Families Of Employed Mothers example essay topic

To Work or Not To Work The Dilemma of the Working Mother INTRODUCTION: The discipline of Sociology has long been interested in the study of human behavior. This interest grows from the sociological conception of relationships which distinguish the individual and differentiate him from other members of society. Through the ages, man has been influenced by social interaction and cultural surroundings. Sociologists have also recognized that a social institution consists of a concept and a structure, and that this structure is a framework made up of permanent relationships. The family is a social institution consisting of a certain structure. In earlier times, society defined "families" as "close-knit, internally organized cooperative units intermediate between the individual and the total society of which he is a part" (Bossard. P. 31).

The family consisted of a larger unit which along with the parent and children it included the grandparent, aunts and uncles. In those days, life revolved around land cultivation where the large families were essential. Today, it has a very different definition with the Industrialization of society and the influences society imposes on the family structure. Today's family has dramatically changed from years ago many are marrying later in life due to career choices. The cultivation of land has been taken over by the pursuit of careers and the married couple breaking away from the extended family becoming an individual unit. The pursuit of careers is also causing couples to consider putting off having children until later or not having children at all.

Families now are totally dependent on industries for subsistence. In earlier times, the man was the provider for the family, he spent long hours working the land and the woman stayed at home tending to the home and children. As times have become more industrialized, society has become more materialistic. This acquisition of goods has forced the family to seek work outside the home, beginning with the man spending long hours at the office to make enough money to support the family. The woman was also changing but from within the home. All the changes in society and the portrayal of what a "happy family" should be by the media have caused a tremendous strain on the family unit.

These strains have taken their toll and have caused significant changes to what is considered the "Traditional Family". One area that has shown significant change was found being reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. In the past 30 years, one of the most dynamic social changes in the history of the United States has taken place in the area of employment, specifically of women with children. Although, to some degree there have always been employed mothers, today a greater proportion of mothers are employed than ever before.

Statistics show that in 1976, 48% of the population of women categorized as "married women with children" were employed and it increased to 62% in 1986 just 10 years later. What are the causes for this and how does it affect the children? Why They Went To Work? Sociologist, Emile Durkheim would answer this question with his theory on "Division of Labor". Just 100 years ago, the structure of the family was quite different than what we see today. In the early 1900, predominantly agricultural, the father was the sole breadwinner and the mother worked in the home and tended to the children.

The division of labor was based on gender and it was centered on the home, all members having a particular job to do which was an important part of the family's survival. This provided a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Sociologist, Karl Marx shared a similar view in his theory of an individual reaching his or her "Species Being" which is an individual's shared commonality with others, finding his or her place in society. Why the change?

The Industrial Revolution separated the workplace from the home and altered the division of labor between men and women. It destroyed the household economy by removing the production in the home and taking out of the women's hands. Karl Marx's theory of "Human Nature & Alienation" applies here in that we are in conflict with the way we are forced to work in a capitalist society. Capitalism implements its objectives upon us and they become our own. We become entrapped in its processes of productions. Currently, many studies that have attempted to keep up with the changes have reported very interesting findings.

There are many reasons from divorce to sheer boredom, but many of these reasons have shown different affects that would cause the study to get to broad and complicated to report the findings properly. The studies that have been chosen are only those where the women could afford to stay home and have chosen not to do so. One particular study was very specific in recording the reasons behind why mothers were seeking employment. This study was a longitudinal study conducted in 1975-1976 and then followed up in 1985-86. This study reported that the main reasons for women returning to work could be put into two categories. These categories were "self reasons" and "family reasons".

(Hood p. 31) Under the category of "self" the women expressed their dislike of housework, depression and boredom while under "family" the reasons were money for the family, husband's health and husband's job insecurity. (Hood p. 32) What About The Children? Is it best for the child to have mom at home? Currently, most mothers in the United States are employed and this seems to be true for mothers of newborns to school aged children (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997).

Any review of the research on the effects of maternal employment in the United States recognizes that the social impact has been so rapid and its effect are on such a broad scale that it can be seen as a total social change. The sudden demands of both employment and home life influence the parenting strategies which, in turn, have significance for child outcomes. But comparing the children of employed mothers and those of non-employed mothers is not the only variable that needs to be measured, the father's role must first be looked at for its changes and how receptive he is to the changes. These factors are also a part of the parenting strategies. The father's role has been very slow to change, but there seems to be some evidence that the longer hours he puts in at the office the less time he has or is willing to contribute to parenting. (Frankel p. 92) Another notable influence is education.

A number of studies have shown that a father's education level has a positive relationship towards parenting and helping more at home. (Frankel p. 93) but there have not been any conclusive finding regarding the mother's education and the father's parenting and willingness to help. Society and social classes also plays a role, one good example of society's influence of this would be when the job market is strong and there are more work hours, the father will accept the additional work hours while the mother will not. (Frankel p. 94). With regard to social classes you " ll see that in the lower classes, the full time mother may be under more stress and in some cases depressed, where the opportunity of employment may reduce or eliminate the stress making the mother a more effective parent. The mother's wages have a great effect on the family's standard of living in the lower class than in the middle class.

(Hoffman, 1984). So, how would we begin to measure the effects on child development? First, we need to identify what variable we are measuring and in this case it would be the measuring of time spent with the mother. Then, we would look into the methods of measuring. One specific study conducted by Dr. John F. Sander berg of The Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan, presents in his paper a number of methods that could be used for a study such as this, for example, observation would be ideal since it is the most accurate way but methods of observation are costly and you are limited in the time you can spend with the child giving you fewer comparative cases.

A less intrusive approach would be to use The Time Use Longitudinal Panel, in which each family member that is sampled keeps a time diary for 24 hrs. The specific information that needs to be recorded or the questions that will be answered are: What were the events of the day?" and Who was with you? The data was first collected by the Institute in 1981, Dr. Sandberg and his colleagues followed the lives of 2380 families and recorded the changes in how much time each parent spent with their children (only children of ages 3-12 yrs were considered) and under what conditions and re-examined the families again in 1997 but this time of the original 2380 only 2125 families were available for the study. The change of the number of families in the sample pool was due to some families relocating and or divorce. In both studies, the children were asked to record all activities, how much time was spent in the activity, and which parent was involved. This allows for appropriate variation since each child experiences time and attention differently.

The parents were also asked to record their experiences. The children's teachers were asked to provide scores of achievement test along with their observations of classroom behavior. In collecting the data, the researchers became aware that measuring time spent with the mother was not as significant as they originally thought. It was in the relationships of the members that you can see the differences. For example, as a family, their socioeconomic status needs to be taken into consideration.

Then, if you look at the mother, it is her marital relationship with her husband, the types of employment she has, her self image and education level, with the Father, it is his relationship with his wife, his education level and self image and how "receptive" he is to his wife being employed. For the children it is age and gender that needs to be considered because it is through the family relationships that effects take place. CONCLUSION: The most significant finding in this study was that children of employed mothers obtained higher scores on the three achievement tests, taking into account gender, socioeconomic status, and mother's education level. A second significant finding which singled out gender was that daughters with employed mothers showed more maturity and assertiveness in their academics and less rebellion than the sons.

The sons of employed mothers showed more rebellious behavior than sons of mothers that stayed at home. An unintended consequence that was not part of the data but became apparent was how the attitude in gender roles changed. In families where the mother worked the sons and daughters have a sense that all chores are equal game for all children of the house and the chores were shared. Not so, in the household where the mother did not work, the traditional roles were still apparent.

The past studies are valuable to any one that would like to further research this area, possibly focusing on the social changes that lead up to the decisions of taking up employment or not, for example divorce and single parenthood where the female does not care to marry along with a new type of family that is on the rise, the alternative family which looks at homosexual relationships raising children. Over the years more women have entered the workforce, whether by need or by choice and most families accommodate the mother's employment and in doing so provide a family environment that works well and the child is benefited. The results of the research reviewed support the idea that maternal employment itself is the source that has caused the shift of the family. This shift in the family can be seen as a direct response to the rapid changes the family as a structure has had to endure, as stated by Durkheim, it can be called an "atomic division of labor". Yet, there is another shift in the family that is emerging now. In response and recognition to the growing problem of child delinquency, the traditional family is re-emerging.

Sociologist, Auguste Comte with his "Positivist View" would see society as entering into a stage where the world would no longer be concerned with selfish individual priorities but that of the family as the functioning unit. Comte also believed that "social physics" was the answer to society's social structure and that it would be evolving and changing on an intellectual level. This natural process would be a slow process of stages that would lead to society bettering itself all for the benefit of the family. REFERENCES Frankel, Judith. 1997. Families of Employed Mothers.

Vol. 24 of Reference Books on Family Issues. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, Inc. Lerner, Jacqueline V. and Nancy L. Galambos. 1991.

Employed Mothers and Their Children. Vol. 17 of Reference Books on Family Issues. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc. Berg, Barbara J. 1986.

The Crisis of the Working Mother. Resolving the Conflict Between Family and Work. New York, NY: Summit Books. Sandberg, John F. and Sandra L. Hofferth. 1997. "Changes in Children's Time With Parents: United States, 1981-1997".

Demography 38 (3): 423-436. Hoffman, Lois W. "The Effects of the Mother's Employment on the Familyand The Child". Parenthood in America. Retrieved February 8, 2005 (http: // parenthood. library. wisc. edu / Hoffman/Hoffman. html).

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne and Nazli Baydar. 1991. "Effects of Maternal Employment and Child-Care Arrangements on Preschoolers' Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes: Evidence from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth". Developmental Psychology 27 (6): 932-45. Bossard, James H. "The Sociology of Child Development". New York, NY: Harper & Brothers Publishing Ferrante, Joan.

2003 "Sociology, A Global Perspective". New York, NY: Thomson Wadsworth Publishing Hurst, Charles E. 2000 "Living Theory". Needham Heights, MA Allyn & Bacon Publishing Ki visto, Peter. 2003 "Social Theory" Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Company Annotated List Frankel, Judith. 1997. Dr. Frankel's book addresses the question of how have the changes of the mother's role in today's workforce effect the family.

Not only does she address this, she takes it a step further and includes the effects of families on an international scale, showing how the changes in the Western world have influenced society in other countries. This study shows the influence of the western world in other countries but it is not very relevant to my research topic. 1991. Dr. Lerner begins her book with her own personal experiences of balancing an academic career and three young children.

Her view is that of the mother that wants to be an example for her children. She wanted to show them the importance of an education and that it takes hard work. In her book, she deals with the question of timing. At what point in the life of a child is it best to make these changes? Is it best when they are entering kindergarten or should you wait until they are adolescents and pretty much self sufficient? This is a very interesting study and it is relevant to my research topic.

It addresses the "juggling" that women have to do so well to be able to balance families and work. Berg, Barbara J. 1986. Dr. Berg takes a more personal view of the working mother. She addresses the conflicts of home life, the work force and the tremendous guilt that women feel for wanting to leave their homes to experience a different facet of their life. She also introduces the changes in the father's role and his expectations. This area is something that is now being looked at.

This study takes my research topic in a different direction but not away from my topic by introducing the father's role. It is very important because the father is expected to help. His contributions are a key element as to the family atmosphere in the home. Harvey, Elizabeth.

1999. "Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Early Parental Employment on Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth". Developmental Psychology 35 (2): 445-59. This study addresses the issue of how the child is affected with mom working and not being home in the early stages of development. Dr Harvey proceeds to compare the levels of income and these affects and shows that the children on single moms and lower-income families show positive development for the children.

This is a wonderful study, it is rich with information and insight into the multifaceted family unit. It shows that there is not one right scenario there are various right situations based on the needs of the family. 1997. This study addresses the issue of time.

Does the amount of time with mom affect the child's development? Is there a correct way to measure how much time is a good measure and how little time is a bad measure? Is it better for mom to be a full-time employee or a part-time employee? Dr. Sandberg also points out if the levels of time addressed in the above cases changes when the parents are divorced and the child's time is split between two households.

Retrieved February 8, 2005 (web). This longitudinal study reflects a surprising outcome of a more positive impact on the family that a negative one. The families studied showed strength is character and adaptation of the children to their new responsibilities. The daughters took a more motherly role in the absence of mom and the sons were more involved with their fathers to assist.

This study also shows that the mothers had a higher level of well-being impacting her parenting skills in a positive way. 1991. This study is a comparison between the working mother and the non-working mother. Their emotional state, child rearing practices, the child's lack of supervision and the mother's absence causing gaps in the child's learning.

This is an excellent study that is very relevant to my topic. It weights the question of whether to work or not and its affects to the child development measured by their academic standing. There may be other factors, for examples the different teachers styles of teaching but for the most part the significant changes are found in whether the mother works or not.