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

Hours Per Week

Women Men

Task 1965 1995 1965 1995

Total housework 30.0 17.5 4.9 10.0

Core housework 26.9 13.9 2.3 3.8

Cooking meals 9.3 4.6 1.1 1.6

Meal clean-up 4.5 0.7 0.5 0.1

Housecleaning 7.2 6.7 0.5 1.7

Laundry, ironing 5.8 1.9 0.3 0.3

Hours Spent on Housework by Women and Men, 25 to 64

Hours Per Week

Women Men

Task 1965 1995 1965 1995

Other housework 3.1 3.6 2.6 6.2

Outdoor chores 0.3 0.8 0.4 1.9

Garden, animal care

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. Men with full-time employment earn more than women who work full-time.

2. In a couple, the wife’s (lower) paid work role is more vulnerable than the husband’s.

3. 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. This encourages husbands to see their wives work as less important and conclude that they shouldn’t take responsibly for homemaking.

5. 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

Hours per week

All parents 42.7

Mothers 50.2

Fathers 33.4

Age of Youngest Child

Preschool (0-5) 50.8

School age (ages 6-12) 38.2

Adolescent (ages 6-17) 30.3

Amount of Time Parents Spend with Children: National Survey of Parents

Employment Status Hours per week

Not employed 63.8

Part Time (1-34 hours) 49.3

Full time (over 34 hours) 36.5

Marital Status

Married parent 43.5

Single parent 40.3

Amount of Time Parents Spend with Children: National Survey of Parents

Spouse’s Work Hours Hours per week

Spouse not employed 36.0

Spouse employed part time (1-34 hours)

37.9

Spouse employed full time (over 34 hours)

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 two-earner 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 two-earner 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, career-oriented 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.