Running Head: JOB STRESS AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY 1
Job Stress and The American Family
A discussion of the effects of stress on American families
Olivia Rusdal
Arizona State University
This paper was prepared for Marriage and Family Relationships, taught by Mrs. Brougham.
JOB STRESS AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY 2
Throughout chapter 8 of “Intimate Relationships, Marriages and Families”, the authors discuss many of the factors that go along with job stress and its effect on American families. This book sheds light on the fact that currently in a typical American family, it is much more likely that both spouses are working and this is known as a dual-earner family (DeGenova, Stinnett, Stinnett, 2010, p. 194). With both spouses in
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the work force, there are many effects both on them and their children.
“The term work-family spillover is defined as the extent to which participation in one domain (e.g., work) impacts participation in another domain (e.g.,family) (DeGenova, Stinnett, Stinnett, 2010, p. 195). Work-family spillover is much more likely when both spouses are in the work force. There is less time for spending time with the children and maintaining family life such as chores, making meals and providing shelter when the parents’ time is consumed with work. Not only does job stress affect children but “job stress affects the parents’ marriage and their relationship with their children” (DeGenova, Stinnett, Stinnett, 2010, p. 195). There can be positive effects from having a dual-earner family such as valuing family, striving for partnership, deriving meaning from work, maintaining work boundaries and valuing time (DeGenova, Stinnett, Stinnett, 2010, p. 196). With the growing job demands, it has become difficult for families to properly balance their life at home and their life at work. The stress created from the need for more time to fit in family life and work life, will often spill over into family time. While parents may be spending time with their children, they may not be really giving them the attention they need and deserve. …show more content…
“Unsurprisingly, the number one wish of these children was not for more time with their parents, but for their parents to be less stressed and tired during the time they were with them,” (Kaye, Gray, 2007, p.5). This lack of emotional support and comfort from their parents can lead to many health problems for children not only JOB STRESS AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY 3 mentally but physically.
One of the most serious effects of work-family spillover is its “significant contribution to childhood obesity” (Kaye, Gray, 2007, p.1). As the time demand for parents in the work force has grown in the last generation, “the percentage of children who are overweight has roughly tripled” (Kaye, Gray, 2007, p.1). Among the health effects of families with parents in the work force are mental disorders for both the children and adults. Parents reporting added stress from having to manage work life and family life “are roughly 2.5 times more likely to suffer from an anxiety disorder and twice as likely to suffer from a substance dependence disorder than parents who do not report as much stress” (Kaye, Gray, 2007, p.6). Children in families of stress and therefore receiving less attention are also at higher risk for mental disorders. Many studies have shown that working mothers often let their anger and anxiety spill over much more into their family life much more than fathers do and other studies were done that found how maternal stress translates directly into mother-child conflict and behavioral problems among children (Kaye, Gray, 2007, p.9). The book “Intimate Relationships, Marriages and Families” shows us that the effects of being in the work force as a dual-earner family or single earner-family can have both positive and negative effects on the physical and emotional states of that family. The article “The Stress of Balancing Work and Family”
capitalizes on the negative aspects of job stress on a family based on the ideas of work- family spillover which correlates to the book. This article highlights how the stress from parents work often brings stress into the family and this can lead to a domino effect of issues for both the parents and children such as obesity, substance abuse and anxiety disorders. In each resource it shows that having a family and a career needs to be balanced. The families this generation is raising, are the future of America we need to understand the impact that has on our world. JOB STRESS AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY 4 References Gray, David. "The Stress of Balancing Work and Family." New America Foundation. By Kelleen Kaye. New York: Foundation, 1947. 1-16. Print. DeGenova, Mary Kay., Nick Stinnett, and Nany Stinnett. "Chapter 8 Work, Family Roles, and Material Resources." Intimate Relationships, Marriages, and Families. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2010. 193-219. Print.
As if being the father of two children and a dedicated husband were not enough, Victor Terhune has to balance his family life with his job. Victor currently works as a Technical representative for the sales department at Weastec in Dublin, Ohio. Though work holds him back from doing some of the things that he would like to be doing, like spending more time with his wife and sons, this is a common theme for many workers today in a relationship with their desire to be with their families. Victor strives to get resolution to this by making time by driving home right after work and focusing on that quality time with his family.
In her essay, “Win-Win Flexibility,” Karen Kornbluh explains the need for workplace changes due to changing family structures. Kornbluh explains that norms have shifted from a traditional family consisting of a breadwinner and a homemaker to what she coins a juggler family. According to Kornbluh, a juggler family is characterized by, “two working parents or an unmarried working parent” (323). By making changes, traditional work schedules can be altered to increase flexibility and better accommodate juggler families. In addition to the shift in family structures, parents are now working longer hours and have limited opportunities to take time off or change their work schedule. As a result of long, inflexible hours, many working individuals find it difficult to care for children or provide care for elderly or ill family members. Due to this, large sums of money are spent on childcare each year, and many children still do not receive the level of care that they need (Kornbluh 323).
According to Dyk, the family life has become complicated because of a number of stressors. These stressors include the difficulties that people face on a daily basis, in shape of physical, emotional and psychological needs. Moreover, while families have to maintain social relationships,
“Family stress theory emphasizes the active processes families engage in to balance family demands with family capabilities as these interact with family meanings to arrive at a level of family adjustment or adaptation” (Patterson, 1988, 1989, 1993). In order for a family to be resilient, it ...
Unemployment can affect families drastically from suicidal tendencies, marriage breakdowns, alcohol and drug abuse and even family violence (Broman, Hamilton & Hoffman, 1996; House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Workplace Relations, 2000). For many individuals work provides them with a place to social network and it gives them self-esteem and the loss of both when unemployment hits, creates isolation which happens quickly. However, unemployment does not just affect the individual famil...
Rosen, E. I. (2005). Life Inside America's Largest Dysfunctional Family. New Labor Forum, 14(1), 31-39.
Politics of Work-Family Policies in Western Europe and the United States, by Kimberly J. Morgan,
In a typical Japanese marriage, it is the woman’s sole responsibility to raise a family and maintain the home, while the man is to work and earn money. While women work approximately thirty hours a week completing chores in the house, men spend around two. This imbalance of the work load can cause a strain on marriages; It does
I will start at the basis of the family, marriage. Divorce rates have a direct correlation with women who work for at least 35 hours per week. "Women working full-time are 29% more likely to get divorced than those who stay at home and raise children, according to new research" (Bentley).
Due to parents having to take on 2-3 part-time jobs or low wage jobs, parents are required to deal with long hours, unusual hours, lack of benefits that cover paid sick days, paid medical, parental leave, and vacation time. This prevents parents from participating in their children’s development. (Spross, Jeff. "Low-Wage Jobs Don’t Just Harm Workers — They Harm Their Children." ThinkProgress RSS. 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.) Parents are not home to look after their children. When parents are home, it is for a short period that allows parents to feed the children, bath them and put them to bed. Parents have to choose their family time or making income and income is priority to try and provide the necessary needs like a home, electric, and food. This struggle between income and family has put tremendous stress on parents which lead to a higher level of depression which affects the whole family. Some young adult children are forced into the work force before they graduate to help the family. If these young adults are one of the fortunate ones that don’t need to join the workforce, they are still faced with taking on an adult role due to having to play mommy or daddy to their younger siblings. Having this kind of responsibility at such a young age causes some of these young adults to fall into a depression or stressed out with all the responsibility that they start rebelling authority or looking for
The modern career woman's high degree of commitment to her career in the 1990s may be one of the most problematic factors concerning marital satisfaction of both husbands and wives. While the workforce has finally accepted the position of women as interchangeable with that of a man, the same transition still has yet to occur completely and successfully in the household. The dissatisfaction of working wives tends to be a consequence of their expanding, instead of redefined, responsibilities and role as a result of their demanding career. In contrast, husbands' marital dissatisfaction often results from the fact that she is less available for him, to accommodate him, because she does not have the time. Nonetheless, some career women are readily admitting to their husbands that their work comes first.
Marriage life greatly contributes to exceptional family structures in today’s society. The article entitled “Married vs. Single Moms: Who Gets the Better Deal?” by Stephanie Wood, Jackie Spinelli, and Patty Onderko examines what
Employment issues influences both health and belongingness in this family and it should be taken into account that it has been reported that unemployment impacts on the way families behave and support each other (Charles, N. 2008. Pg.132). After Alan had lost his job the Baram family have been in an extremely difficult situation.
I personally believe that occupational stress is less challenging than family stress. Your occupation is something that you can somewhat control. In other words, it may be hard, but if you are stressed in the job you have you can always leave it. Also occupational stress can be handled very direct and professionally if it deals with other people. You cannot say the same for family stress. Many of us have very close ties to our families and this also includes a very strong emotional connect. Therefore, being stressed out by your family can be taken very personal. We invest a lot of emotions and care into dealing with our families and this makes it harder to deal with anything involving them.
Some people are laid off from their companies; consequently the stress occurs in their family, which leads to divorce. Some families can earn money, but inadequate for covering their expenses, therefore it is easy to think about divorce. Nevertheless, the unemployment rates trend to continually increase as a result the divorce rates can also rise.