What do you think?
All Mothers Work : A Revolutionary Plan to Fix Failing Care Systems and Truly Liberate Women
“The most important book on feminism since The Female Eunuch.” - The Sydney Morning Herald
Millions of women woke up this morning and went to work, paid and unpaid. Many of these women were forced to leave babies and young children in care arrangements that are inadequate. Mothers are experiencing chronic stress and isolation. This isn't what liberation looks like.
A world where care and reproductive labour is supported is within our reach but it requires brave new exploration of market mechanisms, government policies and cultural attitudes that can truly support the critical role of mothers. For too long women and our contributions have been treated as a problem to be solved. The real problem is the failure to assign value to our work.
"Tapscott makes it impossible to unsee just how hostile our economic model has become towards motherhood." - Veronika Winkels, Founding Editor, Mathilde Magazine
About the author, Virginia Tapscott
Virginia Tapscott is a mother of four children. She is a Founding Director of not-for-profit organisation Parents Work Collective, an advocacy group organisation that aims to shift the narratives around the importance of unpaid care work, and advocates for more support for parents to have time to parent. Virginia has worked as a journalist and most recently freelanced for The Australian and Mamamia. Virginia lives in regional NSW with her husband and children.
Millions of women woke up this morning and went to work, paid and unpaid. Many of these women were forced to leave babies and young children in care arrangements that are inadequate. Mothers are experiencing chronic stress and isolation. This isn't what liberation looks like.
A world where care and reproductive labour is supported is within our reach but it requires brave new exploration of market mechanisms, government policies and cultural attitudes that can truly support the critical role of mothers. For too long women and our contributions have been treated as a problem to be solved. The real problem is the failure to assign value to our work.
"Tapscott makes it impossible to unsee just how hostile our economic model has become towards motherhood." - Veronika Winkels, Founding Editor, Mathilde Magazine
About the author, Virginia Tapscott
Virginia Tapscott is a mother of four children. She is a Founding Director of not-for-profit organisation Parents Work Collective, an advocacy group organisation that aims to shift the narratives around the importance of unpaid care work, and advocates for more support for parents to have time to parent. Virginia has worked as a journalist and most recently freelanced for The Australian and Mamamia. Virginia lives in regional NSW with her husband and children.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 3, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 9, 2026
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I found this really hard to rate. I’m really glad Tapscott wrote this but it was harder to read than it needed to be
For heart and for central message - that all mother’s work, and that the unpaid work of mothering is of incredible and irreplaceable value, 5 stars! Also that early childhood care ought to be better and differently and more flexibly organised and rewarded… also excellent.
But the book is let down by lack of professional editing. It over-proves its case at points when less would have been sufficient. It references and end-notes claims inconsistently (sometimes not at all)! It jumps between personal testimony, digesting research, and argument and advocacy in a way that does not always flow easily.
Well worth a read if you want to encourage young mothers and mothers-to-be (& wider family members) to prize highly the raising of children and/or if interested in the associated social policy debates.
For heart and for central message - that all mother’s work, and that the unpaid work of mothering is of incredible and irreplaceable value, 5 stars! Also that early childhood care ought to be better and differently and more flexibly organised and rewarded… also excellent.
But the book is let down by lack of professional editing. It over-proves its case at points when less would have been sufficient. It references and end-notes claims inconsistently (sometimes not at all)! It jumps between personal testimony, digesting research, and argument and advocacy in a way that does not always flow easily.
Well worth a read if you want to encourage young mothers and mothers-to-be (& wider family members) to prize highly the raising of children and/or if interested in the associated social policy debates.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review