Working Families Essay

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Working Families
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Introduction The challenge of balancing work and home responsibilities have been noticed in recent years, and has increased as the participation of the labor force and hours worked have increased among the families in the United States (Durr & Hill, 2006). Whereas issues of work and family conflict has affected across gender, class, ethnicity and occupation, they are most evident in single parents, low income families, women and racial minorities.

Method The main focus for this research was on the African Americans who were employed and had to juggle between work and family. Out of the number of employees who were interviewed for this report, 75% were workers and 32% were female workers. In addition, over 65% of the employed African Americans were married and worked outside their homes. Most of them also had children who were below the age of ten at home (United States department of labor, 2011).

For this reason, the failure of both private and public policies to realize and adapt, so that the parents who work can be in a position to meet the requirements of their children affects the chances of their children in their preschool years, at school and away from school.

Description The two most important events in the life of an adult is family and work, which on normal circumstances do not get hand in hand. This usually causes the work family conflict. This is the extent to which the requirement of one role makes it hard for the other demand to be fulfilled as required (Hertz & Marshall, 2002). This means that when individual situational stressors in one domain increases, like in the family, then conflict arises, because one area starts to interfere with the other domain (Hertz & Marshall, 2002).

In the United States of America today, reports show that almost 32% of employed adults indicate that balancing both the demands of family and work is a major concern (USDL, 2011).

Analysis
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In the United states today, women have been forced to join the workforce because the economy has proven to be harsh. However, this does not come without a price to pay. According to statistics, most African American women have very little or no literacy; therefore they end up in jobs whose working conditions are not suitable. The occupational disadvantage of these women when compared to their male counterparts is that employed women work in support positions, which are sometimes below their trained level (Hertz & Marshall, 2002). The kinds of jobs that these women have are less rewarding and secure than those held by men. These women earn only ninety percent of the African American men’s median weekly earnings (USDL, 2011).

In addition to having the occupational disadvantage, these women are disadvantaged based on their race, and because they are a minority. Six percent of these women are twice as likely as White women to get blue collar jobs and are targets of subtle occupational bias.

The natures of their jobs do not allow them to have quality time with their families, because they have to work extra shifts, so as to meet their economical requirements. The nature of their jobs is also not flexible; therefore this means that there is less time spent with the family. On the other hand, sixty percent of the African American women are single mothers, and for those who are married, twenty percent have husbands who also struggle to meet their economical needs; therefore both parents tend to stay away from the family a lot, and this affects their children drastically.

Division of Labor at Home Most African American families from time immemorial have faced a different world from the white families. This is because of the poor job prospects that the black men face (Hertz and Marshall, 2002). From a long time, women have been associated with responsibilities in the
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