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9-1

Chapter Nine

Work and Families

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9-2

Power and Authority

Power = ability to force a person to take an action Women have less when they earn less

Authority = acknowledged right to control and supervise another’s behavior

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9-3

Family’s Internal Economy Income used for benefit of entire

family What happens to income - whose

needs and preferences shape how money is spent?

Household goods and services vs. personal consumption Males are more likely to spend money

on personal consumption

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9-4

Power and Modes of Production Familial Mode of Production

Impact of hoe culture (female farming system)

Example of Jean-Baptiste and Rosalie, 1861

Plow culture, men took over farming Production for exchange value

(outside home) Production for use value (within home)

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9-5

Power and Modes of Production Labor Market Mode of Production

Paid vs. unpaid labor Greater power within family goes to those

who produce for exchange value Wives ability to exchange labor for goods

and services is limited because they must also carry out child care and household responsibilities

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9-6

Relationship-specific investment Time spent on activities such as childrearing

that are valuable only in a person’s current relationship

Working outside the home is an investment in earning power that can be used in any marriage

Household investments can only be used in current marriage

Women who earn outside the home and control their earnings have more power

Power and Modes of Production

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9-7

Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force

1948 25% of women with children 6 years

or older in labor force 10% of women with children under 6

in labor force

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9-8

Service sector expansion and outside forces created a need for women in the workforce Women whose children in school were

first to enter Women working in 1998:

Women with children in school = 77%, Women with children in preschool = 64%, Women with children under 2 = 62%

Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force

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9-9

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9-10

Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force Service sector provides personal

services such as: education health care communication restaurant meals legal representation entertainment

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9-11

Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force Many service sector jobs thought

of as “women’s work” These jobs require some education,

but pay less than men’s work Secretary Nurse Elementary School Teacher

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9-12

Women having fewer children Decline of wages for men without

college educations High divorce rate of the past several

decades Movement of married women into the

labor force is one of the most significant changes in American family life in the past century

Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force

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9-13

Married Women Remain in the Labor Force Common for women to work

outside the home from young adulthood to marriage See figure 9.2

Women still earn substantially less than men Parity = equal work for equal wages Women earned 72 cents for every $1

a man earned in 1999

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9-14

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Earnings may be higher because of the cohort effect

Younger women more likely to be better educated and have longer career span

Even without the cohort effect, lower income wages for women also rose Wages among white and black women about the same

Married Women Remain in the Labor Force

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9-16

Working Wives Power and Authority: The Stalled Revolution? Blumstein and Schwartz: studied

couples in late 70s A shift - higher the wives’ income, more

authority in house Boost to authority to make daily economic

decisions Not as much change in winning disputes

with husbands Men still likely to do less housework

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9-17

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9-18

Husbands reported to hardly increase household labor

Employed wives spent less time on household work

Higher socioeconomic status (SES) more likely to hire outside help

No difference in proportion of work done by men in all social classes Perception is that middle class men take more

responsibility, but reality doesn’t fit

Working Wives Power and Authority: The Stalled Revolution

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9-19

Overload and Spillover Between Work and Family Concern for role overload – having

too many conflicting demands Juggling demands of work,

housework, children, parents, partner Level of support from partner or

spouse

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9-20

Research has not found clear distinction between role overload and distress

Rather than role overload, some Americans may be experiencing too much paid work

Overload and Spillover Between Work and Family

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9-21

Overworked and Underworked Americans Balancing work and family may be

more difficult because people are working longer hours Those with college educations are

working more hours Those without college education are

working fewer hours More part-time workers without fringe

benefits

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9-22

Overworked and Underworked Americans Regardless of change of hours

worked, many still feel overloaded Result of the faster pace of combining

paid employment and raising children

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9-23

Spillover

Stressful events in one part of a person’s daily life often spill over into other parts of his/her life Wives cast in supportive role and may

buffer husbands from further stress at home

Men more likely to withdraw from families if stressed

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9-24

Childcare

May be handled by parents Flexible hours - different shifts May cause woman to turn down

opportunities more than men Single parents do not have this luxury

May rely on relatives Fewer buffers

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9-25

Unemployment

Creates stress Causes marital strife

Angry, irritable, hostile behavior triggers problems in marriage

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9-26

Toward a Responsible Workplace Two-tiered system developing

Larger firms offer better pay, steadier jobs, and have more educated workers

Smaller firms have less pay, less-steady jobs, and less educated workers

Increase in part-time and temporary workers without benefits

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9-27

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9-28

Toward a Responsible Workplace Flextime Job sharing Parental leave Part-time work

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9-29

Toward a Responsible Workplace

Responsive workplace = work setting in which job conditions are designed to allow employees to meet their family responsibilities more easily