Work and Family

A detailed Summary of Work and Family

The issue of the class's present debate is the relationship between work and the institution of the family. It has been stated that the full-time employment of young mothers and the greater demands implemented by the labor force are contributing factors to negative effects on the domestic arrangement. The American people view the issue of work and family as negative. The family suffers due to the absence of parental figures. The hiring of professional caretakers may remedy the absence of either parent. The combination of work and family can be problematic but it is the duty of the parental figures to start in on the correct method of successful juggling of both institutions. Both parents should determine this method of successful juggling.

In the olden days, the mother of the family was counted upon by their spouses to remain at home with the family's children. The acquisition of money and property for the family was the responsibility of the father. The husband worked all day and came home to a happy home, beautiful wife as well as a home cooked meal. The wife removed dust and vacuumed the house, took care of the family's children and prepared the meal that would later be gobbled down by her tired spouse. The responsi

bilities for both the wife and the husband were very clear and reasoned out by both the individuals of the family and the society they inhabited.

This new concept of the two-income family resulted in larger earnings but it also resulted in an amount of time children had to spend in the company of their parents that was quickly becoming extinct. This small amount of time that parents have to spend with their children is brought up by some people as a contributing factor to the degeneration of America's youth and the increasing in the amount of violence as well as shooting in schools. It is also a source of reference of the lack of success in measuring academic performance of the children as compared to the children of other countries like Japan, England, and France.

Radio, television and the movies reinforced this positioning of the father in the work place and mother in the home. In the early fifties, the Dick Van Dyke Show was a good example of this practice. Rob Petrie, the husband of the family, was employed as a talk show host's script writer. His wife, Lorie, stayed at home and took care of their young son and also took care of the household tasks. One more illustration of this custom in broadcasting was I Love Lucy. Lucy, most often times, stayed home and later on in the show, took care of the couple's youthful child. Desi, the husband and provider of the family, worked as a cocktail lounge pop musician to support his family. Even a show like All in the Family, which was shown twenty-five years after the fact, featured Archie, the husband, who worked to earn money for the f

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lucy Lucy, , England France, Rob Petrie, stayed home, Van Dyke, wife husband, father mother, method successful juggling, stayed home care, parental figures, women chose, method successful, successful juggling, newly employed, home care, television movies,

Approximate Word count = 1080
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous