Families and work in the twenty-first century

Shirley Dex, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, £16.95, from York Publishing Services, tel: 01904 430033; also available to download free from www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop

This report provides a comprehensive picture of the relationship of working families to the labour market, taking account of the dramatic changes in working patterns, particularly for women, in the past few decades.

It finds that the "typical" family with children is now a "1.5 earner household" where one parent (usually the father) works full time and the other (usually the mother) works part time.

Dex draws on the findings of 19 separate research studies funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

He goes beyond simply describing the state of work and family life in Britain today, and argues that all the government's legislation and policies to tackle work-life balance still leave many parents tired and dissatisfied with their long working hours. It shows that mothers would like fathers to cut down long hours of work, and many would prefer to work shorter hours themselves. Weekend working is a particular problem for many.

The families facing most pressure are those with caring responsibilities for older adults or a disabled child, and the report concludes that working carers of older adults get least help in the workplace, with companies only just beginning to think about the issues.