The Balancing Act: Juggling Family Life And Work

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Family life and work can be hard to balance when couples work inside or out of the home. Time is a limited resource and that parents must decide how to allocate their time between the demands of a career and duties that make a home livable. Being able to balance and prioritize the importance of each area can help with that struggle. Open communication with couples is imperative regarding roles and expectations of each individual in the home. Being able to cope with role conflict in the home could make for a positive environment for everyone involved. The Balancing Act: Juggling Family Life and Work “The conflict and stress inherent in managing work and family responsibilities have been found to be counterbalanced by the social and psychological benefits that stem from participating in the work and family role …show more content…

Sharing in responsibilities assists in the balance of the work-family roles for each parent and provides more stable marriage and positive family environment. Also, dual income households are able to bring in more income allowing for a more positive quality of life by being able to live in better neighborhoods with better schools for their children (Welch, 2007). When considering family life and work, looking at the Family Systems Theory (FST) allows one to see the dynamics required to be a cohesive family by understanding their values. The basic tenets of Family Systems Theory include: interconnecting, looking at the whole, establishing boundaries, maintaining balance, the circumplex model and creating rules (Walsh, 2007). Beginning with interconnecting, we learn about how the family is a system and that “what happens to one family member eventually affects others within the family unit” (Walsh, p.

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