"At age 90, Jack Smiley wasn't thrilled with the community in which he retired, so he built his own. Today, it provides him with a net income of $40,000 each month. Famously, KFC's 65 year-old Kentucky Colonel Harlan Sanders supplemented a paltry Social Security check by franchising his unique recipe for fried poultry. Past 50, McDonald's Ray Kroc made a similar trek in multiplying by many thousands a few popular, golden-arched hamburger stands from...

When her husband is arrested, a young Brooklyn mother has to get a job to support her family. She soon finds her confidence, but the neighborhood boys get word to her husband that she's dating her boss. This leads to a major confrontation, when the husband has to acknowledge his wife's new strength and importance to the family.

"Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women. Holding It Together chronicles the causes and dire consequences. America runs on women-women who are tasked with holding society together at the seams and fixing it when things fall apart. In this tour de force, acclaimed Sociologist Jessica Calarco lays bare the devastating consequences of our status quo. Holding It Together draws on five years of research in which Calarco surveyed over...