7 Myths of Working Mothers - Why Children and (Most) Careers Just Don’t Mix

By Suzanne Venker

Dispelling our most cherished myths about working mothers, Suzanne Venker argues that women can’t be successful in the workplace and at home simultaneously. They can achieve the balance they so desperately seek only by planning their careers around motherhood, rather than planning motherhood around their careers.

Ms. Venker fearlessly tackles the most contentious issues of working motherhood: women’s equality, family economics, the notion of "quality time," women’s guilt and stress, and daycare. In each chapter, she exposes a different myth about working mothers, drawing on extensive research and her own experience as a mother and a teacher. The result is a powerful case for the link between the problems of today’s children and the absence of mothers from the home.

"If motherhood were viewed as the full-time job it is," Ms. Venker contends, "it would not be considered something we could do on the side, and women would be less inclined to try to balance career and motherhood, only to discover, many stress-filled years later, that it cannot be done." 7 Myths of Working Mothers is a bold call to shift our priorities from the feverish pursuit of professional success to the more satisfying nurturing of our children.

Hardcover 2004

Family Life Topics