Work and Families Mothers enter labor force Implications for family life Marital power and work

1. Work and Families Mothers enter labor force Implications for family life Marital power and work Role overload, conflict, and spillover Work-family life cycle patterns Shift work and child care Working families and low wages

2. Mothers’ Labor Force Participation, 1948 - 2001

3. Expansion of service sector Working hours beyond 9-5 Increased demand for workers Fewer children Families need two incomes Why women entered labor force

4. changed balance of power in marriage shift to individual marriage women’s earnings still only 77% of men’s single mothers still disadvantaged A Profound Change in Family Life

5. Bases of Power in Marriage • Legitimate – Authority, traditional roles • most affected by women’s employment • Referent – Identify with spouse, want to please • Expert –Knowledge of specific issue • Others (less common) - coercion, reward, informational

6. Wives who earn more have more power Still have childcare and household responsibilities Family work is relationship-specific Limits ability to compete in job market “Legitimate” Power and Wage Work

7. Less traditional division of labor Total housework has declined Hire help if affordable Men do more housework than previous generation Still do much less than women “Legitimate” Power and Housework

8. Face to face, meeting another’ s needs “Women’s work:” women are 97% of childcare workers 79% of healthcare workers Often undervalued, underpaid, unpaid Less status in marriage Some control over specific decisions High proportion are minority women Care Work

9. Role Overload, Conflict, and Spillover Role overload: too many roles at once Role conflict: different roles conflict Greater in some life stages Greater for women Not always stressful Increased stress w/ long hours, low benefits

10. Spillover Spillover: Stressful events in one part of life spill over into others Wives may protect husbands from stress Men more likely to withdraw from families Women feel more spillover of family into work

11. Work Stage (his) Novitiate Early Career Mid-Career Late Career Retirement Family Stage (hers) Beginning marriage Childbearing Teenage children Launching children Aging family How couples cope: 3 life cycle paths 1. Simultaneous-Traditional Work-Family Life Cycle

12. 2. Sequential Work-Family Life Cycle • More typical of women • Work fulltime, cut back during childbearing, then more work, etc. • May make prioritizing easier • Works better in some jobs • Not all families can afford • May involve career sacrifices

13. 3. Symmetrical Work-Family Life Cycle • True 50-50 sharing • Idealized, but not common

14. Shift Work and Child Care Child care may be handled by parents: Flexible hours—different shifts May turn down job opportunities May be stressful on marriage Single parents can’t use this

15. Child care arrangements of employed mothers of children under 5, 1999

16. Annual Expenditures on Child Care, by Parents’ Income and Child’s Age, 2002 Child’s Age

17. Flextime: Allows flexible hours Family leave: Time off to care for child or other dependent Part-time work with benefits Job Sharing Toward a Responsive Workplace

18. Summary • Mothers entered labor force since 1970 • Changed balance of power in marriage • Sometimes results in overload, spillover • Changed experience of family life cycle • Involves child care decisions • Workplace has not responded greatly to needs of families