Correll, S.J., Benard, S., & Paik, I. (2007). Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty? American Journal of Sociology, 112(5), 1297-1338.
This article examines whether a “motherhood penalty” on wages and evaluations exists in the American workplace. Participants were asked to rate job application materials for a pair of same-gender, equally qualified applicants who differed in parental status. Results indicated that childless women received nearly twice the callback recommendations as equally qualified mothers, with fathers called back at slightly higher rates than childless men. Salary discrimination followed the same pattern as hiring discrimination. Unexpectedly, childless women were favored over childless men on several measures, underlining the hypothesis that mothers are culturally viewed as less competent, committed workers.

Herbst, C.M. & Barnow, B.S. (2008). Close to home: A simultaneous equations model of the relationship between child care accessibility and female labor force participation. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 29(1), 128-151.
Using census data and child care provider information for the state of Maryland, the authors examine the relationship between female labor force participation and geographic supply of child care. The child care provider information includes data on licensed services such as child care centers, Head Start programs, nursery schools, and summer programs as well as regulated family care providers, defined as “services for up to eight children under age thirteen in place of parental care.” Empirical evidence suggests that women’s rate of paid labor is sensitive to geographically available child care and vice versa. Policy implications are discussed, as the paper reveals employment growth as an unintended outcome of states’ allocation of funds to increase the quality of child care environments.

Lilly, M.B., LaPorte, A. & Coyte, P.C. (2007). Labor market work and home care’s unpaid caregivers: A systematic review of labor force participation rates, predictors of labor market withdrawal, and hours of work. The Millbank Quarterly, 85(4), 641-690.
This paper investigates and assesses international research on unpaid caregivers and their labor market participation. The rate of labor force participation (LFP) is the percentage of labor force participants relative to the total working-age population. The authors looked at 23 studies from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and various other European countries. Findings indicate that caregivers are significantly less likely to participate in the paid labor force than non-caregivers, but this conclusion is skewed by the overwhelming lack of participation in the paid workforce by caregivers who live with those for whom they care or report “heavy” caregiving duties. The authors also point out that LFP includes those who work only a few paid hours a week to those working 70+ hours, suggesting that future studies on whether caregivers keep working but reduce their working hours are necessary.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Smith, B.M. (2008). It's about time—for a new regulatory approach to equality. Retrieved March 7, 2008 from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1101187
The author considers the 2007 decision by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to recommend legislation that promotes cultural change through “greater protection and support for workers with family responsibility.” She concludes that the recommendations do not go far enough, relying on a model in which employees must stand up for themselves and “prompt social change through individual litigation.” Recommendations for supplementary policies that require action from employers rather than action by those experiencing inequality are made. The paper is available from the Social Science Research Network free of charge.

This paper to which it refers, It’s about time: Women, men, work and family, a 2007 paper from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, is also available online in its entirety: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/sex_discrimination/its_about_time/index.html

Still, M.C. (2006). Litigating the maternal wall: U.S. lawsuits charging discrimination against workers with family responsibilities. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from the WorkLifeLaw web site: http://www.worklifelaw.org/pubs/FRDreport.pdf
The author estimates that FRD lawsuits have increased 400% between 1996 and 2005.
In this paper, she reports on three years of data collection on 613 “maternal wall cases,” so called because the plaintiffs involved are men and women who are exhibiting traditional “mothering” behavior—caring for children or other family members. Cases are examined over time and by industry, occupation, region, state and gender of the plaintiff.

Von Bergen, C.W. (2008). “The times they are a-changin’”: Family responsibilities discrimination and the EEOC. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal. Advance online publication. Retrieved March 10, 2008. doi: 10.1007/s10672-008-9064-4
This paper discusses the EEOC’s guidelines that serve to end FRD. Several examples of possible FRD are given, and many actual court cases featuring FRD are discussed, along with the history of FRD-related litigation. The author also lists several reason for the increase in FRD and FRD-related litigation, as well as the “key unlawful areas” presented by the EEOC within their guidelines.

Williams, J., Bornstein, S., Reddy, D., & Williams, B.A. (2006-7). Law firms as defendants: Family responsibilities discrimination in legal workplaces. Pepperdine Law Review, 34, 393-416.
The authors present FRD as a “risk management issue” for all employers, and go on to explain the ways in which law firm culture can be particularly prone to FRD via gender stereotyping; women now make up over 50% of law school graduates and 41% of new associates at law large firms. The increase in female lawyers means there is an increase in primary caregivers for children and other family members working in law firms. Many law firms are still designed around an “ideal worker” with few to no responsibilities outside of the workplace. Examples of specific FRD cases brought against legal employers are described, including laws used by plaintiffs to bring their cases to trial.

Kahnweiler, W.M. (2008). The work-life conumdrum: Will HRD become more involved? Human Resource Development Quarterly, 19(1), 75-83.
The author, a human resource development professional for over thirty years, discusses the relatively limited role that human resource development has played in the work-life arena. Possible reasons for this lack of involvement include the assumption that human resource management should focus on this issue, and HRD is separate from HRM, work-life is focused on career development than other HRD specialties such as training and development, work-life research is covered by other HR specialties, and HRD practitioners lack training and experience on how to deal with work-life issues. The author discusses these reasons and elaborates on the importance of HRD’s involvement with work-life.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
McCann, D.M. (2008). Regulating flexible work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Table of contents: Non-standard work, flexibility, and United Kingdom labour law -- Employment status and non-standard work: the narrow gateway to statutory rights -- Ensuring equality and availability: the regulation of part-time work -- Permanency and protection: the incomplete integration of temporary work into United Kingdom labour law -- Temporary agency work: capturing the tripartite working relationship -- Conclusions: non-standard work, labour market flexibility, and contemporary labour law-an inchoate reform.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Rajaramab, D., Earle, A., & Heymann, S.J. (2008). Working HIV caregivers in Botswana: Spill-over effects on work and family well-being. Community, Work & Family, 11(1), 1-17.
Using the information from a survey of 1,077 working caregivers in Botswana, the authors compare the experiences of those caring for people with HIV and those who are caring for people without HIV. Findings indicate that those caring for people with HIV are more likely to worry about regular childcare as well as childcare for sick children. They are also more likely to worry about their children’s levels of academic and emotional support, and report being less able to spend time with their children. HIV caregivers are more likely to take leave from their paying jobs and for longer periods of time, and these leaves tend to be unpaid. Recommendations are made for supporting HIV caregivers.