Listen: @ninabandelj.bsky.social, author of Overinvested, spoke with the @reachoutandread.bsky.social podcast about when, why, and how we decided as a society to dedicate all our parenting resources to the “human capitalization of children":

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting

When, why, and how did we decide as a society to dedicate all our parenting resources to the "human capitalization of children"—and at what cost?

podcasts.apple.com

At a child's pediatric check up, does it also feel like a #parenting evaluation? Hear me on @reachoutandread.bsky.social podcast, about #overinvested parenting pressures & how giving out books is not just for human capitalization but also to support parents & kids. @princetonupress.bsky.social

Economic reasoning & emotional culture transform child-rearing into exhausting labor and #children into investment projects, with troubling consequences. @ninabandelj.bsky.social's "Overinvested" is a groundbreaking and must-read book, intellectually & socially. economicsociology.org/2026/07/04/t...

The Emotional Economy of Parenting

by Nina Bandelj* In the summer of 2024, U.S. Surgeon General issued a public health advisory about something that would have seemed an unlikely candidate for federal alarm: parenting. More than 40 …

economicsociology.org

"Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting" by @ninabandelj.bsky.social is a must-read, intellectually and socially economicsociology.org/2026/07/04/t...

The Emotional Economy of Parenting

by Nina Bandelj* In the summer of 2024, U.S. Surgeon General issued a public health advisory about something that would have seemed an unlikely candidate for federal alarm: parenting. More than 40 …

economicsociology.org

New at PB: @ninabandelj.bsky.social discusses her new book “Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting” (@princetonupress.bsky.social) with PB founding editor Caitlin Zaloom.

The “Emotional Economy” of Parenting: A Conversation with Nina Bandelj - Public Books

“I am an observer of how intellectual ideas travel and enter into everyday life, or how they come to be performed by families in ways that give those ideas a reality of their own.”

publicbooks.org

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Glasgow 2027 is already calling! If you're in Bordeaux, stop by the atrium at Sciences Po and look for the Scottish flag. Jo is waiting with a quiz, and you could win a restaurant voucher to use in Glasgow #SASE2026 #Glasgow2027 #Bordeaux #SASECommunity

Overinvested author @ninabandelj.bsky.social spoke with @publicbooks.bsky.social editor Caitlin Zaloom about her new book and how parenting has become economized:

The “Emotional Economy” of Parenting: A Conversation with Nina Bandelj - Public Books

“I am an observer of how intellectual ideas travel and enter into everyday life, or how they come to be performed by families in ways that give those ideas a reality of their own.”

publicbooks.org

Many thanks to @cl-bellanger.bsky.social for a generous review of Overinvested @princetonupress.bsky.social. Curious how financial & emotional investment pressures travel abroad. Excited for Jeanne Lazarus @sciencespo.bsky.social to discuss Overinvested at @sasemeeting.bsky.social in Bordeaux!

Clément Bellanger @cl-bellanger.bsky.social · last mo.

« Once upon a time in America, children labored for the family. Today, however, most American parents labor for their children. » Dans le sillage de Viviana Zelizer, @ninabandelj.bsky.social interroge un nouveau tournant dans la sacralisation de l’enfance. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

So great to see this published! Check out this feature on "Overinvested," the new book by @ninabandelj.bsky.social, who worked on the book as a 2019-20 CASBS fellow. It's the latest in CASBS's partnership with @publicbooks.bsky.social

Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · last mo.

New at PB: Founding editor Caitlin Zaloom interviews author and scholar @ninabandelj.bsky.social about her new book “Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting” (@princetonupress.bsky.social), the latest installment in our partnership with @casbsstanford.bsky.social.

Every week Ben puts together this incredible guide to the latest public scholarship. It’s an incredible resource, and I am so grateful there are folks like him supporting all of our work out there. 👇

Ben Railton@americanstudier.bsky.social · last mo.

+ My 282nd #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

+ My 282nd #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 282 (6/28/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

Then is finally now—it’s Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday! I think the maestro of mensches would agree that there’s no better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with a thread of phenomenal public...

blackwhiteandread.com

In the latest installment in our partnership with @casbsstanford.bsky.social, author and scholar @ninabandelj.bsky.social is in conversation with Caitlin Zaloom about how and when children became investment projects to manage.

The “Emotional Economy” of Parenting: A Conversation with Nina Bandelj - Public Books

“I am an observer of how intellectual ideas travel and enter into everyday life, or how they come to be performed by families in ways that give those ideas a reality of their own.”

publicbooks.org

“How do norms and institutions need to change for this intimate experience of exhausted parenting to change?” New at PB: @ninabandelj.bsky.social on the “emotional economy” of parenting.

The “Emotional Economy” of Parenting: A Conversation with Nina Bandelj - Public Books

“I am an observer of how intellectual ideas travel and enter into everyday life, or how they come to be performed by families in ways that give those ideas a reality of their own.”

publicbooks.org

Listen: Overinvested author @ninabandelj.bsky.social speaks with Edward Plimpton, host of Your Anxious Child, about “intensive parenting” and parental burnout:

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting: Interview with Nina Bandelj, PhD

Podcast Episode · Your Anxious Child · June 8 · 52m

podcasts.apple.com

Why should the public care what child-rearing has become? So enjoyed this interview with Kate Zaloom for @publicbooks.bsky.social. I nerded out on the meaning of #money, #relationalwork, #financialization, #privatization of #parenting, #humancapital & #psychic #income. Invited to check it out!

Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · last mo.

New at PB: Founding editor Caitlin Zaloom interviews author and scholar @ninabandelj.bsky.social about her new book “Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting” (@princetonupress.bsky.social), the latest installment in our partnership with @casbsstanford.bsky.social.

Anxious children, anxious parents… Is it also because today we are pressured to overinvest financially and emotionally into our children? I really enjoyed a podcast conversation with pediatrician Dr. Ted Plimpton, one of his first with a sociologist. #parenting #anxiety #pressure

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Listen: Overinvested author @ninabandelj.bsky.social speaks with Edward Plimpton, host of Your Anxious Child, about “intensive parenting” and parental burnout:

“As a mother herself, Bandelj relies on a mantra: “My child is not an investment project. Raising children should not be exhausting labor.” Grateful to Jackie Bischof @bloomberg.com for including me and Overinvested @princetonupress.bsky.social in her poignant essay. #mothersday #parenting

Two sociologists go to town talking about the demands of modern #parenting! Loved the opportunity and reactions from readers. #overinvested @princetonupress.bsky.social

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 4mo ago

PUP authors Allison Daminger (What’s On Her Mind) and @ninabandelj.bsky.social (Overinvested) conducted a fascinating conversation on Daminger’s Substack about modern parenting—what has changed, if it has gotten harder, etc. Check it out here: buff.ly/Lw40sQh

Happy global birthday to OVERINVESTED! 🎂 Celebrate with me & join a discussion organized by Dr. @audreyharroche.bsky.social in conversation with Prof. Tina Miller at Oxford Brookes University 📅 30 April, 16:00–17:00 (UK time) Online event open to all; register here: brookes.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Overinvested by @ninabandelj.bsky.social is now available worldwide! Discover what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor. Learn more about this eye-opening book here: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #Parenting #Sociology

Grateful to @annehelen.bsky.social for probing ❓❓❓about my parenting economy culture study for her ⭐ Culture Study. OVERINVESTED exposes *social* pressures and structures that lock in today's exhausting parenting standard, and how we can work together to re-imagine & re-structure. #parentalburnout

Anne Helen Petersen@annehelen.bsky.social · 5mo ago

 "We've reattached an economic value to raising children and are recasting parenting as a capitalization project aimed at boosting future productivity. The Emotionally Priceless Child 2.0 isn’t just loved: they’re an investment project." www.patreon.com/posts/emotio...

Thanks a million, Pat @ophastings.bsky.social, for recommending OVERINVESTED to family sociologists. I am an interloper into that field, but uncovering the modern emotional economy of parenting reveals so much about how we have redefined children and what it means to raise them. #family #parenting

Pat Hastings@ophastings.bsky.social · 5mo ago

@ninabandelj.bsky.social’s Overinvested!

Grateful for a chance to talk to @calebzakarin.bsky.social about OVERINVESTED - from child labor to mom emotional labor, from curating resumes to Varsity Blues & also how children are a common responsibility. @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.com/overinvested

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In Overinvested, @ninabandelj.bsky.social explains what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor. Out now (17 March UK pub). Explore a free preview of this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #Sociology

Delighted that OVERINVESTED is now part of the CASBS Ralph W. Tyler Collection. And that I was able to say THANKS for the engaging and supportive time at @casbsstanford.bsky.social in the book acknowledgments! I can’t recommend it highly enough. Applications for fellowships due in the Fall. Apply!

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford@casbsstanford.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A copy of the NEW BOOK by @ninabandelj.bsky.social, "Overinvested,"work that Nina advanced forward during her 2019-20 CASBS fellowship, has entered into the Center's world renowned Ralph W. Tyler Collection 📚 About this @princetonupress.bsky.social book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

"Your son saved someone's life? He can put it on his college application!" is what one caller was told and shared on @kqedforum.bsky.social in a recent episode with me. Not shocked? Read why in my "Children as Projects" essay - and more in my book OVERINVESTED. press.princeton.edu/ideas/childr...

Children as projects

Contemporary parenting is far from permissive chaos and more relentless effort: careful scheduling, constant supervision, and pouring our souls—as well as loads of money—into our children.

press.princeton.edu

Delighted to hear @casbsstanford.bsky.social was listening in to my @kqedforum.bsky.social conversation. BIG thanks to CASBS for the crucial support to move the “Overinvested” book project forward. I know there are so many alumni out there thinking the same!

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford@casbsstanford.bsky.social · 6mo ago

So great to hear this discussion live this morning. @ninabandelj.bsky.social worked on her just-published book "Overinvested" during her 2019-20 CASBS fellowship 😏

What do we *really* owe our children? Excited about *OVERINVESTED: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting* officially publishing next week. @princetonupress.bsky.social Grateful to @ucisocsci.bsky.social Heather Ashbach for talking to me about it. #children #parents #parenting

UC Irvine School of Social Sciences@ucisocsci.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting | New book by @ucirvine.bsky.social sociology professor @ninabandelj.bsky.social explores what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor @princetonupress.bsky.social @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Merci beaucoup, Céline! I wanted to let you know about the book launch event: “From Priceless to Overinvested” conversation between Viviana Zelizer and Nina Bandelj, moderated by Frederick Wherry. January 22, 4pm ET. Register online: uci.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Céline Bessière@celinebessiere.bsky.social · 8mo ago

At the top of my 2026 reading list!

New year, new book! Thrilled to launch OVERINVESTED in conversation with the brilliant Viviana Zelizer, moderated by Fred Wherry “From Priceless…to Overinvested” January 22, 4pm ET, register at: lnkd.in/g-ewbpyX

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 7mo ago

In Overinvested, @ninabandelj.bsky.social reveals what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor. Available January 20 (17 March UK pub). Preorder your copy of this eye-opening book today: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #Parenting #Sociology

My new book, The Division of Rationalized Labor, is now shipping! A brief summary of the argument to follow…

The best of worlds when reviewers get your main point! Yes, OVERINVESTED shows that demands of modern parenting are unsustainable. Very grateful to Kirkus Reviews. Book releases on January 20. @princetonupress.bsky.social

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Overinvested by @ninabandelj.bsky.social is “necessary reading about the troubled state of contemporary American parenting,” writes Kirkus Reviews. Check out the full review here: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...