Rating: 
Summary: Required Reading
Review: Preaching to the choir of the childfree, this book should be required reading for every CEO and politician touting "family-friendly" policies within a very narrow definition of what constitutes a "family," and for every parent who thinks that their rights include stepping on everyone else "for the good of the (my) children."There's a revolution brewing, and Burkett is the leading the charge. No longer will the childfree sit back and take it while parents run roughshod over them.
Rating: 
Summary: A fresh view in a pronatalist world.
Review: Finally, a book that throws mud in the face of America's obsession with pronatalism. Using clear facts and solid research, Burkett deflates many of the myths surrounding the childfree-as-selfish, parents-as-selfless hysterity that has taken over much of American society, marginalizing those who are unable or unwilling to bear children.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for both parents and the childfree!
Review: Elinor's book is a real eye-opener, pointing out the inequalities which exist in our child worshipping society today that affect not only the childfree, but the lower income families as well. Her facts and figures point to a trend in America which has been in the making for nearly 30 years. A trend which shows the changes in parental values from children once being considered a privilege and a responsibility to being viewed by wealthy "gotta have it all" parents as a loss in careers, time and money. Losses which the middle and upper income parents expect to be compensated for at the expense of the lower-income families and the childfree. The Baby Boon explains how the poor families and their children gain nothing from all the sugar-coated "family-friendly" policies being offered by the politicians and how the childfree have been reduced to second-class citizens.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Significant Book
Review: Having just finished this book, I would HIGHLY recommend it to every childfree person in America and to parents; despite the fact that I believe that only the CF people will understand, relate and appreciate this book. IMO, this is one of the most significant books ever written on the Childfree people in our society. The facts and figures alone will astound most people and will awaken many to the various ways the CF are discriminated against in family-friendly America. If parents read this book they will most definately get an eye-opening account of their own selfishness and a wonderful insight into how CF people feel. I particularly hope that they take heed of the third section of this book....parents, "you have been forewarned"...don't be surprized when we, the childfree, take to the streets of Washington DC soon demanding respect and our equality ! In conclusion, the one and only negative critique I have is that I cringed everytime I had to read the term "childLESS", this word made me extremely angry and uncomfortable since I consider myself "FREE", not "LESS". I think many others will feel this way as well.
Rating:
Summary: It's About Time!
Review: This book was highly recommended by the posters on the many Childfree bulletin boards available online. The author addresses many issues the childfree have noticed for years, and also uncovers other shocking inequities most of us never considered. For example, she reports that in the state of Oregon, there are higher penalties for domestic violence against a mother than against a childfree woman! She also explores the origins of the entitlement mentality that middle and upper class parents have assumed in the last 30 years. I bought not one, but TWO copies. One copy was placed in the reading rack in the breakroom at my work. After my husband finishes reading the second copy, he's going to put it in the lending library in the lounge at his Union Hall. If you feel you encounter discrimination at work, and your workplace has a lounge or break area, make sure to leave the book there after you read it. Libraries could use copies too! It's a progressive, highly researched piece. BUY EXTRA COPIES, FRIENDS! This is our chance to do something!
Rating:
Summary: Politicians Take Note
Review: Every politician and CEO in the country should read this book. Elinor Burkett does an excellent analysis of allegedly "family-friendly" and "for the children" policies, exposing the underlying hypocrisy of the people espousing these policies. Burkett sounds the wake-up call for this country to realize that "family friendly" means middle and upper-middle class parent friendly and "for the children" means middle and upper-middle class children. The truly needy continue to go hungry and uneducated while politicians fall over themselves to offer "breaks" to those who can well afford to raise their own children. And of course, all these "breaks" are paid for by those without children. Burkett does a wonderful job in detailing how affirmative action for parents results in discrimination against those without children and the demise of the concept of equal pay for equal work. Everyone, those without children and those with children, should read this book and decide whether this country can continue to support such rampant discrimination against those without children.
Rating:
Summary: Sacred Cow-Tipping
Review: Wonderful! In "The Baby Boon", Elinor Burkett draws back the curtains to shed light on an issue that has been quietly simmering for a long time. That is: how the ever-increasing child/parent-centeredness of U.S. society marginalizes and, in some cases, openly discriminates against people without children. Burkett gives a voice to those who have kept silent, fearing to complain lest they be branded child-haters or worse. And what an eloquent voice it is! Burkett's writing is smooth, effective, and most importantly: convincing. Her arguments are backed up not just by a sense of justice, but also by very well-researched fact. "The Baby Boon" challenges one of the most sacred of sacred cows; naturally it will prove to be a controversial book. In this Presidential election year, I truly hope that some of the public debate that this book will undoubtedly inspire will make it to the ears of our elected officials. It is high time that the host of problems associated with excessive parental priviledges be acknowled and addressed. Kudos to Burkett for her bravery in starting the ball rolling. "Baby Boon" is a must read for anyone in the U.S. who votes, pays taxes, or has a job, non-parents and parents alike.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! The book for which I have been wishing!
Review: I just received my copy of this book tonight and I'm already half-way through it. Hats off to Elinor Burkett for researching so thoroughly and writing so compellingly about the coming social battle growing in the United States and elsewhere around the world. In an era of rampant pro-natalism and selfish 'gotta-have-it-alls', Burkett examines the moralistic rhetoric used by parents to obfuscate the truth and by politicians to justify blatant discrimination against the childless. For any of you tired of being shortchanged - financially, emotionally, politically, etc. - just because you don't have children, this book will be 'preaching to the choir', but very informative and enjoyable, nonetheless. Send a copy to your congressional representatives and remind them that childless people are the fastest-growing demographic in this country!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book But a Pulled Punch
Review: "The Baby Boon" is a good policy-issue book and not just an outcry of personal complaining, although the author does occasionally use personal examples. In the book, Burkett examines the kinds of sacrifices childless people have made for those with children and concludes that the childless have been asked for too much. Property taxes for public school? No problem. Welfare, or whatever replaced it? Of course, there has to be a social net. But what of companies that give liberal maternity/paternity leave to new parents with no comparable benefit to the childless? Free corporate childcare centers? Or parents who assert practically a moral privilege not to work on weekends but expect their child-free cohorts to do it for them? Burkett is annoyed, as are many of us, by the assumptions of parents that (1) no amount of social engineering is too much when one has children; (2) single people don't have social lives so infringing on their spare time is no big deal; (3) the needs of kids supercede other adults needs so that "adults only" zones like restaurants or legitimate theaters are dwindling. It's almost as though one isn't a full citizen without a child and, as Burkett mentions several times, it's almost as though one isn't a woman without also being a mother. Much of the unfairness resides in governmental policy. For each of the many, many tax-reform laws passed during the 1990s "for the children," single people have lost out. This has swelled the parental sense of entitlement but transferred the tax burden to the childless (who, ironically, may be the ones working extra hours to take up the slack). Burkett points out that many of these entitlements are not targeted toward the poor but to the middle-class, which made them politically popular. The title of this book could almost have been "The Middle-Class Scam" instead of "The Baby Boon." At that point I felt she could have embarked on a full-scale critique of the Clinton era and its social policy but was reigned in by her topic and so had to pull a punch or tow. Still, fascinating reading and highly digestible "wonk" subject matter. "The Baby Boon" is a worthy book to read. About my only other criticism is that it gets a bit repetitive at times as Burkett reminds us that the definition of woman=mother is a regressive social policy. That's a small price to pay, though, for a fresh and interesting book for people who feel they've been "had" but don't really have counter-arguments against their situation.
Rating:
Summary: Politicians Take Note
Review: Every politician and CEO in the country should read this book. Elinor Burkett does an excellent analysis of allegedly "family-friendly" and "for the children" policies, exposing the underlying hypocrisy of the people espousing these policies. Burkett sounds the wake-up call for this country to realize that "family friendly" means middle and upper-middle class parent friendly and "for the children" means middle and upper-middle class children. The truly needy continue to go hungry and uneducated while politicians fall over themselves to offer "breaks" to those who can well afford to raise their own children. And of course, all these "breaks" are paid for by those without children. Burkett does a wonderful job in detailing how affirmative action for parents results in discrimination against those without children and the demise of the concept of equal pay for equal work. Everyone, those without children and those with children, should read this book and decide whether this country can continue to support such rampant discrimination against those without children.
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