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Vast, covers a lot of ground. Written with good humour and clarity.
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The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless
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Americans are on a demographic collision course between the growing numbers of mothers in the workforce and the swelling ranks of a new interest childless adults. Armed with hard data and grassroots reporting, Elinor Burkett points the way to a more equitable future.
With an inside look at what some companies are already doing to redress the grievances of childless workers and a hard assessment of what the truly needy -- children and adults -- require in order to survive, Burkett fires the first shot in the battle to come.
With an inside look at what some companies are already doing to redress the grievances of childless workers and a hard assessment of what the truly needy -- children and adults -- require in order to survive, Burkett fires the first shot in the battle to come.
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Genres
nonfictionparentingpolitics
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,2000
This edition
- Format
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272 pages, Paperback
- Published
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April 5, 2002 by Free Press
- ISBN
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9780743242646
- ASIN
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0743242645
- Language
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English
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 15 votes)
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15 reviews All reviews
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Eye opening. Insightful look into the atrocities committed, in the name of babies, against the Childfree of America. Taking a deep look into the transfer of wealth from the Childfree to the breeders of the world. I didn't even realize I was a marginalized, demeaned, pigeonholed, over taxed, under appreciated, disenfranchised member of the newest minority in our society today! The book advocates total equality for all peoples in the tax code, that could very well over a period of years, add nearly 85 billion dollars or more to our floundering economy and burgeoning debt. Everyone should read this book, yes even the parents out there, be aware of what you are really doing to people like me with your minority discrimination, whether you realize it or not.
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This was a difficult book for me to rate because I had times where I liked it and other times where I couldn't stand reading it! Elinor Burkett makes many wonderful points in this book that I had never considered before, specifically if we are offering so many benefits, tax breaks, and flex-time to people with children, isn't it then discrimination to not offer something similar to people without children. She notes that she feels that of course we should help families in need, but her real gripe is with middle to upper class families who don't really need financial help taking that help away from families living in poverty. Each chapter in the book had a different feel to it, some I found fascinating, but many I found VERY repetitive. What I really wanted to see was some sort of suggestions offered to help rectify this inequality, but that was made on a very limited basis and really only at the end of the book.
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As a childfree American I had high hopes for this book. But I was let down. It's largely about tax policy, which does not interest me. It is also a little outdated - the over the top family-friendly workplace policies mostly left when the economy tanked. I was looking for something more related to social capital. I want ppl w/ kids to appreciate that my time is worth as much as theirs. I want it not to be acceptable that when a 40yo acquaintance dies ppl say, "Well at least he didn't have kids," as if a childfree person dying is less sad than a parent dying. This is not the book for that.
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I was excited about this book, but it fell short. The “Ten Commandments” were so ridiculous that I switched to skimming rather than reading the remainder of the book.
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I think this book is good for pointing out some of these issues. I also agree with some of the other reviewers who point out that the book has not aged well. I think that it would be more helpful if the author was able to make her points without sounding so bitter. Overall the book was just really depressing.
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Towards the end, when Elinor starts listing out all the ways that parents get privileges vs the childfree, I got real annoyed. REAL annoyed. I'm lucky that I don't experience this at work, but I'm not sure if that's because I'm shielded from it by my childfree coworkers.
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FUN FACT:
Before I bought this book, I went on Amazon to read reviews and this troll who goes by the name of Paul Gaboury, went on every single review and responded with this comment:
Initial post: Dec 3, 2006 4:06:46 PM PST
Paul Gaboury says:
My name is Paul Gaboury. The author, Elinor Burkett is my sister in law. Her characterization of my wife and our home is innacurate in the extreme. We became aware of the contents of the book only after it hit the bookstands. At that time, we sent a letter to the publisher to correct the misrepresentations made. We did not receive a response. We had a choice to sue. For family considerations, we did not. Now we find references to my wife in the internet which was brought to our attention by a member of our family.
Finally, and again, the characterizations of Michele Gaboury, my wife and the author's sister-in-law are innaccurate in the extreme. They end up acheiving extreme polarizing views which perhaps help strengthen Ms. Burkett's premise. But they also damage my wife's reputation severely when anyone, including her clients and professional associates can google her name and view these comments and the book.
Obviously it was made almost 6 years ago but then again, it was 6 years after the book was written. weird.
Like I said Fun Fact!
Before I bought this book, I went on Amazon to read reviews and this troll who goes by the name of Paul Gaboury, went on every single review and responded with this comment:
Initial post: Dec 3, 2006 4:06:46 PM PST
Paul Gaboury says:
My name is Paul Gaboury. The author, Elinor Burkett is my sister in law. Her characterization of my wife and our home is innacurate in the extreme. We became aware of the contents of the book only after it hit the bookstands. At that time, we sent a letter to the publisher to correct the misrepresentations made. We did not receive a response. We had a choice to sue. For family considerations, we did not. Now we find references to my wife in the internet which was brought to our attention by a member of our family.
Finally, and again, the characterizations of Michele Gaboury, my wife and the author's sister-in-law are innaccurate in the extreme. They end up acheiving extreme polarizing views which perhaps help strengthen Ms. Burkett's premise. But they also damage my wife's reputation severely when anyone, including her clients and professional associates can google her name and view these comments and the book.
Obviously it was made almost 6 years ago but then again, it was 6 years after the book was written. weird.
Like I said Fun Fact!
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