Family Time: The Social Organization of Care
New York: Routledge, 2004Time is not money. If anything, it is more important than money. The time we have to care for one another, especially for our children and our elderly, is more precious to us than anything else in the world. Yet we have more experience accounting for money than we do for time.
In this volume, leading experts in analysis of time-use from across the globe explore the interface between time-use and family policy. They show how social institutions limit the choices that individuals can make about how to divide their time between paid and unpaid work. They challenge conventional surveys that offer simplistic measures of time spent in childcare or eldercare. They summarize empirical evidence concerning trends in time devoted to the care of family members and debate ways of assigning a monetary value to this time.
The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values
New York: The New Press, 2001.In this readable, well-documented, and thought-provoking work, [Folbre] discusses the invisible heart of caring labor, which is not easily put in terms of dollars. She explains how this concept relates to Adam Smith's notion of the invisible hand with regard to supply and demand and the pursuit of self-interests. For centuries, women provided care for free in the home. Now, with more of them working outside the home, what used to be a priority for them is in the hands of institutions that do not obtain the funding priorities other endeavors have in the global economy. The ability to provide personal and loving care is being eroded. Folbre discusses how government, society, and employers can look at economic theory and practice to prioritize what individuals and institutions can do for the care of children, the sick, and the elderly. A good choice for academic and large public libraries. ~~Library Journal
The Ultimate Field Guide to the U.S. Economy
(with James Heintz and the Center for Popular Economics).New York: The New Press, 2000
Revised and expanded with the most recent data, The Ultimate Field Guide to the U.S. Economy is an all-new edition of the classic primer on American economics. As in the past, this highly illustrated guide brings key policy issues to life, reflecting the collective wit and wisdom of the best economic literacy activists in the country. Ten chapters tell you what you need to know about owners, workers, women, people of color, welfare and education, government spending, health, environment, macroeconomics, and the global economy. A glossary and conceptual tool kit help make sense of the facts.
Look for the companion website at www.fguide.org.
The War on the Poor: A Defense Manual
(with Randy Albelda and the Center for Popular Economics)New York: The New Press, 1996.
This terrific compendium fully refutes every fathead, right-wing assertion you've ever heard about why poverty should be blamed on the poor.
You know all these times you've heard Rush Limbaugh or Newt Gingrich make some outrageous statement about welfare moms and thought to yourself, 'Nah, that can't be right.' It's not.
The War on the Poor gives you the facts to fire back. Keep it at your side when calling into radio talk shows, writing your representative, or even arguing with your dim-witted brother-in-law. ~~Molly Ivins