Chapter 10 Families and the Work They Do

Early America Early American family Seasonal work Farming and ranching All family members worked

19 th Century Economy U.S. from agriculture to industrialization Worked away from home for paid wages Urban middle class emerged

19 th Century Economy Men: Outside home Women: Unpaid work inside home Ideology Men=wage earners Women=nurturers

Women and Work 19 th Century  Poor or minority women had to work  White middle-class women enjoy “true” womanhood  Short-term shifts in this ideology  World War II, a woman’s “patriotic duty” = paid employment

Women Welders

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Trends in Child Labor

Child Labor Children: paid and unpaid labor Children preferred by employers less expensive less likely to strike more docile

Child Labor Massachusetts: First state child labor law in 1836 Required children under age 15 working in factories To attend school at least three months per year Limits children’s work days to 10 hours

Child Labor Some in “street trades”: Deliver newspapers and telegrams Shine boots and shoes Run errands at all hours

Child Labor Coal mines:“Breaker boys” Separate slate rock from coal Often worked 14 to 16 hours a day Textile Mills millshttp:// ons/child-labor/5865 Glass factories

Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1911

Coal Mines

Women and Children at Work  working-in-early-20th.html working-in-early-20th.html

Women’s Labor Force Participation By 1975, majority of mothers with children under 18 worked outside the home Only one-third of women with children under age 3 did so

Women’s Labor Force Participation Today, norm for mothers to work outside home: 69% of married mothers Numbers differ by race and age of youngest child Attitudes towards working mothers are less positive than expected

Employment Status of Mothers 1975–2011, by Age of Youngest Child

America’s Changing Occupational Structure Rapid restructuring in response to technological and global competition Cell phones and computers changed doing business and Personal lives Boundaries between work and family life are blurred

US: Long Hours at Work “Out work” counterparts in Europe and Japan Work longer hours each week and more weeks per year.

US Parents: High Employment Rates US dual-earner couples with children work longest hours 2/3 of dual-earner couples work jointly more than 80 hours per week.

Workplace Policies European Union Standard work week Paid days off Part-time & flexible schedules Family leave rights & benefits Early childhood education & care

12/2 Life in a Recession Recession profoundly affected American families from 2005 to % decline in homeownership among households with children 33% increase in households with at least one parent unemployed

Life in a Recession More mothers entered work force Increased dependence on food stamps Number of households with unemployed parent soared by 148% in Nevada More than 50% in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey and North Carolina

Life in a Recession During recession Economic well-being worsened for families with children After recession officially ended in 2009 Measures remained worse than before

Disposable Workforce Nonstandard Work Schedules: Part-time Subcontracted or temporary Night Irregular work schedules

Disposable Workforce High turnover rates in low-tier jobs Involve routine tasks Workers are expendable For Managers —high turnover rates not a problem May be desirable Employers can avoid or reduce cost of health insurance and other benefits

Household Labor “Unpaid work done to maintain family members and/or a home” 5 most time-consuming household tasks: (1) Meal preparation or cooking (2) Housecleaning (3) Shopping for groceries and household goods (4) Washing dishes and cleaning up after meals (5) Laundry, including washing, and ironing

Who Does What? Housework Research indicates that women do significantly more housework than do men. The size of men’s and women’s contributions vary across studies Most find that women spend significantly more time on household tasks