McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 9-1 Chapter Nine l Work and Families

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-2 Power and Authority l Power = ability to force a person to take an action l Women have less when they earn less l Authority = acknowledged right to control and supervise another’s behavior

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-3 Family’s Internal Economy l Income used for benefit of entire family l What happens to income - whose needs and preferences shape how money is spent? l Household goods and services vs. personal consumption l Males are more likely to spend money on personal consumption

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-4 Power and Modes of Production l Familial Mode of Production l Impact of hoe culture (female farming system) l Example of Jean-Baptiste and Rosalie, 1861 l Plow culture, men took over farming l Production for exchange value (outside home) l Production for use value (within home)

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-5 Power and Modes of Production l Labor Market Mode of Production l Paid vs. unpaid labor l Greater power within family goes to those who produce for exchange value l Wives ability to exchange labor for goods and services is limited because they must also carry out child care and household responsibilities

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-6 l Relationship-specific investment l Time spent on activities such as childrearing that are valuable only in a person’s current relationship l Working outside the home is an investment in earning power that can be used in any marriage l Household investments can only be used in current marriage l Women who earn outside the home and control their earnings have more power Power and Modes of Production

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-7 Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force l 1948 l 25% of women with children 6 years or older in labor force l 10% of women with children under 6 in labor force

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-8 l Service sector expansion and outside forces created a need for women in the workforce l Women whose children in school were first to enter l Women working in 1998: l Women with children in school = 77%, l Women with children in preschool = 64%, l Women with children under 2 = 62% Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-10 Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force l Service sector provides personal services such as: l education l health care l communication l restaurant meals l legal representation l entertainment

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-11 Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force l Many service sector jobs thought of as “women’s work” l These jobs require some education, but pay less than men’s work l Secretary l Nurse l Elementary School Teacher

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-12 l Women having fewer children l Decline of wages for men without college educations l High divorce rate of the past several decades l Movement of married women into the labor force is one of the most significant changes in American family life in the past century Married Mothers Enter the Labor Force

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-13 Married Women Remain in the Labor Force l Common for women to work outside the home from young adulthood to marriage l See figure 9.2 l Women still earn substantially less than men l Parity = equal work for equal wages l Women earned 72 cents for every $1 a man earned in 1999

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-14

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-15 l Earnings may be higher because of the cohort effect l Younger women more likely to be better educated and have longer career span l Even without the cohort effect, lower income wages for women also rose l Wages among white and black women about the same Married Women Remain in the Labor Force

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-16 Working Wives Power and Authority: The Stalled Revolution? l Blumstein and Schwartz: studied couples in late 70s l A shift - higher the wives’ income, more authority in house l Boost to authority to make daily economic decisions l Not as much change in winning disputes with husbands l Men still likely to do less housework

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-18 l Husbands reported to hardly increase household labor l Employed wives spent less time on household work l Higher socioeconomic status (SES) more likely to hire outside help l No difference in proportion of work done by men in all social classes l Perception is that middle class men take more responsibility, but reality doesn’t fit Working Wives Power and Authority: The Stalled Revolution

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-19 Overload and Spillover Between Work and Family l Concern for role overload – having too many conflicting demands l Juggling demands of work, housework, children, parents, partner l Level of support from partner or spouse

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-20 l Research has not found clear distinction between role overload and distress l Rather than role overload, some Americans may be experiencing too much paid work Overload and Spillover Between Work and Family

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-21 Overworked and Underworked Americans l Balancing work and family may be more difficult because people are working longer hours l Those with college educations are working more hours l Those without college education are working fewer hours l More part-time workers without fringe benefits

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-22 Overworked and Underworked Americans l Regardless of change of hours worked, many still feel overloaded l Result of the faster pace of combining paid employment and raising children

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-23 Spillover l Stressful events in one part of a person’s daily life often spill over into other parts of his/her life l Wives cast in supportive role and may buffer husbands from further stress at home l Men more likely to withdraw from families if stressed

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-24 Childcare l May be handled by parents l Flexible hours - different shifts l May cause woman to turn down opportunities more than men l Single parents do not have this luxury l May rely on relatives l Fewer buffers

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-25 Unemployment l Creates stress l Causes marital strife l Angry, irritable, hostile behavior triggers problems in marriage

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-26 Toward a Responsible Workplace l Two-tiered system developing l Larger firms offer better pay, steadier jobs, and have more educated workers l Smaller firms have less pay, less-steady jobs, and less educated workers l Increase in part-time and temporary workers without benefits

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-28 Toward a Responsible Workplace l Flextime l Job sharing l Parental leave l Part-time work

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 9-29 Toward a Responsible Workplace l Responsive workplace = work setting in which job conditions are designed to allow employees to meet their family responsibilities more easily