Families the Work They Do 04 16 2015 The Changing Dynamics of the Workplace Early America o Most families worked around the land and labor from men women and children was necessary for survival o Women usually had different tasks than men cooking cleaning weaving and tending to smaller animals o During the 19th century and WWII there was a temporary shift when women went into the work force Women s Labor Force Participation o For most of the 20th century most married women with children didn t work outside the home o In 1975 only 55 of women with children under age 18 worked and a third of women with children under age 3 worked outside the home figure 14 1 Page 311 PPT slide 3 o Today the majority of mothers work outside the home regardless of there children s age Reflects increasing job and education opportunities for women the popularity of feminists ideas of social and economic quality changes in the economy o Reasons women work Put food on the table provide housing pay for vacations personal fulfillment o The number of women working has remained stable since 2000 and isn t growing o Mothers with older children are more likely to work than mothers with younger children White and black mothers are more likely to be employed Hispanic women are least likely Life in a Recession Labor force decreased by over one million workers between 2008 and 2009 Unemployment and Families o U S employment rate was at 7 percent at the end of 2013 there was a steady decline in employment rates from 2009 the height of the recession table 14 1 Page 313 PPT slide 8 Highest unemployment is among blacks and the lowest is among Asian Americans o People who have been unemployed for more than six months are more likely than those who are unemployed to feel stress sadness and worry o Unemployment effects personal relationships High unemployment lowers marriage rates people are less likely to marry if they or their potential partner cant find a job Other periods of high unemployment like the great depression lead to fewer children being born Stress associated it with can endanger relationships contribute to domestic violence harm children s social well being When fathers are involuntarily unemployed children are more likely to repeatedly get bad grades or get suspended Unstable wages and Working Conditions o The minimum wage is 7 25 an hour 2014 full time this is 15 080 a year before taxes o About 3 6 million works earn the minimum wage or less half of these people are 25 years old or older o Recognizing that the minimum wage is too low to support a family the concept of paying a living wage is taking hold Living wage Pg 313 wages that area above federal or state minimum wage levels usually ranging from 100 percent to 130 percent of the poverty line Ties the minimum wage of a community to the price of housing in the area according to an index from the U S department of housing and urban development Housing should be 30 of a persons income but no more o Part Time Nonstandard and temporary work Jobs as a result of the recession are often part time sub contracted temporary or have only evening night hours Nonstandard Work Schedules Pg 314 job schedules that are part time sub contracted temporary in nature occur at night or offer irregular work schedules Fastest growing category of U S workers Since 1982 there have been millions of men and women who begin their workday not knowing if and for how long their jobs are likely to continue Growing trend of jobs that require weekend evening or variable non fixed schedules particularly those in the lower paying areas Some part time and contingency workers prefer this arrangement Highly paid professionals that value freedom and independence on the job moms with young children who prefer to work sporadically parents who are trying to work opposite shifts to minimize he need for childcare Most families need a steady job with an established pay scale and fringe benefits Hard to find childcare most are only open from 7 in the morning to 5 or 6 at night and require a consistent pay schedule like every second Wednesday or every first Monday type of schedules Many women don t work these schedules our of personal inclination but because they re often part of the jobs they often hold Nurses waitresses maids etc o Disposable work force Turnover rate for workers in low wage jobs are high because they re the expendable workforce that consists of workers in the service industry clerical fields and on assembly lines These positions often require little to no skill so management sees them as interchangeable High turnover rate is not a problem for management if anything its beneficial avoids management paying for health insurance premiums or other benefits The Threat of Losing Health Insurance Medicaid The federal state health care program for eligible poor of all ages Medicare The federal health care program for the elderly Family Work at Home The division of household labor o Household Labor Pg 315 in general the unpaid work done to maintain family members and or a home o Five most time consuming household tasks are meal preparation or cooking housecleaning shopping for groceries and household goods washing dishes and cleaning up after meals laundry including washing ironing and mending clothes These tasks are routine household labor Pg 317 nondiscretionary routine tasks that cant be postponed such as cooking washing dishes or cleaning o Other tasks called occasional labor occur less frequently and have more flexibility in timing Occasional labor Pg 317 household tasks that are more time flexible and discretionary such as household repairs yard care or paying bills Who does what Housework o Women spend more time on household work Figure 14 4 Page 317 PPT slide 13 Women s work tends to be routine nondiscretionary and repetitive Married women do about 3X more routine household work than men average In occasional labor men do about 10 hours a week and women do about 6 o Women s task tend to be more time inflexible Things like changing diapers they have to be done right now they cant be held off Men s work is more involved like things in yard work which can be done within the next week This difference adds stress to the family The typical pattern in dual earner families is represented in the book the second shift In 50 couples 20 equally share the housework In 70 couples men did somewhere between one third and one half of the house work At the end of a normal work day women returned
View Full Document
Unlocking...