Hochschild found in her research that although most working parents, particularly mothers, said "family comes first", few of them considered adjusting their long working hours, even when their workplaces offered flextime, parental leave, remote work, or other "family friendly" policies.
In her investigation, Hochschild found that despite many working parents, especially mothers, expressing a strong commitment to family, few actually made significant changes to their work schedules, even with workplaces offering flexible hours, paid time off for family care, remote work arrangements, or other policies designed to support work-life balance.