Two-Career Families (HBR Working Parents Series)

Manage the competing demands of careers, child-rearing, and chores—together.

When you and your partner are prioritizing your careers and your family, every day can feel like a series of small and large negotiations. How you navigate balancing both of your careers with your family life not only affects the type of people you're raising, your success at work, and how smoothly your household runs, but also how you feel about each other. Can you each chase your dreams, raise good citizens, make time for hobbies and health, and nourish your relationship well enough that you still like each other when your nest is empty and you're in the final acts of your careers?

If it seems like a lot, that's because it is a lot. But it's possible to support your family, your children, your careers, and your relationship without collapsing into a heap every Friday night. In Two-Career Families, experts provide answers to the challenges you face as a working parent and a partner, from negotiating responsibilities at home to making career decisions to supporting each other's growth.

You'll learn to:

• Define success as individuals, as a family, and as a couple
• Stay on top of daily demands while tracking long-term goals
• Communicate your needs more effectively
• Make fair trade-offs
• Deal with crises and setbacks
• Build and maintain a team mindset
• Balance it all—or at least most of it

The HBR Working Parents Series with Daisy Dowling, Series Editor, supports readers as you anticipate challenges, learn how to advocate for yourself more effectively, juggle your impossible schedule, and find fulfillment at home and at work. Whether you're up with a newborn or planning the future with your teen, you'll find the practical tips, strategies, and research you need to make working parenthood work for you.

Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, 12 international licensed editions, books from Harvard Business Review Press, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review provides professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact.

Daisy Dowling, Series Editor, is founder and CEO of Workparent, the executive coaching and training firm, and the author of Workparent: The Complete Guide to Succeeding on the Job, Staying True to Yourself, and Raising Happy Kids (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). She is a full-time working parent to two young children. She can be reached at workparent.com.

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