Radcliffe Study Finds Decline of U.S. Family Exaggerated

A new study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and archived at the Murray Research Center at Radcliffe College, finds that the new American family -- working couples with children -- is happier and healthier than the traditional family of years past. The study was directed by Dr. Rosalind C. Barnett, who is a senior scholar in residence at the Murray Research Center. The findings are reported in She Works, He Works: How Two-Income Families Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off, coauthored by Barnett and Boston University Professor Caryl Rivers (HarperCollins San Francisco, 1996).

"People who insist that the only 'correct family' is one that closely resembles the Ozzie and Harriet family with the breadwinner father and homemaker mother are dead wrong," said Barnett. "In fact, our four-year study of 300 two-career families found that the American family today is thriving."

"The facts about what is good for American families have been obscured by nostalgia for an idealized fifties-style family," added co-author Caryl Rivers. "She Works, He Works will rectify these myths and misconceptions."

Findings reported in She Works, He Works include:

* Children of two-career couples are doing well. Maternal employment has had no uniform effect on child development; there are no significant differences between the children of employed and nonemployed mothers.

* Working mothers are physically healthier than those who stay at home. In fact, a 22-year study found that homemakers had more chronic health problems than women who work outside the home.

* Working mothers are less depressed than those who stay at home. Work offers women chances for heightened self-esteem, buffers them against depression, and enhances their mental health.

* Working mothers don't take family stress to work. A 1989 study of women revealed that the only spillover between home and work was positive.

* Men in two-career families are more involved in raising their kids and in household responsibilities. By the time children reach school age, fathers spend as many hours in childcare as mothers. In addition, these men are assuming 45 percent of the household duties.

* Men benefit from a two-income household. Men's wages have been flat or declining for more than a decade. Employed wives ease the financial burden and reduce the stress on men, particularly in this downsizing economy.