Getting to 50/50: How Working Parents Can Have It All

Sharon Meers and Joanna Strober are two working moms who believe that everyone wins when men are full parents and women have full careers. They know that families thrive not in spite of working mothers, but because of them. The key is tapping into your best resource and most powerful ally: your spouse. Whats the starting point? An attitude shift that puts you and your husband on the road to 50/50. Here are real-world solutions for parents who want to get ahead in their careers and still get to their childrens soccer games; strategies for working mothers facing gender bias in the workplace; advice to fathers new to the home front; and tips for finding 50/50 solutions to deal with issues of money, time and much more.

After interviewing hundreds of parents and employers, surveying more than a thousand working mothers, and combing through the latest government and social science research, the authors have discovered that kids, husbands, and wives all reap huge benefits when couples commit to share equally as breadwinners and caregivers. Mothers work without guilt, fathers bond with their kids, and children blossom with the attention of two involved parents.

The starting point? An attitude shift that puts you on the road to 50/50—plus the positive step-by-step advice in this book.

From “baby boot camp” for new dads to exactly what to say when negotiating a leave with the boss, this savvy book offers fresh ideas to todays families offering encouragement, hope, and confidence to any woman who has ever questioned her choices regarding work and family.

Sharon Meers leads global business development and sales for X.commerce, the open commerce platform of eBay, helping merchants grow with better technology. Formerly, Meers was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where she worked for 16 years and was co-chair of the Women's Network in the Investment Management Division. She and her husband founded the Partners for Parity at Stanford Business School and the Dual-Career Initiative at Harvard.

Sheryl Sandberg is chief operating officer at Facebook. Prior to Facebook, she was vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google and chief of staff at the U.S. Treasury Department. Sheryl lives in Menlo Park, CA, with her husband and their two children.

Part One — The Good News About Work: Why Two Careers Are Better Than One

1. Mom and Dada: How Kids Can Get More from Two Working Parents

2. What Your Husband Wins from a Working Wife

3. What Women Gain from Working Motherhood

Part Two — Three Truths to Bust the Myths About Work, Women, and Men

4. Women Don't Quit Because They Want To

5. Success Does Not Require 24/7

6. It's Not a Fair Game — but You Can Improve Your Odds

Part Three — The 50/50 Solution and How to Make It Yours

7. The Great Alliance: How Your Husband Solves the Work/Life Riddle

8. The Pre-Baby Road Trip: Mapping Out a Leave You Can Return From

9. The Post-Baby Uphill: Test-Driving 50/50 and Getting Back Up to Speed

10. Getting to 50/50: At Home, at Work, for Life

Resources

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Authors