Abstract:
Sylvia Hewlett's book, When the Bough Breaks: The Cost of Neglecting Our
Children, is written for a general lay audience but should also be of interest to
scholars concerned with children and the family. ln a lively and readable style
Hewlett, an economist by training, details the way American society shortchanges
its children - both poor and middle class - and describes concrete
policy recommendations for how we might begin to rectify these problems.