Work, Eat, Sleep, Repeat: Addressing the Obstacles of Dual-Earner Families
The evolution of the American workforce has undergone drastic change. As a result of increased participation in the workforce through the late 20th Century, 70 percent of American families consider themselves dual-income, meaning both partners share the breadwinning duties. Although dual-earner families are better able to enjoy economic freedom and maintain a standard of living similar to earlier families, there are many conflicts that can arise, particularly among parents and women (Blithe, pp. 392-393, 2014). Therefore, it is essential that families and employers communicate with one another to ensure all their needs are satisfied.
When both partners work, there
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can be a variety of conflicts that arise in the family. Family-to-work conflicts often occur as the result of family demands, making it difficult to fulfill one’s work responsibilities.
Unfortunately, family-to-work conflicts can lower marital satisfaction, since people often attribute them to their spouse. Furthermore, the idea of crossover explains how a spouse’s work affects their partner at home and vice-versa (Minnotte, Minnotte, & Pedersen, p. 687, 2013). However, one of the most significant issues in dual-earner families is time management. Parents struggle the most with handling their time, since many of them feel pressure to “do it all” (Blithe, p. 395, 2014). Also, working women are more likely to report that they do not get enough time with their spouse (Blithe, p. 393, 2014). Unfortunately, although women have started working more hours outside the home, men have not devoted more hours towards domestic and caregiving activities (Gornick & Meyers, pp. 2-3, 2004). Furthermore, today’s …show more content…
advancements in technology have allowed couples to bring their work home, which can strain one’s relationship, since it blurs the division between work and family time (Cox & Demmitt, p. 406, 2014). In addition, due to the high costs of child-care, many parents partake in “split-shift” parenting, which allows one parent to stay home while the other reports to work. This has been problematic for many families, since couples are unable to spend quality time together (Gornick & Meyers, p. 7, 2004). Another conflict in dual-earner families is that not all families necessarily want to be a dual-earner family. Due to the increase in cost of living, many couples have no other choice but to both hold employment (Blithe, p. 393, 2014). With a number of challenges associated with dual-earner families, it is imperative that couples find a balance between work and family. Judith Graham (2002), suggests that couples clarify their values, set realistic expectations, set priorities to better manage time, and delegate work between the family. Additionally, these factors must be constantly revisited since one’s values, goals, and priorities are likely to change over time. Also, couples must reduce their gender ideologies to create solutions that best satisfy one’s marital needs (Minnotte, Minnotte, & Pedersen, p. 687, 2013). Furthermore, not only must couples communicate with one another regarding their busy schedules, but the U.S. government must also recognize the need for programs that make it easier to be a parent and provider. For instance, European countries have created public policies regarding family leave, safe and affordable child-care, regulated work time, and rewarding those working nontraditional hours (Gornick & Meyers, pp. 15-18, 2004). In conclusion, although dual-earner families have the opportunity to make more money, there are many costs to be considered.
In many instances, dual-earner families find difficulty maintaining a satisfying marriage due to time constraints and conflicts between their job and family. As a result, it is imperative that couples communicate their values, goals, and priorities, and revisit them frequently. Additionally, with more families being forced into becoming dual-earner families, government officials must be proactive and establish programs that help employees balance their careers with their family. With dual-earner families here to stay, couples must set aside their differences to provide themselves with sufficient economic
support.
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.
Hope Edelman, an author and newspaper writer, formulates in “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was.”, that when it comes to marriage it is not perfect, unlike the way that she had imagined. At the beginning of her essay, Edelman implicitly mentions her frustrations with the amount of time her husband was working, however, later on she explicitly becomes upset about her husband always working. Edelman mentions throughout her essay that before marriage, she believed co-parenting was an attainable goal. She talks about how she feels like her husband keeps working more and she has to pick up the slack at home. This imbalance causes Edelman to become angry and frustrated with her husband, she feels the no matter how hard they try, the 50/50 split does not happen. Throughout the article, Edelman
At what point does work life start interfering with family life to an extent that it becomes unacceptable? Is it when you don’t get to spend as much time with your family as you would like, or is it the point where you barely get to see your family due to long hours at work? Is it even possible to balance work with family life? Anne-Marie Slaughter, the author of “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, believes this balance is impossible to achieve in this day and age. In contrast, Richard Dorment, the author of “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All”, believes that there will never be a day when someone will have it all, certain sacrifices will always have to be made. Both of these articles are similar in the respect that they both examine balancing a demanding career with raising children. The two authors’ views on the subject differ greatly, especially regarding how gender roles have a significant impact on our society.
In the great story of a young girls triumph over poverty, rejection and innumerable failures as a child, she will unfortunately never truly prosper as an adult in the world in which she lives. Our protagonist, Sara Smolinsky who is the youngest of the four Smolinsky girls, has the most motivation in life to be independent, and fend for herself. However to achieve this goal she would need to break loose of the family chain and peruse a life elsewhere. It appears she has done so as she runs away from home seeking an education. Six years or so go by and she has more than fulfilled her dream of independence, however as members of her family take on life threatening sickness she once again feels the need to come home, and falls back under the spell of family obligation. As for other characters in the book, the same problem with familial duties always interferes with what one truly wants.
College degrees, jobs, and income stream are all quantifiable items, however, a gauge on work-life balance, parenting abilities, and dedication at home cannot be measured by a number. In the past, men have been viewed as the backbone of the family. The typical day consists of getting up the earliest, going to work, coming home late at night, maybe missing out on trivial matters, but ultimately paying the bills. As time progresses, roles in households have shifted significantly. Now more than ever women are extremely active in the workforce, local communities, and politics. The obstacles faced by men and women are inherently different, but men seem to fall under an intensified microscope when it comes to intertwining family life with a career. Richard Dorment dives deep into these issues in his piece, "Why Men Still Can't Have It All." Although the argument may seem bias in favoring the rigorous lifestyle of men, the
This source explains the relationship between working overtime and the work-family conflict. With this source, they “investigated whether work-family conflict is prospectively related to adjustments in work schedules… in this relation”. (Jansen) They also wanted to prevent work- family conflict. They also know that balancing work and family is a challenge in today’s society for individuals. Consequences associated with work and family “job burnouts, psychological distress, depression, life dissatisfaction, elevated need for recovery from work, prolonged fatigue, and increased sickness absence”. (Jansen) The companies are starting to notices that employees are looking for other jobs that support them balance their work and family. Jansen used questionnaires to figure out the work-family conflict investigation. Each questionnaire was use with different types of working people. For example, the part-time and full-time workers. The results for the work-family conflict, “employees might adjust their working time arrangement to better reconcile work and family life…” (Jansen) They are considering their next research on the adjustments to “result in an improved work-family balance, improved health outcomes, and ultimately whether these adjustments prevent workers from leaving the labor force early.” (Jansen)
The war in pay inequity in the United States has been raging since the 1940s. This paper is focused on the pay differences among men, women, and mothers and why it exists. The government has made strives to close the income wage gap between men and women, however it still exists and must be dealt with. Among women, deciding to bear children has greatly impacted earnings potential, retirement, and career choices. As more women decide to go to college and earn degrees, there is still a disparity in income in the labor market. Forty percent of the pay gap that exists cannot be explained by occupation, race, or experience.
New York Times author Claire Cain Miller argues in this article that gender income inequality may be reduced if women are given more flexible schedules in their work setting. The argument goes that, because most women are expected to be child rearing by societal standards, yet are faced with flexibility stigma at the workplace, they are at an inherent disadvantage job searching or, more specifically, keeping a job while raising a child. Miller states various sources apparently corroborating her claims, some vaguely and others specifically. She contrasts economists’ and sociologists’ perspectives in the article, concluding more flexibility is an answer–if not the answer–for equal pay. The strongest evidence presented, in my opinion, is the importance
There have always been various problems on how employees balance family life and work life. This is a problem that many employees from different organizations face. The challenge here is that they are not able to balance both lives. This in most cases leads to neglect of one life and giving too much attention to the other. This has been a major problem to many employees. They have always complained of how difficult it can be when a person tries to balance both lives (Philipsen & Bostic, 2010). This has been a big issue that should be tackled with a lot of concern. There has always been a need for people to be able to live comfortably with their families and to have a good working life in the work area. People should be taught on how to balance family life and work and to be able to give equal attention to both lives. This can be made possible by training and enlightening people on how these two can be achieved. There is need for all employees to learn how they ensure that they give equal attention to their family life and work life.
As large numbers of married couples work outside the home and have parenting responsibilities, their multiple roles have grown. Therefore, the combination of work and family roles generates a spillover of stress in these two areas. Balancing work and family is both a female and male issue. The demands of work pull them away from family intimacy, while the demands of family pull them in. Either extreme can be problematic for individuals and their intimate relationships.
Like every other organization they all expect better performance and productivity, whereas people have their own expectations, such as; pay, promotions, enjoyment, and job satisfactions, all while maintaining their personal lives. Work influences the non-work life and vice-versa, the non-work life has a way of influencing work life. The benefits of achieving work-life balance is an increase in job satisfaction (Schleicher, Watt, & Greguras, 2004), which organizations aim at. If employees are satisfied with their jobs, then they will increase their level of efficiency. Organizations play a vital role in assisting employees find a balance between their work and family life. Many organizations have come up with ways or rather have implement strategies with the purpose to help the employee’s need, by starting up programs such as aftercare, elderly-care, flexi-time or even
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.
Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite of the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women. The opportunities available for women in the market are not as diverse as those presented to men. Still, the construct of gender ideology influences how employers undertake economic decisions, and that is why companies still have jobs labelled as “men’s work” and occupations categorized as “women’s work.” Indeed, the pervasiveness of gender differences in labor markets is undeniably true, specifically with respect to salary gap between men and women, occupational gender segregation of men and women, and the challenge that women face in terms of juggling their time and attention between their career and family life.
One of the issues that parents are dealing with is money. They believe that they can’t have a stay at home parent, because they wouldn’t be able to live off of one parent’s salary. However what many people don’t know that the value of a stay a home parent is a lot more than one would imagine. According to Barbara Sefton, “The stay-at-home mother is on duty an average of 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. She provides a service with a market value of approximately $36,000 annually.” This is more than some individual salaries. Most do not realize how much work a stay a stay at home mom does, from c...
Thaler, Richard H. "Breadwinning Wives and Nervous Husbands." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 June 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.