Microsoft Word - ReedBRfDEC.docx


 

 

 
 
 

Book  Review  
  
Meyer,  Madonna  Harrington.  Grandmothers  at  Work:  Juggling  Families  and  Jobs.  New  York  University  
Press.  2014.  978-­‐‑0-­‐‑8147-­‐‑2947-­‐‑2.  293  pp,  $24  (Paper)    

  
Rachel  Sona  Reed,  MA  
Freelance  Writer  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Anthropology & Aging, Vol 37, No 1 (2016), pp.59-60 

 ISSN 2374-2267 (online) DOI 10.5195/aa.2016.154 
 

 

 
           
  
  
  
  
  

 
 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States License. 
 

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its 
D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program, and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. 



Anthropology  &  Aging  
Vol  37,  No  1  (2016)        ISSN  2374-­‐‑2267  (online)        DOI  10.5195/aa.2016.154      http://anthro-­‐‑age.pitt.edu  

	
  

  
Reed  |  Book  Review  59  

Book  Review  

Meyer,  Madonna  Harrington.  Grandmothers  at  Work:  Juggling  Families  and  Jobs.  New  York  University  Press.  2014.  
978-­‐‑0-­‐‑8147-­‐‑2947-­‐‑2.  293  pp,  $24  (Paper)    
    
Rachel  Sona  Reed,  MA  
Freelance  Writer  

  
 Grandmothers  at  Work  fills  what  author  Madonna  Harrington  Meyer  identifies  as  a  gap  in  research.  

Socio-­‐‑economic  shifts  following  the  Great  Recession  have  contributed  to  an  increase  the  numbers  of  an  
invisible  population,  and  Harrington  Meyer  aims  a  laser  beam  at  the  people  who  comprise  it:  women  who  
work  outside  the  home  and  also  care  for  their  grandchildren.    

Intended  for  students,  scholars,  and  policy  advocates,  the  book  first  presents  an  overview  of  its  
themes—balancing  paid  and  unpaid  labor,  the  joys  and  intensification  of  grandmothering—before  devoting  
separate  chapters  to  the  phenomenon’s  specific  consequences.  In  preparation,  Harrington  Meyer  conducted  
one-­‐‑hour   interviews   with   48   women,   and   balances   their   personal   testimonies   with   data   from   the   2010  
Health  and  Retirement  Survey  (HRS).  The  ways  in  which  the  informants  navigate  gendered  expectations,  
familial   duty,   personal   care,   financial   burdens,   and   professional   aspirations   are   as   varied   as   their  
backgrounds,  and  Harrington  Meyer  does  an  admirable  job  of  contextualizing  their  lived  experiences  in  a  
broader  social  context.  

Harrington  Meyer  employs  several  lenses  in  her  analysis,  including  a  lifecourse  perspective  and  
gender   theory.   She   attributes   the   intensification   of   grandmothering   to   economic   necessity,   “changing  
cultural  expectations  about  parenting,  the  rising  rates  of  working,  and  single,  mothers,  and  rising  childhood  
disability  rates,”  all  of  which  “generate  a  growing  need  for  assistance  raising  the  kids”  (p.  63).  Pointing  out  
that  “where  state  supports  are  more  extensive,  grandparents  provide  less  care,”  Harrington  Meyer  argues  
throughout   the   book   that   what   grandmothers—and   society—need   are   policies   and   state-­‐‑sponsored  
programs  that  support  women’s  presence  in  the  paid  workforce  (p.  13).    

Harrington  Meyer’s  analysis  of  the  HRS  revealed  that  46%  of  working  grandmothers  “are  providing  
at  least  some  hours  of  grandchild  care”  (p.  2).  This,  coupled  with  longer  life-­‐‑spans,  results  in  a  “sandwich  
generation”   with   more   layers   than   AARP-­‐‑driven   discourse   suggests.   Among   Harrington   Meyer’s  
informants,  38%  were  not  only  caring  for  their  grandchildren,  but  were  “also  caring  for  a  frail  older  relative”  
(p.  163).  Although  women  are  twice  as  likely  as  men  to  perform  unpaid  carework  [author’s  term]  and  the  
informants  bear  this  statistic  out,  these  women  have  internalized  the  cultural  expectation  that  carework  is  
a  female  province  (p.20).  “Few  mentioned  the  need  for  government  programs  that  would  support  working  
families,”  indicating  one  reason  public  policy  has  not  yet  responded  to  changing  socio-­‐‑economic  realities  
(p.  229).    

Overall,  the  book  is  short  on  analysis  and  long  on  reiteration.  Because  of  the  way  it  is  structured—
considering   each   effect   in   turn—readers   are   treated   to   a   cyclical   groundhog   day   of   minor   epiphanies.  
Harrington  Meyer  routinely  rephrases  her  informants’  quotes,  and  by  the  fifth  time  Harrington  Meyer  
(re)introduces  Renee,  age  X,  mother  of  Y,  grandmother  of  Z,  the  reader  begins  to  wonder  if  the  book  will  
ever  break  free  of  its  starting  gate.  Several  chapters  cover  overlapping  themes,  creating  the  churning  sense  
of  perpetual  rehashing.  A  more  integrated  structure  may  have  better  served  the  subject  matter.  

The  book  shines  when  discussing  its  policy  implications.  As  she  argues  throughout,  current  public  
policy  runs  a  risk  of  further  exacerbating  inequality  across  all  measures.  Disadvantaged  populations  are  
largely  left  out  of  employer-­‐‑based  benefits,  which  “are  generally  shrinking”  even  for  those  lucky  enough  to  
have  them  (p.  236).  Harrington  Meyer  sees  the  problem  as  one  both  of  policy  and  of  culture,  as  “we  have  
yet  to  meaningfully  redefine  supports  for  working  families  as  a  family,  and  not  a  women’s,  issue”  (p.  237).    

  
  
  



Anthropology  &  Aging  
Vol  37,  No  1  (2016)        ISSN  2374-­‐‑2267  (online)        DOI  10.5195/aa.2016.154      http://anthro-­‐‑age.pitt.edu  

	
  

  
                          

   Reed  |  Book  Review  60  
  

Persistent  gender  norms  mean  that  women  tend  to  “absorb  the  financial,  emotional,  social,  and  
physical  costs  of  providing  carework,”  which  impacts  the  socio-­‐‑economic  fabric  of  the  country  (p.  20).  

Less  overt  attention  is  paid  to  suggestions  for  further  research.  But  by  illuminating  a  distinct  stage  
of   some   women’s   life   cycle,   Meyer   creates   an   opportunity   for   other   scholars   to   delve   deeper   into   the  
complex  personal  and  social  effects  of  managing  multiple,  conflicting  roles.  As  might  be  expected  in  an  
initial  examination  of  a  newly  identified  group,  many  of  the  effects  on  working  grandmothers  are  mixed  
and  tend  to  be  more  positive  for  women  with  greater  resources.    

With   Grandmothers   at  Work,   Harrington   Meyer   provides   what   could   become   a   seminal   text   in  
sociology,   gender   studies,   and   gerontology.   The   book   implicitly   argues   that   grandmothering   while  
participating  in  the  paid  labor  force  should  be  considered  a  distinct  life  stage.  Harrington  Meyer’s  research  
provides   compelling   evidence   that   this   emerging   life   stage   is   representative   of   a   growing   number   of  
women’s  lived  experience  and  is  entangled  in  many  socio-­‐‑economic  shifts  that  have  profound  implications  
for  individuals,  families,  and  American  society.