Meshing the Worlds of Work and Family Life - American Family Change and Diversity - Lecture Handout | Exercises Public Sociology

Meshing the Worlds of Work and Family Life

Changing Work Patterns

Women's Employment

• From 1940 to 2006, female labor force participation tripled.

• In 2006, 59% of women aged 16 & older were in the workforce, compared to 73% of men.

– Women now make up 47% of the workforce

• Women’s employment patterns are different from men

– Part-time, interrupted, kind of work, sectors of economy: limits earning abilities

• Currently twice as many dual-earner families as breadwinner/homemaker families

• Causes of Increased Labor Force Participation for Women

• Changes in the economy: transition from manufacturing to service

• Decline in real earnings: two incomes crucial for maintaining standard of living

• Personal fulfillment: pride, self-worth, personal identity, economic independence

• Problems of women workers

• Lack of available, affordable, quality child care: U.S. lags behind other developed nations

Men’s Employment

• Men’s labor force participation rate has declined from 83% in 1960 to 73% in 2006.

• Decline was greater for African American men than White men

• Hispanic men most likely to be in labor force

• Lower age at retirement (white) vs. “discouraged worker effect” (minorities & young)

• Causes of Decreased Labor Force Participation for Men

• Structural unemployment

• Changes in the economy have decreased the number of jobs disproportionately filled by men

(ex. manufacturing, industrial)

• The redistribution of jobs

• Growth in the economy has been in service sector where the majority of workers are female

• Decline in real wages

• Median earnings of men have decreased in all educational categories except for college

graduates

• Few can be the sole breadwinner for a family

• Although most men provide the majority of family income, their share is declining while

women’s share is increasing

Children’s Employment

• Formal employment among adolescents has declined since the late 1970s.

• Less likely to be employed

• Those who are employed are working fewer hours

• Adolescents in higher-income families are more likely to work than teens in low-income families.

• Reliable transportation, not competing with adults for low income local jobs

• Most likely to be working for extra personal money, not saving or contributing to family support

• Context of employment is important in determining whether jobs are positive or negative for

teens.

• Limited hours in safe, supervised setting promote responsibility & self-respect

Integrating Work and Family

• Impossible for work & family to be separate worlds: the worlds of work and family overlap and

interact

• Work-family interference: connections between work & family life may be source of tension

• Spillover: transfer of moods, feelings, behaviors between work & family settings (can be +

or -, however work-to-family spillover is more negative than family-to-work spillover)

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Meshing the Worlds of Work and Family Life

Changing Work Patterns Women's Employment

From 1940 to 2006, female labor force participation tripled.
In 2006, 59% of women aged 16 & older were in the workforce, compared to 73% of men.
- Women now make up 47% of the workforce
Women’s employment patterns are different from men
- Part-time, interrupted, kind of work, sectors of economy: limits earning abilities
Currently twice as many dual-earner families as breadwinner/homemaker families
Causes of Increased Labor Force Participation for Women
- Changes in the economy: transition from manufacturing to service
- Decline in real earnings: two incomes crucial for maintaining standard of living
- Personal fulfillment: pride, self-worth, personal identity, economic independence
Problems of women workers
- Lack of available, affordable, quality child care: U.S. lags behind other developed nations Men’s Employment
Men’s labor force participation rate has declined from 83% in 1960 to 73% in 2006.
- Decline was greater for African American men than White men
- Hispanic men most likely to be in labor force
- Lower age at retirement (white) vs. “discouraged worker effect” (minorities & young)
Causes of Decreased Labor Force Participation for Men
- Structural unemployment
  - Changes in the economy have decreased the number of jobs disproportionately filled by men (ex. manufacturing, industrial)
- The redistribution of jobs
  - Growth in the economy has been in service sector where the majority of workers are female
- Decline in real wages
  - Median earnings of men have decreased in all educational categories except for college graduates - Few can be the sole breadwinner for a family
  - Although most men provide the majority of family income, their share is declining while women’s share is increasing Children’s Employment
Formal employment among adolescents has declined since the late 1970s.
- Less likely to be employed
- Those who are employed are working fewer hours
Adolescents in higher-income families are more likely to work than teens in low-income families.
- Reliable transportation, not competing with adults for low income local jobs
Most likely to be working for extra personal money, not saving or contributing to family support
Context of employment is important in determining whether jobs are positive or negative for teens. - Limited hours in safe, supervised setting promote responsibility & self-respect

Integrating Work and Family

Impossible for work & family to be separate worlds: the worlds of work and family overlap and interact - Work-family interference: connections between work & family life may be source of tension - Spillover: transfer of moods, feelings, behaviors between work & family settings (can be + or -, however work-to-family spillover is more negative than family-to-work spillover)

Work and family linkages vary based on the structural characteristics of each. Variance is also created through class, race, and gender stratification systems. - Neither marriage nor employment offer the same rewards to women of color as to White women. Minority women are more likely to be poor than are comparable Whites of the same marital status and at every level of work effort.

Work Factors that Impact the Family

Gender inequality
- Family demands intrude more on women’s work roles than on those of men
- Work-family role system reinforces traditional division of labor, perpetuates women’s inequality in the work force - if employed wives have two jobs (work & family) they are perceived as less attractive employees than employed husbands who are focused only on work
Work characteristics
- The time squeeze (dual earner families better off economically, but “time poor”)
  - Both men & women work longer hours than in past; more than workers in comparable societies
  - While the proportion working >50 hrs./week has increased so has the proportion working <30 hrs./week
  - Structural interference, psychosocial interference
- Timing and scheduling of work
  - Women & men who work similar hours experience less strain
  - Gender differences: long, inflexible work schedules reduce men’s family responsibilities; similar schedules create more stress for women as they meet both work & family responsibilities
  - Standard work week is declining while shift work is increasing: less than ½ of dual earner households with children include both spouses working a standard work week - Shift work results in more stress, less sharing, less stability
Geographical mobility
Work related travel
Job related moves & transfers
Dual earner couples more likely to move for men’s career opportunities than for women’s (although change is occurring)
Person who moves or stays because of spouse’s opportunity is “tied”: currently a “tied mover” is more likely to be a wife and a “tied stayer” is more likely to be a husband
Commuting extends workday & requires reliable access to transportation
Type of work (affects economic & social well-being)
White collar and professional
In general, occupational prestige & income increase marital stability & satisfaction, but there may be some neglect of family responsibilities (which becomes more important as more women pursue careers)
Blue collar
Inadequate resources, monotonous work, unsafe working conditions, dead-end jobs, threat of unemployment, low self-esteem often affect family life
Professional satisfaction from work
Conditions which foster greater control (therefore greater satisfaction especially for women) include: more flexible time & leave options, greater autonomy, greater control over work schedules

Coping with Work and Family

Family Coping Strategies
- Coping as human agency
  - Without social changes in the workplace, families must devise their own solutions for structurally induced problems
- How parents are coping
  - Reducing standards of domestic work, purchasing domestic & childcare services, having other family members perform more domestic work, refusing to comply with demands or requests of greedy employers, choosing an occupation which allows more time for family life
  - Gender strategies: family myths which emphasize “sharing”
  - Split-shift parenting: used mainly by working-class families
  - Reduction in women’s work hours: used primarily by dual-earner professional families
  - Sequencing: primarily used by women (“mommy track”)
Family supportive government & employer responses
- U.S. lags behind other developed countries in addressing work-family integration
- Supportive government responses
  - Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 1993: employers of 50 or more people required to provide 12 weeks unpaid leave to any worker who has a medical emergency or needs to care for an adopted or newborn child or seriously ill child, spouse, or parent. - Does not cover part-time workers, nearly ½ of private work force is ineligible - Job-protected leave are unpaid: nearly 2/3 of those who need leave and are eligible do not take one because they can’t afford loss of income - Employers with less than 50 workers are required to provide no leave at all
  - Since there is no national maternity leave policy, FMLA becomes the default
    - Maternity leaves taken by women in U.S. are short: average less than 12 weeks
- Corporation-sponsored work-family programs have expanded since late 1980s
  - Some corporations offer supports beyond FMLA at their discretion
    - “two-tiered” family benefits structure
  - 68% of companies allow flextime, 38 % of companies offer job sharing, 53% of companies offer some replacement pay to women on maternity leave, 9% of companies provide child care at or near work site and another 5% provide subsidies for child care
  - Workplace or corporate culture is slow to change
    - Both women & men perceive that taking advantage of family-friendly policies will jeopardize their career advancement

Meshing the Worlds of Work and Family Life - American Family Change and Diversity - Lecture Handout, Exercises of Public Sociology

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