abstract: 'The United States is one of the few countries in the world without

  national paid parental leave benefits. The lack of a universally

  available policy drives women out of the paid labor force, with a

  disproportionate impact on low-income women. In this article, I

  illuminate the mechanisms by which structural inequality reproduces

  class inequality across the transition to motherhood. Between 2012 and

  2015, I interviewed 44 first-time mothers from diverse class

  backgrounds. From their narratives, I identify three typologies of

  working womenprofessional, pink-professional, and low-wage workersand

  show how formal workplace policies and informal practices, coupled with

  women''s cultural knowledge, shape new mothers'' employment trajectories

  when they have their first child. Policy makers and social workers

  serving new mothers need to be attuned to how women''s occupational group

  may facilitate or inhibit access to parental leave, in order to pave the

  way for more equitable paid family leave for all women.'
affiliation: 'Hoffman, CM (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, 1080 S Univ St, Ann
  Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Hoffman, Charity M., Univ Michigan, Social Work \& Sociol, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.'
author: Hoffman, Charity M.
author-email: charityh@umich.edu
author_list:
- family: Hoffman
  given: Charity M.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/0886109917713976
eissn: 1552-3020
files: []
issn: 0886-1099
journal: AFFILIA-FEMINIST INQUIRY IN SOCIAL WORK
keywords: 'motherhood; parental leave; gender inequality; work; class reproduction;

  qualitative'
keywords-plus: POLICIES; LEAVE
language: English
month: NOV
number: '4'
number-of-cited-references: '27'
orcid-numbers: Hoffman, Charity/0000-0002-2977-4179
pages: 557-573
papis_id: 775a1eb1a69c0e7a50e8340d235a5fe7
ref: Hoffman2017igot
times-cited: '2'
title: '``I Got Lucky″: Class Reproduction Across the Transition to Motherhood'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000413496300011
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '10'
volume: '32'
web-of-science-categories: Social Work; Women's Studies
year: '2017'