Working Women
Working Women
Today, the term "family" is difficult to define. All families are unique, and they can range anywhere from single parent families to extended families. Most importantly though, it is in the family where the next generation is being built. Parents must provide security and support for their children, and they need to be prepared for the challenges of balancing work and family in today's society. In traditional families, there was a mother, a father and their resulting children. The father would most often be the earner of the family, and the mother would stay at home and take care of the children. Things have changed considerably in the twenty-first century. Now there are more dual-income families, single-parent families, and there are many more women in the labor force. This poses a great change to family life, and many women are working a "double day" with a combination of the paid and unpaid work that they do. They have their regular full time jobs where they earn an income, and then they have to come home to more work such as cooking, cleaning, child-care and grocery shopping. Like all systems and interactions, conflict arises between work and family issues. This issue causes conflict for every member of the family, and we need to discover ways to resolve this conflict. Today, both men and women must go to work to support their families, but it is usually the woman who has to come home and do household work, while her husband plays with the kids or watches television in the living room. This is definitely a concern that needs to be addressed, as men often do not see this unequally division of housework or view their share as unnecessary (Rhode 55). “Women continue to face obstacles at work and in the home, but the solutions to these problems can be found in creating more equal opportunities, not in confining women to domesticity” (Jacobs and Gerson 36).
Women often feel stress and encounter difficulties trying to meet their responsibilities as
Today, the term "family" is difficult to define. All families are unique, and they can range anywhere from single parent families to extended families. Most importantly though, it is in the family where the next generation is being built. Parents must provide security and support for their children, and they need to be prepared for the challenges of balancing work and family in today's society. In traditional families, there was a mother, a father and their resulting children. The father would most often be the earner of the family, and the mother would stay at home and take care of the children. Things have changed considerably in the twenty-first century. Now there are more dual-income families, single-parent families, and there are many more women in the labor force. This poses a great change to family life, and many women are working a "double day" with a combination of the paid and unpaid work that they do. They have their regular full time jobs where they earn an income, and then they have to come home to more work such as cooking, cleaning, child-care and grocery shopping. Like all systems and interactions, conflict arises between work and family issues. This issue causes conflict for every member of the family, and we need to discover ways to resolve this conflict. Today, both men and women must go to work to support their families, but it is usually the woman who has to come home and do household work, while her husband plays with the kids or watches television in the living room. This is definitely a concern that needs to be addressed, as men often do not see this unequally division of housework or view their share as unnecessary (Rhode 55). “Women continue to face obstacles at work and in the home, but the solutions to these problems can be found in creating more equal opportunities, not in confining women to domesticity” (Jacobs and Gerson 36).
Women often feel stress and encounter difficulties trying to meet their responsibilities as
Cited: Jacobs, Jerry A. and Kathleen Gerson. “Integrating Family and Work in the 21st Century.” Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics. Lorber, Judith. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. Print. Lorber, Judith. Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. Print. Rhode, Deborah L. “Denials of Inequality.” Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions. Eds. Shaw, Susan and Janet Lee, Eds. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.