Trends in Employment• How many hours weekly do we work for

pay?– Men = 48 (increases with # of kids)– Women = 39 (decreases if married)

• Are we working for pay more hours per week now compared to 50 years ago?– Men are not– Women are

Trends in Women’s Employment

Women who work

Mothers with children under 6 who work

Mothers with children age 7-18 who work

1960 199737% 60%

19% 63%

39% 75%

Work and Family – Combining Roles

• Role is a set of expected behaviors according to your social status.

• Role Strain occurs when fulfilling your role conflicts with fulfilling another role. (For example worker and parent.) Often involves putting precedence one role over another.

Role Strain - Fathers• Good provider role-men

traditionally expected to be primary breadwinner

• If men assume main role in family is provider– Can feel inadequate if can’t

provide

– Can feel he’s done his part if he’s a good provider, therefore does not assume other roles

Role Strain - Fathers

• Majority of bosses do not believe parental leave, part time work or flexible hours are appropriate for men

Role Strain – Fathers With Working Wives

• Fathers in dual income households worked an average of 2 hours less per week than fathers in single income households– Earned 20% less in salary

Role Strain - Mothers

• Should women have jobs?

• Should mothers have jobs?

• What is a mother’s role anyway?

• Can you fulfill the role of mother and employee well?

Role Strain – Mothers at Home• Homemaker role - Traditionally

women were responsible for child rearing and household work

• Women who assume role feel undervalued

• 60 % stay at home moms say main source of stress is feeling unappreciated by society

Role Strain – Mothers Working Full Time

• Survey of lawyers 15 years after graduation found women with children earned 40% less than men (Wood,

Corcoran & Courant) .

– Was pay gap due to taking long maternity leave?• NO: Avg unpaid maternity leave was 3 months

– Was pay gap due to working part time?• NO: 75% moms worked full time after maternity leave, only a quarter

of the moms had temporarily worked part time (avg 10 months)

– What is the reason?

Women’s Experience in Workplace

• Women without children earn 90% salary of men in same job with same education level

• Women with children earn 70% of salary of men in same job with same education level

Role Strain – Mothers Working Part Time

• Fewer hours and lower wages but you get to keep your job– Sacrifice seniority and benefits and

perks

• Half of women who do this say workload is the same, 10% say workload increased

• Mistrust and resentment of employers and fellow employees

The Mommy Tax

• Average working mother of two forfeits half of her potential lifetime earnings (Joshi, ’91)

• Reduced earnings including retirement is greater than $1 million for college educated mothers (O’Neill, ’94)

Mother’s Workforce Participation

• US is among the lowest in developed countries for college educated mothers

– Are they really choosing to not to work?

– Would they keep working if they employers had opportunities for reduced or more flexible hours?

Women’s Birthplace Participation

• About 20% of women forgo motherhood thesedays compared to less than 10% in the 1950’s

– Are they really choosing not to have children?

• Survey of middle aged childless women when they were in their 20’s found that half of them said they wanted and intended to have children

The Second Shift• Working wives spend twice as much time

on housework as working husbands

– Men’s time on housework remains stable whether married, single or a parent (22 hrs/wk)

– Women’s time on housework increases• By 10 hours per week when she marries or has a

child (32 hrs/wk to 42 hrs/wk)

Why is there a Second Shift?• Resource theory– Women have

less power often making less money, must compensate

• Ideological perspective – following traditional gender roles of “women’s work”

• Rational investment perspective – divide labor according to efficiency

Men’s Perceptions in Dual-Career Families

• Most men say wives’ employment is of secondary importance in family

• However, most men say they support their spouse’s working– Actual measures of support from husbands

(housework, emotional concern, etc) are significantly lower than wives

Brett & Yogev (1988) Restructuring Study

Restructuring is measured by:– Times of arrival/departure for work dictated by

family?

– Rearrange work to be at home at certain times?

– Limit late nights, weekend work & travel?

– Make special arrangements to attend to child or spouse’s needs?

Who is Restructuring & Why?

• MEN restructured when

– Wives had high status job

– Wives were feeling low in self-efficacy

• WOMEN restructured when– Had young children

– Husband had job requiring long hours

Effect of Restructuring on Self-Efficacy

• Self-efficacy- feelings of confidence & effectiveness– Do you feel confident in

solving problems?– Are things going your

way?– Can you cope

effectively with change?– Are you on top of

things?

Effect of Restructuring on Self-Efficacy

• WOMEN- Self-efficacy unaffected by restructuring.

• MEN- Restructuring associated with low self-efficacy.

Men’s Marital Satisfaction in Dual-Career Families

• Men’s marital satisfaction suffers when– Wife has more education

– Wife has higher job status

– Wife earns higher income

– Wife has job in male-dominated field

Marital Satisfaction in Dual Career Families

• HIGH when men work full time, women work part time

• LOWEST when at least one partner works odd hours, overtime hours, or a second job

• HIGH when couples genuinely agree on division of labor (If both full time, highest when men share housework equally)

Children with Working Mothers • For preschool children, most

studies find no differences in psychological adjustment and school achievement as long as children are in high quality day care

• Adolescent girls exhibit better social adjustment, extraversion & independence