Work and the Family
Work in a Changing Society
Preindustrial Model
Cooperative work within the household
Industrial Revolution
Economic production moves out of the home into
the city becoming separate from family living
* invention of labor (public vs. private sphere)
* invention of “un/employed”
Postindustrial
transmit information and offer services
(over 80% of today’s Jobs)
Men in the “Good Provider Role”
Based on new economic model (1830’s), men are
judged by the living standard they provided their
family
What are some of the rewards?
What are some of the costs?
(Christiansen & Palkovitz)
Change the meaning of “Provider” to have similar
meaning to “hands-on” parenting
Women and Work
A Modern Role: the housewife
* circa 1850 to 1940
Today women in labor force:
60% Married women
72% Single-parent women
(25% married women w/ children are homemakers)
Homemaking as an Economic Benefit
(Crittenden)
Women’s labor described as “skilled mid-level
management job”
Housewife's economic worth = $60,000
What are some of the services housewives offer?
The Wage Gap
Occupational Segregation
the tendency for women and men to be
employed in different types of jobs
* 75% teachers; 92% nurses; 31% M.D.s
The wage gap varies considerably based on
occupation, e.g., gap grows in elite, higher
paying occupation
* physicians F: $88,000; M: $144,000
The Wage Gap
Motherhood Penalty
motherhood has a tremendous negative
lifetime impact on earnings
* Childless women earn 90% of what men do
Work habits: fewer years of experience, work
fewer hours per year, left labor force for longer
amounts of time, less likely to work full-time
House Work
Unpaid Family Work:
Involve the necessary tasks of attending to both
the emotional needs of the family members and
the practical needs of dependant members
Second Shift:
The domestic work employed women must
perform after coming home from a day on the job
WHO DOES THE WORK
AROUND THE HOUSE?
WHO DOES THE WORK
AROUND THE HOUSE?
Why Women Do The Housework
1. Availability Perspective
* The partner with more time does the
housework
2. Rational Investment Perspective
* partners agree to spend more time
doing what they are more efficient at
NOTE: these are gender neutral theories
Why Women Do The Housework
3. Resource Hypothesis (also gender neutral)
* the partner with more resources
will have the power and hence
spend less time on housework
4. Ideological Perspective
* points to the gendered cultural
expectations on household labor
Note: higher EDU for men leads to more household work
because they believe less in gender stereotypes
Why Women Do The Housework
5. Gender Construction Perspective
“doing gender”
* Looks at the meaning of housework and how it’s
used to reinforce gender identity
6. Feminist Perspective
1. Women have less power, as a result, women will
end up doing the majority of unpaid labor
2. Paid care givers will come from more
disadvantaged sectors of society
The need for Institutional
Support: Social Policies
U.S.: only industrialized nation that does not
have mandated maternity/parental leave
* Family Leave
* Flexible Scheduling
How does this effect a “pronatalist culture”?
Maintaining Intimacy While
Negotiating Role Meaning
1. Acceptance of Conflict as a Reality
* Marital partners will have competing
interests
2. Accept Ambivalence
* maintain intimacy during adjustment
3. Empathize
* make sure both partners “win”
Maintaining Intimacy While
Negotiating Role Meaning
4. Strike an Equitable Balance
* does not mean 50-50 split…
…rather FAIR BALANCE
5. Show Mutual Appreciation
* creating new ways to show their
appreciation