however, is made more or less difficult by the policy context, both
at the level of the employer as well as the community and nation.
Employer policies regarding parental leave, flexible scheduling of
work hours, and support for child care are diverse in the United
States and often do not cover the men and women most in need of
family accommodations (Glass & Estes, 1997). “Family friendly”
policies can decrease tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover and
increase job satisfaction and productivity among women and men
(Glass & Estes, 1997). Employer policies shape the work careers of
women, in part, through the rate at which women return to work
after childbearing (Hofferth, 2000). Access to part-time work and
on-site child care promote a faster return to work. Many part-time
employees would have left the labor force after childbearing had
part-time work not been available to them (Rogers, 1992). The
availability of good-quality, affordable child care is a particularly
important factor in work-family decisions (Rindfuss & Brewster,
1996; Mason & Kuhlthau, 1992). Mothers with liberal unpaid leave
and flexible spending accounts (allowing the option of pre-tax pay-
roll deduction for insurance premiums, medical expenses, or child-
care expenses) return more quickly to full-time work.
Cross-national differences in family policies influence women’s
fertility and labor force participation (Brewster & Rindfuss, 2000).
Parental leave policies, state support of child care and elder care,
and the age at which children start school vary across nations and
form the contexts in which both mothers and fathers navigate their
work and family lives. Examining the life histories of four birth
cohorts (1929–1961) living in East Germany, Trappe (2000) docu-
ments how the availability of state-supported child care in the later
cohorts allowed women to pursue work opportunities and family
roles simultaneously. Earlier cohorts more often sequenced their
efforts in employment and child rearing. With reunification, the
coordination of work and family roles has become more difficult, as
many of these supports have diminished or disappeared.
As this review indicates, sociologists are as likely (or more likely)
to be concerned with the ways in which career choices are facili-
66 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT