Chapter 12

Balancing Work and Family Life

Chapter Outline

• Meanings of Money• Dual-Earner Marriages: Considerations for

Spouses• Dual-Earner Marriages: Considerations for

Children• Balancing Demands of Work and Family• Balancing Work and Leisure Time

True or False?

• Young attorneys who take time out to have and raise their children are just as likely to make partner in their firm as attorneys who did not take out time to have/rear children.

Answer: False

• Noonan and Corcoran (2004) found that lawyers who took time out for child responsibilities were less likely to make partner and to earn less money if they did make partner.

True or False?

• An employed unhappy wife is more likely to divorce than a happy employed wife.

Answer: True

• An employed unhappy wife is more likely to divorce than a happy employed wife.

Meanings of Money

• Security – Money represents security most people

want.• Self-Esteem

– In our society human worth is often equated with financial achievement.

• Power in Relationships– The more money a partner makes, the

more power they have in the relationship.

Meanings of Money

• Love– To some individuals, money means love.

• Conflict– Couples argue about what to spend money

on and how much money to spend.

Love and Money

• A large diamond ring is regarded as signifying “much love” — hence the association of love and money.

• Pg. 350

Question

• Who has more power in relationships?

A. both partners when they are earning the same amount

B. the partner with more leisure time

C. the partner who is more physically dominant

D. the partner with more money

Answer: D

• The partner with more money has more power in relationships.

Poverty

• Poverty– Poverty is the lack of resources necessary

for material well-being.

• Absolute poverty– The lack of resources that leads to hunger

and physical deprivation.

Distribution of Income Level in U.S. Families

Income Level of Family

% at This Level

Less than $15,000 9.6

$15,000–$24,999 11.1

$25,000–$34,999 11.4

$35,000–$49,999 15.0

$50,000–$74,999 20.1

$75,000–$99,999 13.3

$100,000 or more 19.4

2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Size of Family 48 States, D.C. Alaska Hawaii

1 $14,700 $18,375 $16,905

2 $19,800 $24,750 $22,770

3 $24,900 $31,125 $28,635

4 $30,000 $37,500 $34,500

5 $35,100 $43,875 $40,365

6 $40,200 $50,250 $46,230

7 $45,300 $56,625 $52,095

8 $50,400 $63,000 $57,960

Dual-Earner Marriages

• Effects on the Couple’s Marriage of Having Two Earners– Employment won’t affect a happy marriage but it can do an

unhappy one in.• Effects of the Wife’s Employment on the Children

– Children do not appear to suffer cognitively or emotionally as long as positive consistent child-care alternatives are in place.

Three Types of Dual-career Marriages

• HER /his career– Where the wife’s career takes precedence.

• HIS/her career– Where the husband’s career takes

precedence.• HIS/HER career

– When the careers of both partners are given equal status in the relationship.

Dual Career Marriages

• This man has a full-time career as an accountant; his wife is a PhD English Professor.

• They both have demanding careers.

• Pg. 353

Effects of Wife’s Employment on the Wife

• Women without children or older children, working in jobs they enjoy and married to egalitarian husbands who are much happier than their counterpart.

• Employed women in dual earner households that are not equal in the division of labor are less likely to be happily married and more likely to divorce.

Role Overload

• Whether a wife is satisfied with her job is also related to the degree to which the job takes a toll on her family life.

• Most women with young children prefer to be at home and view home as their primary haven of satisfaction.

• Role overload occurs when women don’t have the time or energy to meet the demands of role (wife/parent/worker) responsibilities.

Role Conflict

• The role of the employed mother is to stay late and get a report ready for tomorrow.

• The role of the mother is to pick up the child from day care at five P.M.

• When these roles collide, there is role conflict.

Role Strain

• The anxiety that results from being able to fulfill only a limited number of role obligations.

• Occurs for both women and men in dual-earner marriages.

• There is no one at home to take care of housework and children while they are working, and they feel strained at not being able to do everything.

INSERT VIDEO

• All-Female Fire Department (Run time: 4:49)

Question

• What is role overload?

A. not having time or energy to meet the demands of role responsibility

B. being on the second shift

C. getting too much into one's role as parent

D. taking on both gender roles of parent

Answer: A

• Role overload is not having time or energy to meet the demands of role responsibility.

Question

• Being confronted by incompatible role obligations is referred to as

A. role reversal.

B. role overload.

C. role conflict.

D. role modeling.

Answer: C

• Being confronted by incompatible role obligations is referred to as role conflict.

INSERT VIDEO

• Being a Mom: Is Staying Home Selling Out?(Run Time: 8:32)

Effects of Wife’s Employmenton Her Husband

• Husbands report benefits from their wives’ employment:– Being relieved of the sole responsibility for

the financial support of the family– Having more freedom to quit jobs, change

jobs, or go to school.

Day-Care Considerations

• Priorities in day-care selection include:– health and safety issues– caregiver quality– the child’s social and educational

development

Day Care

• Parents are sometimes apprehensive about dropping off their child at day care.

• Essentially, they are leaving their children with paid strangers.

• Pg. 357

Your Opinion

• Why do you think that the U.S. lags behind other industrialized nations in terms of paid leave for parents?

% Employed Mothers By Age Of Child

Age of Child % of Employed Mothers

Child age 1 and under 54.7%

Child age 2 61.3%

Child age 3 63.6%

Child age 4 64.1%

Child age 5 66.9%

Child age 6-13 75.1%

Child age 14-17 81.2 %

Question

• What is a major concern of an employed parent?

A. pleasing their employer

B. juggling demands of work and family

C. making enough money

D. finding time for the spouse

Answer: B

• A major concern of an employed parent is juggling demands of work and family.

Your Opinion

• Argue for and against:– Childfree workers should work later and on

holidays so that parents can be with their children.

Superperson Strategy

• Involves working as hard and efficiently as possible to meet the demands of work and family.

• Supermom– The term superwoman or supermom is a

cultural label that allows the woman to regard herself as very efficient, bright, and confident.

Cognitive Restructuring

• Viewing a situation in positive terms.• Exhausted dual-career earners often justify

their time away from their children by focusing on the benefits of their labor.

Second and Third Shift

• Second shift– The housework and child care that

employed women do when they return home from their jobs.

• Third shift– The third shift is the expense of emotional

energy by a spouse or parent in dealing with various issues in family living.

Question

• The expense of emotional energy in dealing with family issues is called

A. the fourth shift.

B. the third shift.

C. the second shift.

D. the first shift.

Answer: B

• The expense of emotional energy in dealing with family issues is called the third shift.

Leisure

• Functions:– relieve work-related stress and pressure– facilitate social interaction and family

togetherness– foster self-expression, personal growth,

and skill development– enhance overall social, physical, and

emotional wellbeing

Barriers to Leisure

• Demands of the Workplace– A major barrier to leisure has been the

rising demands of the workplace.• Materialistic Values

– Couples get caught up in a vicious cycle of working long hours to achieve a certain standard of living, only to find that this standard of living no longer satisfies them.

Barriers to Leisure

• Traditional Gender Roles– Women tend to spend their leisure time

engaged in hobbies related to household tasks, such as cooking, preserving fruits and vegetables, and sewing.

• Leisure as a Commodity– Many leisure activities cost money that

families do not have in their budget.

Leisure Time

• For many people, leisure is not an option. This man has worked at this position as clerk of a hotel for 10 years.

• Pg. 359

Leisure as Work

• Leisure is being used as a means to other ends: stress reduction, therapy, fitness, and self-actualization.

• Some people are reluctant to take time off for a vacation.

Leisure Time

• These spouses work hard in heir respective professions but balance off their careers with frequent relaxing vacations.

• Pg. 363