's perceptions and opinions--both reassuring and insightful--on these and many other topics. They'll see stereotypes blown and politically correct ideas challenged. They'll hear parents and children talking about what works to keep families close and why.…

Themes & subjects