In Young Families, Social Risk and the Role of Government, Jenson shows how families today face greater risks than ever before. The likelihood of both parents working outside the home, in many case for wages that fail to raise a family above the poverty line, the lack of quality, affordable child care, the frequent presence of aging dependants, are part of the new reality. They greatly add to the challenge of parenting, to time stress and the tension between the demands of work and family.