Headlines from news sources are combined with the latest and best social science research to offer scholars, practitioners, and parents a much-needed source for understanding contemporary American parenthood.News and social media headlines abound with contradictory stories about parents, from tales of neglect to fear of helicopter parenting. What readers know about parenting and parenthood can stem from misinformation and oversimplification. In Contemporary Parenting and Parenthood, a wide variety of contributors share research on topics ranging from international adoption to technology to talking with children about racial issues. Scholars, students, parents, and practitioners alike will find that this book breaks new ground in terms of its timely approach, its spotlight on current topics, and its attention to thinking through exaggerated and conflicting media claims about contemporary parenting. Importantly, the book focuses on both parenting, the lived experiences of parents, and parenthood, the social and cultural construction of parenthood in today's world, making it a resource for those interested in the truth of the everyday lives of American parents.

ContentsAcknowledgments ixIntroductionMichelle Janning xiPart OneChanging Patterns in Contemporary Parenting and ParenthoodChapter 1 Helicopter Parents: A New Moral Panic? 3Margaret K. NelsonChapter 2 World's Okayest Mom: The Adaptive Management Parent 31Valerie AdrianChapter 3 The Changing Landscape of Parent-Adult Child Relations 51Joshua ColemanChapter 4 Parenthood in the Age of Apps and Mommy Blogs:Technology and Digital Culture in Parent-ChildRelations 67Michelle Y. JanningChapter 5 Parenthood and Mental Health in the United States: Why Don't Children Improve Adults' Emotional Well-Being? 90Robin W. SimonPart Two Work, Family, and Leisure for ParentsChapter 6 Parental Leave Programs: What Do We Know about Designing Good Policies? 119Ankita PatnaikChapter 7 The Promise and Limits of Work-Family Supports in a Shifting Policy Landscape: A Double Bind for Working Mothers in Western Germany 141Caitlyn CollinsChapter 8 Parenthood and Leisure Time Disparities 168Liana SayerPart Three InequalitiesChapter 9 Understanding Inequality: Children, Consumer Culture, and the Empathy Framework 199Allison J. PughChapter 10 Do We Talk about Race/Ethnicity with our Children or Not? Variations in Parental Ethnic-Racial Socialization Strategies 216Erin PahlkeChapter 11 What Do Visas Have to Do with Parenting? Middle-Class Dependent Visa Holders and Transcultural Parenting 237Pallavi BanerjeeChapter 12 Lost in Detention and Deportation-"Found" through Foster Care and Adoption: Reviewing the Tensionsbetween Family Building and Human Rights in the United States 258Pamela Anne QuirozChapter 13 Child Well-Being in Same-Gender-Parent Families: Courts, Media, and Social Science Research 283Marshal Neal Fettro and Wendy D. ManningChapter 14 Reproducing Family: How Parents Accept Their LGB Children's "Good" Families 302Taylor Field QuirogaConclusion 323About the Editor and Contributors 327Index 331