Work Life Balance : An Important Aspect Of Life

As a child, I’ve seen my parents focused the majority of their time and energy at their work to provide for our family. In 2000, the U.S Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics had recorded that working couples with children under 18 years of age worked an average of 66 hours a week compared to couples without children, who worked an

This could be one of the reasons accounting for 71.6 per cent of all part-time employees being women, 54.7 per cent as casual employees, and only 36.7 per cent of all full-time employees (ABS, 2015). In one study amongst married heterosexual parents working full-time in America, the division of household labour showed that mothers were mostly responsible for scheduling children’s activities while fathers were mostly responsible for discipline, play time, and household chores (Pew Research Centre, 2015, p. 2). This labour is entirely placed upon 83 per cent of single parents with dependent children which are mothers; with only 56 per cent of that group being employed (ABS, 2015, para. 3). In 2016, women working full-time earned an average of 16.2 per cent less than men (ABS, 2016). Connecting these statistics, it can be proposed that single parenthood pushes women into poverty as they are unlikely to work enough hours each week to afford placing children in day-care centres. Before the Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate, day care costs between $70-200 per day (Elliot, 2017, para. 4). Whether single mothers are working or taking care of their children, they financially suffer either way. Additionally, single older women also suffer housing crisis as they are less likely to have been the owners of their residence throughout their life leaving them less likely to be granted housing (Darab & Harmann, 2013). Homelessness amongst

Working-class and poor parents often work long hours or hold multiple jobs simply to support

Studies suggest that when the number of children in the home rise, and as the age of the youngest child decreases, there are more conflicts within the family. In establishing relationships with children, parents struggle to manage work and family, including having insufficient time to completely focus on both the necessities of work and family (Cichy, Stawski, & Almeida, 2012). Due to new job obligations, MJ experiences work stress independently, enhancing personal and financial stressors. There can be an adverse effect between job security and father-child relationship due to fathers striving to secure careers so they are able to provide for their family. As personal stressors are experienced more regularly, so are perceptions that one’s work obligations increase negative effects on their family life (Minnotte, Pedersen, & Mannon, 2013).

According to Statistics Canada, the amount of two parented full time working families has gone up 17% since the 1980’s. As a result of such an outcome, more employees in larger and smaller based companies are finding it harder to keep up with both risen work loads and home life necessities, which in turn have caused more absentees in the work place. The reason being for this is due to

In our society, we carry an ideological assumption that a “normal” family consists of the man working to provide for the family and the women takes on the role of stay-at-home mom (Dow 1992).

Americans that work too many long shifts affect the lives of the people around them too. For instance, one statistic from a Family Matters Survey done by The National Partnership for Women & Families in 1998 found that, “70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children”.Another statistic from this survey reported that over 80% of Americans found it diffcult to balance their work life and their personal life. In fact, it is estimated that around 11 million children age 5 and under spend time in a form child care facility every week(Child Care Aware of America). It is also estimated that children whose

According to statistics, employment in never married mothers increased nearly 50%, single mothers who HS dropouts increased by 2/3, young single mothers nearly doubled (Karger et al., 2007). But the problem is, are these jobs sufficient enough to get these people out of poverty? There are issues with employment of individuals. These issues include a lack of work experience and education as well as poor health (Urban Institute, 2014). Needing to work also impacts parent(s) and their duties for their children because of long hours, stressful commutes, ad stressful working conditions. These types of stress lead kids to take on the responsibilities of their parents to take care of their younger siblings (Boscia, 2010).

One of these is financial problems. “In 2002, twice as many single-parent families earned less than $30,000 per year compared to families with two parents present. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 39 percent of two-parent families earned more than $75,000 compared to 6 percent of single-mother families and 11 percent of single-father families” (Davidson).

Suzanne Bianchi, John Robinson and Melissa Milkie’s Changing Rhythms of American Family Life were able to document that “mothers are spending as much time with the children as forty years ago, fathers were doing more at home and there is more gender equality” (Bianchi et al 2006, 169). In their data it showed the trend of workloads for both fathers and mothers to have increased “from 55 to 64 estimated weekly hours between 1965 and 2000 households with married parents” (Bianchi et al 2006, 171). This could attributed to that there was a big change that occurred that allowed more women and mothers to enter the workforce. Corresponding to the female participants in my sample that want to continue to work and further their career. Furthermore,

According to Ms. Stephanie “Although the number of hours the average woman spends at home with her children has declined since the early 1900s, as more and more women enter the workforce, there has been a decrease in the number of children per family and an increase in individual attention to each child. As a result, mothers today in the United States -- including those who work part- or full-time -- spend almost twice as much time with each child as mothers did in the 1920s. People who raised children in the 1940s and 1950s typically report that their own adult children and grandchildren communicate far better with their kids and spend more time helping with homework than they did. I agree with her. However, our generation of family today, it’s sad to say but they don’t spend enough time with their kids because they are always too busy. Working in retail a lot of the managers only see their kids on their days off. And that is not good or healthy for the

The labor force of the United States has changed drastically over the last forty years. According to the Department of Labor, in 2012, 64% of woman with children under the age of six are in the labor force. While only 34% of mothers were working in 1970 (Gullekson, Griffeth, Vancouver, Kovner, & Cohen, 2014). Furthermore, in 1974, 80% of kids under the age 17 were cared for by a parent (Morrissey & Warne, 2011). Given this dramatic increase of mothers in the workforce, there is a considerable amount of time missed by the working parent. On average, American working parents miss nine days of work per year and that number increases to thirteen as the child moves through daycare and into elementary school. Breakdowns in childcare cost businesses three billion dollars annually (Shellenback, 2004). Given these staggering numbers the demand for reliable and affordable childcare has never been bigger.

Well, my parents went to work every day to provide for my brother and I and we had everything we ever needed. We lived in a nice house, had a dog, and I never went without. I was able to dream about the future and the possibilities that were out there for me to seize. With that being said the first topic I would like to discuss with you is the issue of childrearing. If you look at the US over the last 50-100 years within the scope of childrearing you will find a common theme. The “normal” house consists of a father who leaves every day to go to work and provide for the family and a mother who stays home to take care of the children and the house. This has been a standard of living in the US for a very long time. A recent article published by the Pew Research Center states: “While most stay-at-home parents are mothers, fathers represent a growing share of all at-home parents – 16% in 2012, up from 10% in 1989. Roughly a quarter of these stay-at-home fathers (23%) report that they are home mainly because they cannot find a job. Nearly as many (21%) say the main reason they are home is to care for their home or family. This represents a fourfold increase from 1989, when only 5% of stay-at-home fathers said they were home primarily to care for family” (Livingston 2014). This is interesting in many ways. Less than thirty years ago the number of stay at home dads was drastically lower. One might say that the only reason that these dads are staying home is because they cannot find work outside the home. The statistics disprove this theory. While it is true that some have suffered from a shaky economy, many are home because they choose to be. 23 percent say that they are home due to the fact that they cannot find work. 21 percent are home by their own choosing. This is hard to understand for most people. Globally it is accepted that the place of the man should be

“The vast majority of Americans (79%) rejected the notion that women should return to their traditional role in society. Yet when they were asked what is best for young children, very few adults (16%) said that having a mother who works full time is the “ideal situation.” Some 42% said that having a mother who works part time is ideal and 33% said what’s best for young children is to have a mother who doesn’t work at all. Even among full-time working moms, only about

Mothers are very passionate about their choice to work or stay at home with their children. This is a heated debate about what is best for children and who is the better mother. Just in the last generation more mothers are choosing to work, which is also sparking some conflict in families where grandparents felt it was important to stay at home with their children. This paper compares and contrasts both sides of working and being a stay at home mother. While there is no right or wrong answer to the work and family dilemma, it’s important to understand both sides.