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In a society with the muajority of mothers joining or returning to the workforce, there is a growing body of research documenting the demands placed on these women and what can be done to help their transition into this new role. According to the United States’ Department of Labor, in the year 2012, 70.5% of mothers with children under the age of 18 were a part of the workforce; of these women 73.7% were employed full-time, working over 35 hours a week, and 26.3% were employed part-time, working less than 35 hours a week (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Given this information, it is becoming more important to further research how this new role as an employee affects the role of parenting and what can be done to help this transition. The intent of this paper is to compare the experiences of a working mother to the current research on the topic of working mothers. Moreover, this paper addresses the demands placed on working mothers as well as the factors that ameliorate their transition into this new role. To gain insight on the role of being a working mother I interviewed my mother, Jane Smith. Smith currently works forty, or more, hours a week as an office manager for a family business. Her job requires her to be at work from eight in the morning until five or six in the evening Monday through Friday. In addition to her role as an employee, she is currently married and is a mother of four daughters. These daughters are between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one; of these four daughters, three live at home with the family while the other is currently completing a study-abroad year in Germany. Smith has been a working mother for the past seven years, before which she worked as a stay-at-home parent. Her job requires her ... ... middle of paper ... ...e study found that government aid (e.g. assistance with childcare) was less effective than workplace and family support in reducing this conflict, unless the assistance provided was an extended maternal leave following the birth of the child (Abendroth et al., 2012). References Abendroth, A., van, d. L., & Maas, I. (2012). Social support and the working hours of employed mothers in europe: The relevance of the state, the workplace, and the family. Social Science Research, 41(3), 581-597. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.12.008 Countermine, M. (2014). Lecture on Parenting. Personal Collection of M. Countermine, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 13 Apr. 2014 United States Department of Labor. (2012). Latest Annual Data. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/recentfacts.htm#mothers
With the advent of neoliberalism, the practice of mothering in Western society arguably shifted from a manner that simply ensures the growth of a child into one that maximizes the child’s growth (O’Reilly: Intensive Mothering, Oct 16). One representation of this shift is identified by Sharon Hays as intensive mothering in which the mother prioritizes the rearing of her child over the advancement of her professional career by investing most of her energy, time, and financial resources into her child (Hays 414). The novel I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson can be analyzed through the perspective of intensive mothering. The protagonist, Kate Reddy, is a successful employee of a top investment managing firm in London who spends her
In today’s society, many people look at stay-at-home moms as being lazy or irresponsible, but in the article, “Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom,” Ashley Nelson states many different reasons why being a stay-at-home mother isn’t so bad. Staying at home with children makes families closer together and they get along more. People in society argue that mothers need to work instead of spending time with their children. In “Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom,” Nelson claims that being a mother is stressful, that mothers are being discriminated against and treated differently, and that they are given too many extra hours at work. I agree with Nelson that being a mother is hard, they are discriminated against, and that they are given too many hours at work because having children and a job is tough, many people believe mothers can’t have a job and a child at the same time, and having a child means they need more hours at home to bond and take care of their children.
I read the article The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home by Arlie Hochschild. In this article, she talks about how women put more hours into the day by working and coming home and taking care of children and housework. She starts the article out by showing working mothers a picture of a successful women wearing a suit. In the picture, the women was holding a briefcase in one hand and a child in the other. She looks perfect in the picture. The working mothers that she showed the picture laughed and explained that is not how a working mother looks. She then interview different people to see what their outlook was on “how is it right for a mother of young children to work a full-time job, or how much a husband
The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.
Since the beginning of time, mothers have always cared for their children. At-home moms taught and raised their kids until they were old enough to live on their own. As millenniums passed, moms would teach their daughters the life of a woman, cooking and cleaning for the male members of the family. As the mid-1900s came, mothers stopped staying home and began to work outside the comforts of their houses. With no one to take care of the children, a new industry was formed: childcare centers and daycares. Children flooded these businesses when their parents were at work and stayed until one parent got off. Daycares made a mother’s life easier when she went to work, knowing her kids were cared for. Being a childcare director would be a needed
In the United States, a third of mothers return to work within three months of childbirth compared to only five percent in other industrialized nations such as Germany, Sweden, and the UK (Berger, Hill, and Waldfogel 29). The rapid return of mothers to the workforce sparked interest in the effects the return has on the child’s behavior and health. The experiments measure the child’s health and development by the amount of time the mother breastfeeds, the immunizations the child receives, their score on a vocabulary test, behavioral problems, and the amount of doctor’s visits (Berger, Hill, and Waldfogel 36). Mothers who returned to work within twelve weeks were less likely to breastfeed their child, provide as many doctor’s visits and immunizations, and there were more noticeable behavioral problems at age four (Berger, Hill, and Waldfogel 39-42). The data is significantly lower for mother’s who work full time within twelve weeks after maternity leave (Berger, Hill, and Waldfogel 43). Therefore, it is proved that the duration of maternity leave is directly correlated with children development and
Linda Houser, Ph. D. & Thomas P. Vartanian, Ph. D. Pay Matters: The positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses, and the Public. New Brunswick: Rutgers Center for Women and Work, 2012. Document.
received the right to work menial jobs for minimum pay with less job security. She has
Stone (2007) conducted “extensive, in depth interviews with 54 women in a variety of professions-law, medicine, business, publishing, management consulting, nonprofit administration, and the like- living in major metropolitan areas across the country, half of them in their 30’s, half in their 40’s” (p. 15). Keep in mind these women Stone (2007) focuses on are “highly educated, affluent, mostly white, married women with children who had previously worked as professionals or managers whose husbands could support their being at home” (p. 14). Her findings revealed women are strongly influenced by two factors: workplace push and motherhood pull. “Many workplaces claimed to be “family friendly” and offered a variety of supports. But for women who could take advantage of them, flexible work schedules (which usually meant working part time) carried significant penalties” (Stone, 2007, p. 16). This quote represents the workplace push, where women are feeling encouraged to continue their rigorous careers with little to no family flexibility being offered from workplaces. The motherhood pull is a term used to describe the way mothers feel when they face the pressure of staying home to raise their children while still expected to maintain a steady job. “Motherhood influenced women 's decision to quit as they came to see the rhythms and
With the high cost of living, it is far-reaching for many mothers to seek employment because whenever they fail to work, they cannot bring their households out of poverty. The above section has illustrated the manner through which maternal employment influences the child in terms of money investments and quality time. The session has also touched on how maternal employment influences quantity of time. One factor that we all accede to is the fact that once a mother is working, she will be able to support he children with the necessities that they require in life. The necessities include both the basic requirements as well as other needs such as security health and education. The only problem with maternal employment is that the mothers do not spend much time with their children. As a matter of fact, some mothers leave their children with others to take care of them completely in order to make ends meet. To ensure that the situations do not get out of hand, several mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that the mothers are supported. For starters, the fathers should increase the time that they spend with their children. This in a way helps in bringing out the best out of their children as a whole. Stakeholders have in recent past given credit to fathers because they have increased their level of participation in children affairs. Nevertheless, the fathers should raise the manner in which they interact with the children; this is to mean that they should take their interactions with the children to greater levels thereby taking part in the activities that concern the children more often.
“The logic of intensive mothering, particularly as it applies to middle- and upper-middle-class mothers, therefore seems to be the greatest barrier to solving the problems detailed in this book….Nearly all mothers, for instance, feel they ought to be at home with their children, ought to want to be at home with their children, and ought to be their children’s primary parent.” Pg. 201 This quote from Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot emphasizes on the fact that these working mothers need to let go a of that temperament that they must keep the nanny, their spouse and anyone else away from their child at any cost. Because they are not able to be there for their kids they can rest their mind knowing that the person with their child when they are not present is someone that will love them and care for them no matter what, and all the working mother must do is let go just a
If one takes a closer look at the issues surrounding the differences between the male and female roles in the workforce and in education, one will notice that women tend to be one step below men on the "status" or "importance" ladder.
Mercer, R. (2004). Becoming a Mother Versus Maternal Role Attainment. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 36(3), 226-232. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Men and women are working harder than ever to survive in today's tough economy. It's a big challenge for low and middle class families to survive. To meet growing demands, it's getting difficult for families to depend on one income. To contribute to family income, mothers are coming forward and joining the workforce. Working mothers are the one who takes care of the family and work outside the home. They may be a single mothers or married mothers. Working mothers usually work to support their family financially. Some of the mothers work, just because they are more career-oriented. Working mothers may work part time or full time. Women are now the primary or only income source for 40% of US households with kids, according to a new Pew survey (Wang, Parker and Taylor, ch. 1). They play a major role in raising their family and doing household chores. There are many reasons that why mothers should work.
Regardless of where they are in their careers, working mothers have a tough time achieving balance between work and family. Generally, women take on or are given more responsibility for their homes than are men, leading to frustration and exhaustion. In this paper we will address some of the issues involved in balancing career and family. This paper will provide some solutions for the most common problems arising from todays busy schedules, and provide some insight on how to make the most of your time.