Working Mothers…a Growing Force

 Gender Ideology--Ideas of masculinity and femininity that are held to be true in a society.  This is reflected in the gendered division of labor (tasks divided on the basis of gender, i.e. “men’s work vs. women’s work”)  Cross cultural research finds social factors determine division of labor not biological factors. For instance, women do the majority of the world’s work, including hard labor, but only own 10% of the resources

The worlds of work and family overlap and interact. Work and family linkages vary based on the structural characteristics of each. Variance is also created through class, race, and gender stratification systems

 Today over seventy-one (71%) of American women with children under the age of 18 work  With children under the age of 6, over sixty-four (64%) percent work

2008  Women's Employment 1940, less than 20% of the female population were in the labor force In % percent of the female population aged 16 and older was in the workforce

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008  Men’s Employment Men's labor force participation rate has declined from 83 % in 1960 to 75 % in 2006

Henslin, James Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Allyn and Bacon. 8

Sullivan Allyn & Bacon 2009 FIGURE 3.5 Percentage of Married Women with Spouse Present Who Are Employed, Among All Such Women and Among Women With Children Under Six Years of Age,

 Because of changing economic and social conditions, a single income is no longer sufficient for most families  increasingly wives are sharing this role—they are called Dual Earner Marriages  growing numbers of families are headed by a single parent who must fulfill both the breadwinner and homemaker roles

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010 Women on average have lower salaries, status, and opportunities compared to working men. Labor Market Segmentation – Men and women often work in different types of jobs with distinct working conditions and pay High concentration of women pink collar occupations: low-paying, non manual, semiskilled positions (clerical work, child care). Also concentrated in contingent work: Part time, temporary, subcontracted Good for employers but not great for employees

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Wage gap: disparity in earnings between men and women. Women make 81¢ for every $1.00 men make. (full time) Wage gap increases by age.  Today, one out of three wives earns more than her husband.

Henslin, James Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach Allyn & Bacon17

 In the U.S. women are now earning degrees in greater numbers than men, however, there is still a stratification by income and degree

Heslin, James Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approcach. Allyn and Bacon. 19

 Dual-Worker Families Vs. Single Parent Families

 Work has spillover effects on family life  Positive spillover is the carryover of satisfaction and stimulation at work to a sense of satisfaction at home.  Negative spillover involves bringing home the problems and stresses experienced at work, making adequate participation in family life difficult (Voydanoff, 1987; Schulz et al., 2004).

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008  Type of Work  White Collar and Professional --more autonomy, greater prestige,  Blue Collar --more closely supervised, greater physical requirements  Professional Satisfaction from Work

Eitzen, Baca Zinn & Smith Allyn and Bacon 2009  The “work-family role system” reinforces traditional division of labor in both work and family.  The demands of the family intrude more on women’s work roles than men’s.  Employed wives generally have two jobs--work and family--while employed husbands have only one.

 The labor of women in the home has been excluded from traditional definitions of work  Economic Value of Housework  According to sociologists Randy Hodson and Teresa Sullivan (1995), what is traditionally known as “housework” is only one aspect of home production If these nonpaid home production “workers” were compensated for their labor, their compensation would amount to billions of dollars per year

Studies find that women do much more housework than men, even if both work full-time Hochschild (1989) calls it “second shift” Women doing majority of housework while also working for a wage outside of home. According to researchers South and Spitze, men perform only 18 hours of housework per week, whereas women put in over 32 hours per week

 Wives who put in a 8-hour day of working for wages average 11 hours more childcare and housework each week than their husbands. (Bianchi and Spain, 1996 cited in Henslin, 2004)  Wives are 8 times more likely than husbands to feel the division of labor is unfair. (Sanchez, 1994 cited in Henslin, 2004)

Hochschild interviewed 50 families and did participant research with 12 and found that the majority of husbands used the following strategies of resistance to housework:  Waiting it out: Don’t volunteer for housework. When wife asks, show irritation or become glum. This discourages wife from asking again.  Playing Dumb: When doing housework, become incompetent.  Needs Reduction: Ex. Wrinkled clothes, cereal, ok.  Substitute Offerings: Express appreciation to the wife for being so organized—subtle encouragement for her to keep working the second shift.

 The closer a husband’s and wife’s earnings, the more likely they are to share housework. -- Although husbands in such marriages don’t share housework equally, they share more than other husbands. (Henslin, 2004)  Unemployed husbands do the least housework.

 Changes in Child-Rearing Practices  Increase the role of fathers in child-rearing  Family and parental leave act  Affordable child care  Changes in the Educational System  Teacher training of gender issues in education  Greater access and equality for women in education