Inequalities In Child Care

Women tend to spend more time doing unpaid work than men such as being home taking care of kids, housework, preparing for food and also taking care of the elders. About 70 per cent of women with children have done double duties (going to paid work and then coming home doing some housework too). A lot of women tend

As xxx argued, gender inequality is not an ahistorical fact. Despite little differences, there is nearly no obligated or assigned role for women as caregivers in hunter-gatherer societies and they have decision-making power. In these societies, childcare was a responsibility of all people. Childcare became the responsible for the family, especially as a mother, after sedentism due to men’s increasing responsibilities in hunting and warfare. Colonialism, industrialization and globalization have done nothing other than furthering the gender inequality. By providing cost-free daycare services, which are funded by the taxes that paid by the all, governments can retransform the women’s role in the society and end the housewifization of the women. Regardless of their employment status, all women must have access to daycare provision and its costs should be covered by the governments to make the childcare to the responsibility of all society

Women too today take up more employment opportunities than any time before and this has changed the dynamic of the household, often with the child left in the care of strangers while their parents are working a scenario that would have been unthinkable before the Industrial Revolution and something that has negatively impacted on society and the quality of family life.

In the 1980’s women in the workforce became much more the “norm” than the exception. With the choice to enter the workforce, mothers also made the conscience choice to allow their children less parental attention, but also proving that their parenting skills were just as effective. The now independent woman, has begun to helicopter the children. Validation by the “stay at home mothers” to prove that the benefits to the children of a full time stay at home mother, out-weighed the need for self-fulfillment, with both parenting styles, and the helicopter parent was born. The description of an overprotective parent as a “Helicopter Parent” appeared in the best-selling book “Between Parent & Teenager” by Dr. Haim Ginott, staying

Socialization is a significant factor that has influenced the unequal distribution of unpaid work in a household. Throughout the chapters of Stanford’s book, it is mentioned numerous times that the majority of unpaid work, including household chores, caring for young children or elderly family members (Stanford, 2015, p.119), is completed by women. Statistics Canada has provided statistics on unpaid work, “men

According to the Center of American Progress, In 2013, in households with children younger than 6 years old, employed women spent 38.4 more minutes per day caring for children than employed men; they also spent 41.4 more minutes doing household activities, such as cleaning and cooking. Women are also more likely to leave the labor force to take care of children or other relatives, which affects their workforce experience; differences in experience explain 10.5 percent of the wage gap. While this is often a choice, it is influenced by family needs and by societal understandings of women’s responsibilities when it comes to housework and child care

Culturally women are just assumed to take on domestic duties. That the majority of childcare, nursing, housekeeping are still predominately occupied by women only serves to highlight the cultural significance of patriarchy which Marxism ignores.

Early on in the 19th century, society considered women equivalent to property and ranking far beneath men. In fact “ (w)omen were expected to remain subservient to their fathers and husbands” (Feminism). Currently, in the 21st Century, women live independently and raise families independently as single mothers. No longer relying on men, women work for themselves and support themselves and families.

In spite of significant progress made for women 's rights, women are still confined to stereotypical gender roles, namely, bearing significant responsibility for childcare and household affairs. A survey conducted by the American University of Washington D.C. in 2001 supports this fact. The same survey conducted a decade later in

A lot of gender inequality originates from the family. Typically, the roles of parenting have been gendered. Specifically, men typically do public sphere work, known as the breadwinners. On the Contrast, mothers tend to do more of the private sphere work, known as the housewives. This gendered styled household really started to institutionalize in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In a lot of homes, the father went to work while the mother stayed home. At the time, people painted the picture that being a housewife was any women’s dream. But in reality, “Many full-time mothers were troubled by the isolation of their daily lives, the repetitiveness of household tasks, and the invisibility of their accomplishments,” (Stoller 280). This breadwinner and housewife model has begun to become less prominent. Today only about 12 percent of American households consist of husband who financially supports a wife and children, while the mother stays home (Wade 248). Even though more women are entering the workforce, the household labor is still feminized causing a plethora of inequalities. After a day at work, most women are plagued with the second shift, which is the housework done after work. Even though there are much more women in the workforce than the 1950’s, women still do way more of the privatized work. In fact, per week, women spend 15 more hours of private work than men; this significantly disadvantages women (classroom notes). Furthermore, there are institutional policies

Greater gender equity in domestic responsibilities: According to Gloria Steinem “we’ve begun to raise daughters as sons”, increasing parity in the involvement of women and men in child care and house work will a long way in reducing the

In the past men handle the majority of the responsibilities outside of the home. For instance, tilling the fields and cutting lumber were best left to men. Even well into the 20th century some chores in and around the home demand high levels physical strength. While taking care of the baby was an endeavor best left to women because men lack the ability to breast-feed. These simple differences in gender created a divide between the household divisions of labor. However today these divisions of labor only exist to further enforce gender roles. Technology has made virtually made household labor obsolete. Today there is a convergence of the gender roles. If you can drive you till the field, brute strength is no longer a requirement. Moreover, men are now taking over the duties of childrearing with the development of synthetic breast milk and

They argue that this media driven debate pins working mothers against stay-at-home mothers in order to “divert the dialogue away from the real issues such as affordable health care, quality childcare, gender and racial equality, fathers’ roles in parenting, media effects, fair wages and benefits, and family-friendly work arrangements” (204). They state that in this culture of mother-blame, mothers have been blamed for causing problems in regards to childhood development such as, “epilepsy, colitis, asthma, ulcers, arthritis, anorexia nervosa, and a multitude of more severe problems in children” (207). However, they argue that it is now “accepted that these disorders are in fact not caused by poor mothering…” (208). Another issue with the Mommy Wars debate is that it portrays a universal kind of woman – white, affluent, and heterosexual – ignoring the fact that there are many different kinds of mothers of all backgrounds, sexualities, and economic statuses – which can make those who are not reflected as the “average” mother, feel inadequate. The authors further argue that these messages that working mothers are harming their children are what discourage women from economic participation and achievement and can have a negative impact on a mother’s perception of herself - which in turn can affect her performance as a parent. It seems that the

There are many benefits of changing the societal expectations of the sexes within famalies. Greater equality in responsibility between parents can be associated with less stress within the home, a higher functioning marital relationship, and ultimately a healthier family environment. Many child behavioral problems can be linked to problems within their parents marriage and inflexible division of responsibilities between the parents.(Bernard) Obviously, children need involvement from both a male and female figure. The rigid division of responsibility between mothers and fathers, has created a system where women are almost one hundred percent responsible for their children 's day to day needs, and fathers are responsible for bringing home a pay check. This traditional view on family has rendered America in a tough position. Women are now disrespected, and uninvited in the work place, and men are seen as week if they are stay at home fathers. The argument on gender equality in family is absolutely reliant on the notion that gender equality in the work place has been reached. Without equal opportunity, the division of labors in the home, based on gender, will not change.

This sociological study will define the necessity of providing governmental financial compensation for women’s work in the home. Historically, the debate over the financial value of domestic labour has been an increasing problem in relation to gender struggles in the Canadian economy. Women/housewives have often been ignored for their work in the home due to the dominance of a patriarchal workforce. The problem of childbearing has been another issue that has often prevented women from working outside the home, which has led to governmental assistance in terms of daycare for children. However, the current struggle for women’s rights demands more