Working parent

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A working parent is a father or a mother who engages in a work life. Contrary to the popular belief that work equates to efforts aside from parents' duties as a childcare provider and homemaker, it is thought[ by whom? ] that housewives or househusbands count as working parents. [1] The variations of family structures include, but are not limited to, heterosexual couples where the father is the breadwinner and the mother keeps her duties focused within the home, homosexual parents who take on a range of work and home styles, single working mothers, and single working fathers. [2] There are also married parents who are dual-earners, in which both parents provide income to support their family. [3] Throughout the 20th century, family work structures experienced significant changes. This was shown by the range of work opportunities each parent was able to take and was expected to do, to fluctuations in wages, benefits, and time available to spend with children. [2] These family structures sometimes raise much concern about gender inequalities. Within the institution of gender, there are defined gender roles that society expects of mothers and fathers that are reflected by events and expectations in the home and at work. [4]

Contents

Historic viewpoints

The concept of working parents has existed for centuries, especially during slavery in the United States. Female and male slaves were expected to bear children for white slave masters, yet were not always allowed to parent these children. In some ways, these mothers and fathers were providing income for the offspring they produced, but in the way society thinks of traditional family structures, slaves were only sometimes allowed to be true working parents, earning a modified sort of income to support their family. [5]

For initially non-white immigrants who came to America during the 1700s through the 1900s, the traditional roles of many mothers and fathers were ignored, as both were required to take the role of working parents in order to survive. For Chinese immigrants, fathers and mothers ran laundry-houses, and Irish parents worked in hard-labor factories. This situation changed for mothers to take on the housewife role as immigrants from Europe and Asia earned whiteness. [6]

Television in the 1950s and 1960s gave people a one track structure of how families should function. Men went to work to earn money to pay bills and support his family, and women were expected to stay home as housewives and child care givers. The gender inequalities that are reflective of this idealized family structure result from the beliefs that women are less capable of separating from the children they are predisposed to bear. Additionally, it is still believed by most people that parents who stay at home with no formal outside job are not doing any work, when in fact, these parents put in more hours of work than their counterparts, shown by statistics documenting the second shift. [1]

The ideas about who should and can be a parent have also shifted over time, with a more inclusive range of family structures becoming recognized. During the 20th century, dual-earner families, single-mother and single-father families, adoptive families, grandparents as primary guardians, LGBTQ+ parent families, and more emerged. [2] With the changing sphere of family makeup came a change in who society accepted as parents, an effort mostly directed at limiting black mothers from reproducing if they could not or would not work. These women were known as welfare queens, whom society believed to have children solely for the government to write them checks. [5] Changing ideas about family and changes in the job economy brought new risks for mothers. [1]

Through the latter half of the 20th century, women were discriminated against by employers who believed that women's fertility put them in danger to certain working environments, barring them from performing certain tasks or holding certain positions with pregnancy bans. [5] [1] If parents, particularly mothers, worked, especially in time-demanding jobs, the time they could spend with their child or children was limited, and received criticism. However, if a woman was a stay-at-home mom, they were seen as doing nothing, and therefore devalued. [2] This belief is combated by the increasing amount of documentation that both men and women who stay at home perform more household work than their partners. [1]

Motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus

Motherhood and fatherhood seem to exist in opposition to each other in regards to work lives. Men have the potential of earning high regards for being a working father. Hegemonic masculinity plays a role in determining a man's bonus. If he is white, middle class and has a stable home life with a wife and children, he is viewed as the most appropriately masculine man available to earn a raise. [7] Traditional work for men surrounds employment in area that highlight a father as being able to provide as the sole earner in a family. [2] The motherhood penalty or "mommy tax", is one that hurts women's financial opportunities, especially in making poverty a majorly feminine status whereas success is masculinised. Assumptions that women will or do have children carries discrimination that says mothers are the ones who will step away from their jobs to boost their children's development. [1] Although women may be easier to employ than men due to the hold on their salary demands, [8] women also face a challenge of defending their rights as mothers in a working environment. [9] Strictly policed career push to send men and women into different fields, as well as the gender pay gap highlight the Policies meant to protect the fertility and reproductive capabilities of women have been enacted in the past, barring women from working too hard, while also barring them from building highly successful careers. These hurdles, among others, present mothers with possibilities in their career while simultaneously putting permanent barriers preventing them from succeeding, a concept known as the glass ceiling. [1]

Some companies are making it possible to begin ending the motherhood penalty. Gay Gaddis, company owner of T3, implemented a system where new parents could bring their child to work during the critical stages of child-parent bonding. [10] As of 2023, no vertical market has been named for companies that specifically offer technology solutions to solve the needs of working parents. [11]

Working mothers

Nobel laureates and working mothers Marie Curie and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie Portrait of Marie Curie and her daughter Irene Wellcome L0001759.jpg
Nobel laureates and working mothers Marie Curie and her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie

The involvement of women in paid work varies and had varied by historical period, geographical region and social class. From the late 19th century to the 1970s, married women in some Western countries were restricted from working outside the home through marriage bars. For instance, in the Netherlands, the marriage bar was removed in 1957, [12] [13] [14] and in Ireland it was removed in 1973. [15] In some European countries, married women could not work without the consent of their husbands until just a few decades ago, for example, in France until 1965 [16] [17] and in Spain until 1975. [18] After second wave of feminism made it possible for more women to be present in the work place, many mothers took advantage; according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the increase of mothers in the workforce, with children under the age of 18, has risen to 70.6% in 2011. Mothers with younger children are less likely to work than those with older children. [19]

Although mothers have flourished in paid labor environments, they still face gender inequalities that affect their ability to maintain a healthy home-work life. The added pressures of working mothers rests on the stereotypical, gendered assumptions that women are the prime care takers of children. This is often reflected in disparities of privileges and advantages in the work place between men and women, where the disadvantages of the motherhood penalty, the wage gap, and the second shift come into play. [1] [20] [21] When women are hired, they are assumed to have more home life responsibilities that can interfere with their ability to do well at work. [22] Relating to their male counterparts, if women want to provide more for their family, they are to take on the masculine work ethic. That is, be more aggressive, and put work before your family. [20] An increase in work demands may alleviate the burden of economic decreases; however, this takes away the time needed to raise a family. With 66% of married women in a dual-income family, [23] that percentage illustrates that, although both parents are economic providers for their family, the women take on both work and family responsibilities due to society's gender roles. Research shows consistence with utility maximization theory, that women are not merely opting out of the workforce, but rather are accurately assessing the potential opportunity and direct labor market costs of their decision to withdraw based on measurable costs and benefits. [24]

Working mothers in Europe

In Europe, Ireland and the Netherlands have some of the strongest housewife traditions. In the early 1980s, the Commission of the European Communities report Women in the European Community, found that the Netherlands and Ireland had the lowest labour participation of married women, and the most public disapproval of it. [25] In the Netherlands, from the 1990s onwards, the number of women entering the workplace have increased, yet with most of the women only working part time. [26] According to The Economist , in the Netherlands, fewer men had to fight in the World Wars of the 20th century, and so Dutch women did not experience working for pay at rates women in other countries did. The wealth of the country, coupled with the fact that "[Dutch] politics was dominated by Christian values until the 1980s" meant that Dutch women were slower to enter into the workforce. [27] In contrast to the mid-20th century Western Europe, Communist countries such as USSR and Mainland China encouraged married women to keep working after they had given birth. [28] In the US, after the feminist movement (accompanied by the civil rights movement against the racial discrimination and The Vietnam War), there were 50% of married women who kept working after they given birth in 1978 in the US; in 1997, the number was 61%. Increased numbers of housewives happened in the Bush era in the 2000s. After the 2008 financial crisis, because of a decrease in family income, women kept working to help their families, there were 69% Married women who kept working after they had given birth in 2009 in the US. [29] [30]

As more countries joined the European Union, and become subject to its directives, the policies regarding women's labour rights have improved throughout Europe. Noteworthy directives include the Employment Equality Framework Directive, the Pregnant Workers Directive, the Parental Leave Directive and the Directive 2002/73/EC – equal treatment of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions. [31] [32] [33]

Working mothers in Japan

In Japan, according to data collected by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, 70.8% of total employed women are mothers whose children under the age of 18. [34] Benefiting from policies that encourage mothers to work, more companies are adopting child care leave and shorter working time to attract more mothers as workers.

However, according to Japan's Gender Equality Bureau, only 3.4% of executives at listed companies in Japan are women, while the percent is 17% in the United States and 30% in France. [35]

Mommy wars

The phrase "mommy wars" has been used since at least 1989 [36] to describe conflicts between mothers who are full-time caregivers and mothers who are working professionals. [37]

Arguments between these two types of mothers center around the most effective use of one's time when raising children. Leslie Morgan Steiner wrote that, as women struggle to come to terms with their own choices in parenting against society's standards, they engage in this warfare that does nothing to promote self-acceptance, acceptance of others, or balance within their individual lives." [38]

Research studies

The Harvard Business Review blog and Pew Research Center have both reported the results of a study, published in May 2013, that suggests that mothers are the "sole or primary source of income" in approximately 40 percent of U.S. households with children. The equivalent statistic in 1960 was 11 percent. [39] [40]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parental leave</span> Time taken off to care for a new child

Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.

Feminization of poverty refers to a trend of increasing inequality in living standards between men and women due to the widening gender gap in poverty. This phenomenon largely links to how women and children are disproportionately represented within the lower socioeconomic status community in comparison to men within the same socioeconomic status. Causes of the feminization of poverty include the structure of family and household, employment, sexual violence, education, climate change, femonomics and health. The traditional stereotypes of women remain embedded in many cultures restricting income opportunities and community involvement for many women. Matched with a low foundation income, this can manifest to a cycle of poverty and thus an inter-generational issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of the family</span> Branch of sociology

Sociology of the family is a subfield of the subject of sociology, in which researchers and academics study family structure as a social institution and unit of socialization from various sociological perspectives. It can be seen as an example of patterned social relations and group dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double burden</span> Workload of people who both earn money and have significant domestic responsibilities

A double burden is the workload of people who work to earn money, but who are also responsible for significant amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This phenomenon is also known as the Second Shift as in Arlie Hochschild's book of the same name. In couples where both partners have paid jobs, women often spend significantly more time than men on household chores and caring work, such as childrearing or caring for sick family members. This outcome is determined in large part by traditional gender roles that have been accepted by society over time. Labor market constraints also play a role in determining who does the bulk of unpaid work.

The gender pay gap in the United States is a measure between the earnings of male and females in the workforce. When calculating the pay gap, non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap is utilized. The adjusted pay gap takes into consideration the differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience, whereas the non-adjusted pay gap is the overall difference of gross hourly earnings of males and females in the United States. The non-adjusted average female annual salary is around 80% of the average male salary, compared to 95% for the adjusted average salary.

A mommy track is a path in a woman's life that puts priority to being a mother. It can also specifically refer to work arrangements for women in the workforce that facilitate motherhood, such as flexible hours, but at the same time usually provides fewer opportunities for career advancement. References to the mommy track often go along with being a housewife, "opting out" of the workforce, temporarily or even permanently. Women following the mommy track may be contrasted to career women who prioritize their careers more than having children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the workforce</span> All women who perform some kind of job

Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in the workforce contribute to a higher national economic output as measure in GDP as well as decreasing labor costs by increasing the labor supply in a society.

Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. While current policies around the world cause inequality among individuals, it is women who are most affected. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas such as health, education, and business life. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures and also affects non-binary people.

Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, height, weight, accent, or race in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unpaid work</span> Labor that does not receive any direct remuneration

Unpaid labor or unpaid work is defined as labor or work that does not receive any direct remuneration. This is a form of non-market work which can fall into one of two categories: (1) unpaid work that is placed within the production boundary of the System of National Accounts (SNA), such as gross domestic product (GDP); and (2) unpaid work that falls outside of the production boundary, such as domestic labor that occurs inside households for their consumption. Unpaid labor is visible in many forms and isn't limited to activities within a household. Other types of unpaid labor activities include volunteering as a form of charity work and interning as a form of unpaid employment. In a lot of countries, unpaid domestic work in the household is typically performed by women, due to gender inequality and gender norms, which can result in high-stress levels in Women attempting to balance unpaid work and paid employment. In poorer countries, this work is sometimes performed by children.

The breadwinner model is a paradigm of family centered on a breadwinner, "the member of a family who earns the money to support the others." Traditionally, the earner works outside the home to provide the family with income and benefits such as health insurance, while the non-earner stays at home and takes care of children and the elderly. The breadwinner model largely arose in western cultures after industrialization occurred. Before industrialization, all members of the household—including men, women, and children—contributed to the productivity of the household. Gender roles underwent a re-definition as a result of industrialization, with a split between public and private roles for men and women, which did not exist before industrialization.

Work–family balance in the United States differs significantly for families of different social class. This differs from work–life balance: while work–life balance may refer to the health and living issues that arise from work, work–family balance refers specifically to how work and families intersect and influence each other.

Shared earning/shared parenting marriage, also known as peer marriage, is a type of marriage where partners at the outset agree to adhere to a model of shared responsibility for earning money, meeting the needs of children, doing household chores, and taking recreation time in near equal fashion across these four domains. It refers to an intact family formed in the relatively equal earning and parenting style from its initiation. Peer marriage is distinct from shared parenting, as well as the type of equal or co-parenting that father's rights activists in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere seek after a divorce in the case of marriages, or unmarried pregnancies/childbirths, not set up in this fashion at the outset of the relationship or pregnancy.

The motherhood penalty is a term coined by sociologists who argue that in the workplace, working mothers encounter disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, and benefits relative to childless women. Specifically, women may suffer a per-child wage penalty, resulting in a pay gap between non-mothers and mothers that is larger than the gap between men and women. Mothers may also suffer worse job-site evaluations indicating that they are less committed to their jobs, less dependable, and less authoritative than non-mothers. Thus, mothers may experience disadvantages in terms of hiring, pay, and daily job experience. The motherhood penalty is not limited to one simple cause but can rather be linked to many theories and societal perceptions. However, one prominent theory that can be consistently linked to this penalty is the work-effort theory. It is also based on the mother's intersectionality. There are many effects developed from the motherhood penalty including wage, hiring, and promotion penalties. These effects are not limited to the United States and have been documented in over a dozen other industrialized nations including Japan, South Korea, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Poland, and Australia. The penalty has not shown any signs of declining over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender inequality in China</span>

In 2021, China ranked 48th out of 191 countries on the United Nations Development Programme's Gender Inequality Index (GII). Among the GII components, China's maternal mortality ratio was 32 out of 100,000 live births. In education 58.7 percent of women age 25 and older had completed secondary education, while the counterpart statistic for men was 71.9 percent. Women's labour power participation rate was 63.9 percent, and women held 23.6 percent of seats in the National People's Congress. In 2019, China ranked 39 out of the 162 countries surveyed during the year.

In South Korea, gender inequality is derived from deeply rooted patriarchal ideologies with specifically defined gender-roles. While it remains especially prevalent in South Korea's economy and politics, gender inequality has decreased in healthcare and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender pay gap</span> Average difference in remuneration amounts between men and women

The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. In the United States, for example, the average annual salary of a woman is 83% that of a man. However, this figure changes when controlled for confounding factors such as differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education, job experience, and level of danger at work, which has adjusted figures in the United States from 95% to 99%. At the global level, the World Health Organization has estimated women healthcare workers earn 28% less on average than men; after adjusting for occupation and hours worked, the gap is changed to 11%.

The maternal wall is a term referring to stereotypes and various forms of discrimination encountered by working mothers and mothers seeking employment. Women hit the maternal wall when they encounter workplace discrimination because of past, present, or future pregnancies or because they have taken one or more maternity leaves. Women may also be discriminated against when they opt for part-time or flexible work schedules. Maternal wall discrimination is not limited to childcare responsibilities. Both men and women with caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick parents or spouse, may also result in maternal wall discrimination. As such, maternal wall discrimination is also described as family responsibilities discrimination. Research suggests that the maternal wall is cemented by employer stereotypes and gender expectations.

Gender pay gap in India refers to the difference in earnings between women and men in the paid employment and the labor market. For the year 2013, the gender pay gap in India was estimated to be 24.81%. Further, while analyzing the level of female participation in the economy, this report slots India as one of the bottom 10 countries on its list. Thus, in addition to unequal pay, there is also unequal representation, because while women constitute almost half the Indian population, their representation in the work force amounts to only about one-fourth of the total.

Even as a highly developed and modern society, Japan still has moderate levels of gender inequality. In 2015, the country had a per-capita income of US$38,883, ranking 22nd of the 188 countries, and No. 18 in the Human Development Index. Its Gender Inequality Index rank was 17th on the 2019 report ahead of Germany, the UK and the US, performing especially well on the reproductive health and higher education attainment indices. Despite this, gender inequality still exists in Japan due to the persistence of gender norms in Japanese society. Gender-based inequality manifests in various aspects of social life in Japan, from the family to political representation, playing particular roles in employment opportunities and income, and occurs largely as a result of differing gender roles in traditional and modern Japanese society. Inequality also lies within divorce and the marriage of same sex couples due to both a lack of protective divorce laws and the presence of restrictive marriage laws; discrimination exists outside of the law and is present in the modern day society of Japan.

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