Family Studies ch 13: Balancing Work and Family Life Flashcards
The Significance of Work
a physical or mental activity that accomplishes or produces either goods or services.
money is the major motivator
a sense of accomplishment and helps give us an identity.
Work in the Contemporary United States
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change resulting from the reduction of industrial activity, especially manufacturing.
Deindustrialization accelerated as a result of globalization.
Offshoring
Offshoring is the sending of work or jobs to other countries to cut costs at home.
Problem?
Social Class, Wealth,and Income
Americans are more productive than ever but who is benefiting?
Most analysts believe that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is struggling, and the poor are getting poorer.
How the Economy Affects Families
Low-wage jobs and nonstandard work hours—
In the U.S. we have seen an increase in nonstandard work hours—otherwise called shift work.
Full-time jobs are being replaced by part-time work that doesn’t pay benefits or retirement, making it better for the company but much harder for the family to earn a living
Unemployment
The U.S. unemployment rate surged from less than 5% in 2007 to more than 10% in 2009.
Poverty
absolute poverty is not having enough to afford the basic needs such as food. Generally, worldwide, the U.S. does not have absolute poverty.
relative poverty—not having enough to maintain an average standard of living.
poverty line - The is the minimum level of income that the government considers necessary for basic subsidence
Feminization of poverty
Homelessness
About 3.5 million Americans are homeless.
Single men comprise about 51% of the homeless, families with children about 30%, single women about 17%, and unaccompanied youth about 2%.
The number of families that are homeless are the fastest-growing group.
Why do more women work?
Men’s participation in the workforce has gone down and women’s has increased—why?
Many men’s employment in the 1980s and 1990s dropped due to offshoring and deindustrialization.
Economic variables include the expansion of white-collar jobs and their greater availability to women and better wages that provide an incentive to work.
Economic Roleswithin Marriage
The Two-Person Single Career Stay-at-Home Dads dual-earner couples dual-career families Dual-Earner versus Dual-Career Families
Benefits and Costsof Two-Income Families
Having two wage earners raises the family’s standard of living.
The most common problem is role overload, leading to health risks, decreased productivity and low morale at work.
Trailing Spouses
A trailing spouse is the partner who gives up his or her work and searches for another position in the location where the spouse has taken a job.
benefit is that the main provider can increase his or her income and job opportunities
drawbacks - low pay and taking on responsibility for household chores
Commuter Marriages
In a commuter marriage, married partners live and work in different geographic areas and get together at various intervals, such as weekends. This represents almost 3% of all marriages.
Why?
When wives earn more
In 2008, almost 26% of women earned more than their husbands, up from 18% in 1987.
Women are less likely to out earn their husbands in the long term.
Higher-earning wives typically enjoy a more equitable division of labor in the home than do their lower-income counterparts, but they often still bear the larger burden of housework and child care.
Inequality in the workplace
Is it due to individual characteristics (such as lower levels of education) or to macro- variables (such as social class or the economy)?
