Reading Room

Parents Under Pressure: Struggling to Raise Children in an Unequal America
By Karen Zilberstein, LICSW
Levellers Press, March 2019

One in six American children lives in poverty. One in six struggles with a developmental disability.

Despite the prevalence of these circumstances, societal expectations and the country’s fragmented, underresourced service systems make it nearly impossible for families experiencing hardship to keep up. In many cases, the system makes their situation worse.

In her book, Zilberstein, clinical director of the Northampton, MA, chapter of A Home Within, provides a candid look at how parents contending with poverty, illness, disability, or other constraints are expected to do so much with so little—and the price they and society pay.

Through the portraits of six overburdened families, Parents Under Pressure shows how health crises can quickly devolve into the loss of jobs and homes, how public perceptions of poor people hamper the chances for a better life, and the ways in which race and income affect access to assistance. Judged by family, friends, and professionals who question their abilities and choices, parents feel inadequate and drained, rather than supported.

— Source: https://bit.ly/2Xv3FZ4