Work And Family Essay, Research Paper

Work and the Family

The interaction of grownups and kids is one to be treasured. When a individual becomes a parent they change. He/she immediately becomes more mature and are forced to take on legion duties. However, every parent will hold it is the best experiencing one can hold. It is genuinely a privilege to convey a kid into this universe, and there is nil more particular than to get down a household. During this class I choose to assist ease two chapters: Work and Family and To Parent or non to Parent. This is what I have learned & # 8230 ; This class had three required texts including The New Peoplemaking by Virginia Satir, Marriages and Families by Mary Ann Lamana and Agnes Reidmann, and Annual Editions by a assortment of writers. These three articles truly helped me to cast visible radiation on some of the concealed subjects in household life. What precisely is a household? As defined in the Lamana text it is any sexually expressive or parent-child or other family relationship in which people live together with a committedness in an intimate interpersonal relationship. Family members see their individuality as significantly attatched to the group, which has an individuality of its ain. Families today take on several signifiers: single-parent, remarried, double calling, communal, homosexual, traditional, and so forth. More and more households are fighting to do the connexion of work and household fit together. There are many issues that working households face such as when if of all time will the parents travel back to work, child attention issues, fundss, emphasis, matrimonial strain, division of labour, and and many more subjects. As tradition has it work forces are the breadwinners of the household but during recent old ages that function seems to be altering. More and more adult females have white neckband occupations, and are conveying home more money. Tradition leads us to believe that work forces bring place all the money and adult females stay place with the childs. However, now in the 2000 & # 8217 ; s double calling matrimonies are more popular, and adult females are coming place to the & # 8220 ; 2nd displacement & # 8221 ; , mentioning to the unpaid house work waiting for parents at the terminal of the work twenty-four hours. Women spend on norm 20 hours per hebdomad making housekeeping. Another alteration is that work forces are making an addition the sum of housekeeping that they are take parting in. Husbands and married womans are get downing to portion the duties, non merely go forth it to the hubby or the married woman. Some options for working about this dilehma might be exchanging to place based work or parttime occupations alternatively of full-time. Harmonizing to the US Census in 1997 47 per centum of adult females did non return to the work force within one twelvemonth of holding a babe. These determinations need to be made before a kid is announced. The twosome needs to believe about how they will get by with a kid added to their lives and how things will alter. When a babe arrives it is besides of import to keep familiarity in the relationship along with the edifice of better communicating, altering functions in the household, and best of all carry throughing the design of your new household. This battle is from the determination to parent. The bulk of US citizens decide to go parents, and some become parents out of the blue. This is one of the individual most rewarding experiences in 1s life, and it is non to be taken for granted. Many twosomes are faced with sterility issues and are unable to hold their ain kids. When a twosome knows they are faced with birthrate issues they have a twosome options. The two biggest are acceptance and the usage of birthrate drugs. Both of these have pros and cons. When two people adopt they may fear the possibility of the birth parents coming back desiring to take the kid back. With birthrate drugs there are many hazards such as multiple births, defects, larning disablements, downs syndrome, and a battalion of other jobs. In today & # 8217 ; s society at that place have been three emerging options which in clude staying childless, proroguing parentage, and holding a one-child household. Many twosomes want clip for themselves before make up one’s minding to go a parent. Marriages are more likely to be stronger if postponing gestation is an issue. It gives the newl

yweds time to enjoy the marriage before adding a child. And many people want to have time for their “toys” such as new cars, big screen televisions, boats, four wheelers, and so forth before having children. Sometimes women have unplanned pregnancies for whatever reason it may have been a rape, unprotected sex, or lack of birth control. When a woman finds out she is pregnant she is faced with a choice that she will have to make that will affect her for the rest of her life. The first step is to sit down with her partner, if he is still there. They must look at all the options available. They may choose to abort the baby, put it up for adoption, or raise the child. Teen pregnancy has been on the rise in recent years. In 1997, 13 percent of all births were to teenage girls. Among those teen births 76 percent were outside a marriage (Ventura 1998). Theh United States has by far the highest rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and birthrates of any industrialized country (Forrest et al.1993). Studies have shown teen mothers often have less education and are more likely to live at poverty level. They also seem to pass on the cycle of the pregnant teen unwed mother. There are also many social pressures in to days society when deciding to have children. The cost of living is rising rapidly. For a family income of less than $35,000, each child from birth to age 18 will cost approximatly $761,871 (Longman 1998). To clothe a child to age 18 is costs approximatly $22, 063. And girls cost 18 percent more than boys accodring to the USDA. When children finally leave home household spending falls by almost 30 percent (Ambry 1993). Therefore the pressures that society puts on people affects their decision to become parents. If and when a couple decides to become parents they must weigh the affects on their relationship. Who will work? When will the cleaning get done? Who will take care of the children? Who will provide day care? All of these questions must be answered. From my own personal perspective I would hope I am married before I have children. I would sit down with him and we would discuss how we would handle it. I strongly prefer not to put my children in day care. I either prefer to have my own day care where my child will be enrolled, or to switch shifts with my husband where he would work days and I would work at night, so we would equally be spending quality time with our children. I am not completly sure I would like the option of staying home with the children and not working, I wouln’t feel as if I was doing my part financially. I discuss this issue with all of my potential partners before settling down in a relationship, not when it’s SUPRISE! I’m pregnant! I think these issues need to be discussed prior. When two people do start a family quality time becomes scarce. On average working women only spend 6.6 hours of quality time with their children, per week, which includes feeding, bathing, reading, and playing. For unemployed women it rises to 12.9 hours per week. The rate for employed men in 2.5 while unemployed slightly raises to 2.6 hours per week (”The Myth of Quality Time”). Many parents begin to feel as if they have becom a taxi service. I personally think it comes with the job. Its 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you are always on duty or on call, and it doesn’t pay a dime. What could be better than starting a family? You are passing your genes onto the next generation. There is no greater challenge than to raise a child with morals and values, its the greastest thing the life cycle. Even though death is a part of this cycle it is truly amazing how this world keeps turning from one generation to the next. Even with all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad, its all worth it to me. The gift of life is truly a miricle in itself. The connections between work and family are plentiful. It’s all about finding a happy medium between the two. Families are the center of everything in this world. Take a step back and look how lucky we must be. Do not ever take anything for granted, and tell the people you love that you do love them, they might not be here tomorrow.