Chapter 12
Work and Family
Chapter Outline





The Labor Force - A Social Invention
The Traditional Model: Provider Husbands
Homemaking Wives
Women in the Labor Force
Two-Earner Marriages - Work/Family
Options
Unpaid Family Work
Chapter Outline



Juggling Employment and Unpaid Family
Work
Social Policy, Work and Family
The Two-Earner Marriage and the
Relationship
The Labor Force



80% of America’s jobs are in the service sector.
 Many of the jobs pay less, are part time and
offer no employee benefits.
American workers’ earnings for all but the
college-educated have declined since 1973.
One way that families have adapted is for both
wives and husbands to be employed.
Husbands and
the Provider Role


The “good provider role” emerged in the
the 1830’s and lasted through the late
1970’s.
In 2000, 20% of men in married-couple
families were the sole breadwinner
compared with 42% in 1960.
Provider Role Systems


Main/Secondary provider couple providing is the man’s responsibility, the
home is the woman’s.
Co provider couple - both partners are
equally responsible for providing.
Provider Role Systems


Ambivalent provider couple-wife’s
providing responsibilities are not clearly
acknowledged.
Role-reversed provider couple husband is responsible for homemaking
and child care while the wife is the
principle breadwinner.
Participation of Women Over
Age 16 in the Labor Force
Participation in the Labor
Force by Married Women
Occupational Segregation



The tendency for men and women to be
employed in different types of jobs.
In 1980, 2/3 of employed women were clerical
workers, saleswomen, or service personnel,
and only 7% were managers.
In 2002, 40% of employed women were clerical
or service workers, 15 % were in executive,
managerial,or administrative positions.
Jobs Women Hold, 2002.
The Wage Gap



Women who worked full time in 2000 earned 76
cents for every dollar earned by men.
Among managers and specialists, women
earned 71% of average male wages.
Childless women earn 90% of what males with
comparable experience and education earn
while mothers at the same level earn only 79%.
Reasons for the Wage Gap


Concentration of women in lower-paying
occupations and lower-status positions.
Employers continue to stereotype women
as lacking in career commitment.
Reasons for the Wage Gap



Women may aspire to traditional female
occupations because they believe these
are the only ones open to them.
Married men may have wives who
contribute to their careers directly or
indirectly, by doing the domestic work.
Motherhood has a tremendous lifetime
impact on earnings.
Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio
and Median Earnings: 1960–2003
Two-Earner Marriages—
Work/Family Options


Marriages in which both partners are in the
labor force are the statistical norm among
married couples.
Options for Working Couples:
 Two career marriage
 Part-time employment
 Shift work
 Working at home
 Temporarily leaving the labor force
Who Does Housework?

Data from about 8,500 participants in a
2003 University of Michigan study found:
 Women spend 27 hours a week on
housework compared to 40 hours in
1965.
 Men increased their housework time
from 12 hours in 1965 to 16 hours in
1999.
Hours Spent on Housework by
Women and Men, 25 to 64
Task
Total housework
Core housework
Cooking meals
Meal clean-up
Housecleaning
Laundry, ironing
Hours Per Week
Women
Men
1965
1995
1965
1995
30.0
17.5
4.9
10.0
26.9
13.9
2.3
3.8
9.3
4.6
1.1
1.6
4.5
0.7
0.5
0.1
7.2
6.7
0.5
1.7
5.8
1.9
0.3
0.3
Hours Spent on Housework by
Women and Men, 25 to 64
Hours Per Week
Task
Women
1965
1995
Men
1965
1995
Other housework
3.1
3.6
2.6
6.2
Outdoor chores
Garden, animal
care
0.3
0.8
0.4
1.9
0.6
0.8
0.2
1.0
Bills, other
1.8
1.3
0.9
1.5
Theories:
Why Women Do Housework



Conflict and feminist - women have less
power in their families.
Ideological - cultural expectations of household
labor.
Rational investment - couples maximize the
family economy by trading off between time and
energy investments in paid market work and
unpaid household labor.
Theories:
Why Women Do Housework


Resource hypothesis - a spouse’s
household labor is a consequence of
his/her resources compared to those of
the other spouse.
Gender construction - studies the
meaning of housework, rather than the
practicalities of time and income.
Reinforcing Cycle
1.
2.
3.
Men with full-time employment earn more than
women who work full-time.
In a couple, the wife’s (lower) paid work role is
more vulnerable than the husband’s.
As a result, the wife will spend less time and
energy in the labor force, giving employers a
reason to pay women less than men.
Reinforcing Cycle
4.
5.
This encourages husbands to see their
wives work as less important and
conclude that they shouldn’t take
responsibly for homemaking.
Burdened with household labor, wives
find it difficult to invest themselves in the
labor market to the same degree as their
husbands.
Approaches to Child Care



Mothering - couple prefers that the wife
care for the children.
Parenting - family care is shared by
parents
Market - career oriented couples hire
other people to care for their children.
Amount of Time Parents Spend with
Children: National Survey of Parents
All parents
Mothers
Fathers
Age of Youngest Child
Preschool (0-5)
School age (ages 6-12)
Adolescent (ages 6-17)
Hours per week
42.7
50.2
33.4
50.8
38.2
30.3
Amount of Time Parents Spend with
Children: National Survey of Parents
Employment Status
Not employed
Part Time (1-34 hours)
Full time (over 34 hours)
Marital Status
Married parent
Single parent
Hours per week
63.8
49.3
36.5
43.5
40.3
Amount of Time Parents Spend with
Children: National Survey of Parents
Spouse’s Work Hours
Spouse not employed
Spouse employed part time
(1-34 hours)
Spouse employed full time
(over 34 hours)
Hours per week
36.0
37.9
46.2
Child Care

Sociologist Rosanna Hertz found three
approaches to child care:
1. Mothering approach - The couple
preferred that the wife care for the children.
2. Parenting approach - Family care was
shared by parents, who structured their
work to this end.
3. Market approach - Career oriented
couples hired others to care for children.
Resolving Work-Family
Issues

Families need:



Adequate provision for quality child
and elder care
Family leave
Flexible employment scheduling
Quick Quiz
1.
Despite changing attitudes among
couples and media portrayals of twoearner couples who share housework,
women in fact continue to do more of it.
a) True
b) False
Answer: True

Despite changing attitudes among
couples and media portrayals of twoearner couples who share housework,
women in fact continue to do more of it.
2. Gradually throughout the twentieth
century, American society moved from
an industrial economic base that
manufactured products to a
postindustrial configuration that
a) transmits information and offers
other services.
b) focuses only on profits.
c) emphasizes aerospace industries.
d) is most concerned with global
commerce.
Answer: a

Gradually throughout the twentieth
century, American society moved from an
industrial economic base that
manufactured products to a postindustrial
configuration that transmits information
and offers other services.
3. The __________ suggests that one
spouse’s household labor is a
consequence of her or his resources
compared to those of the other.
a) rational investment perspective
b) ideological perspective
c) functionalist perspective
d) resource hypothesis
Answer: d

The resource hypothesis suggests that
one spouse’s household labor is a
consequence of her or his resources
compared to those of the other.
4. In the __________ approach, careeroriented couples hired other people to
care for their children.
a) parenting
b) mothering
c) market
d) family child-care
Answer: c

In the market approach, career-oriented
couples hired other people to care for
their children.