Blog #5: Identifying the Working Poor

Chaundy argues that we are asking too much from the less fortunate and really not taking any responsibility for the financial hardships that are taking place in their lives. The video that really summed up this argument for me was the video Poverty in America, where it broke down how families of 4 live off of a mere $21,000 every year (the poverty line in America). The expenses of the family of 4 to live in good conditions cost more than what the income is bringing in. After food, shelter (but nothing that would be considered in good condition), health care, child care, etc. there are still so many aspects of life that were not able to be covered by the income -- one of the most important being education. I think that the first responsibility of the public is to recognize that a family of four living off of $21,000 is WAY below what should be the poverty line. Some families of four are not able to live off of double that. I think that a major point for which Chaundy's basis his argument is the fact that if one cannot afford to be educated they will be stuck in a down-hill spiral for life. They will always work low-income jobs and this will then be passed along to their children. The public needs to step in and break these families of this life-threatening cycle, because they will not be able to do it on their own. Expecting these families to work harder to provide the minimum for these families will just add to their problems, including medical problems. The children that are born into these families are already a step behind, and it is up to the community to step in and help these children make a life for themselves so they do not get stuck in the low-income "trap". I think that a lack of self-esteem translates to a lack of motivation to do better for themselves because they are only used to what they have. Offering child care or helping to replace the negative in their life with positive could be very beneficial to helping these young children break the cycle and understand that they can be different if they put their mind to it.

Post #4 -Balancing Work Family and Assignment

A good family life shares a balance between work and family.  Every parent is has the responsibility of contributing to his or her family in one-way or another.  Whether both parents work or the father works and the mother stays at home and takes care of the children, it is still working together and providing for their family.  (Sometimes, the women work and the men stay a home but I think that takes a strong man to do that!) There needs to be time to spend together as a family on top of all the work that has to be done on a daily basis.  Even something as simple as having a family dinner together every night where you can share the experiences of your day can make for a very pleasant family life.  It's all about managing your family and this varies based on your individual family dynamics.  Having a loving relationship with your spouse and your children also contributes to a good family life.  Fighting in front of your children is an easy way to throw off those "good vibes" so parents need to make time for themselves as well to keep their relationship strong.  A lot of couples focus too much on the "work" part of life that they loose their relationship with each other and that creates a "bad" family life.  Life for kids with two separate sets of parents and stepparents is not always a good thing; although, again depending on the family this could work best.

Balancing your career and family life is extremely important.  Leaving work at work and leaving home at home can help balance these two things.  Many people carry their work problems home which in turn creates family problems, which takes family problems into work and affects your work performance.  Always make time for your family, because in the end they are really all that you have.  You need a strong foundation of support in order to succeed in your career.  However, there are many factors that can make this balance very complicated.  Most adults spend a good majority of their day at work or focusing on work.  Without the skills to "unwind" from a day at work, life can turn into a big "job", making life in general stressful.  For many women, they experience the "second shift" which is working all day and then coming home to their household duties.  With women putting in an extra 12-15 hours a week on house work, their life can quickly become all about work and nothing about enjoying their family.  Money is often a giant stressor in families, especially now, when people are used to living a certain way and then they are forced to either change their lifestyle or pick up a second job.  When money is tight, family life becomes very stressful and you tend to focus all of your thoughts on what you will have to do to make ends meet.  

In the 1940's it was very common for the woman to stay home and work around the house and care for the children.  The men went off to work everyday, came home to a cooked meal and then played with the children while the woman cleaned up the dishes.  Now, with both parents often times working, the household responsibility needs to be shifted over to the males.  This becomes a very complex issue because many women don't want to have to give up the responsibilities and so they work extra hard to make it work.  Family issues also become very complex because you must enter in a third party to help care for your children whether that be a nanny or a child-care provider, which puts a strain on your relationship with your kids because they are being "raised" by another person.  Seeing parents only becomes a nightly routine instead of a way of life.  

It's really important that employers be flexible with families because everyone experiences the same kind of issues.  Families often share the same obligations, the biggest one in my mind is finding child care.  However, child care is extremely expensive so parents have to work harder just to pay the $300+ a week that it costs to have someone else take care of their kids.  Some companies provide childcare at the office so they are actually able to come to work with their mothers for no charge.  Some companies, such as mine, offers tax-free childcare program where you are able to put money that is not taxed into an account just to pay for childcare expenses.  Depending on the varying income tax, this can save parents a lot of money and a lot of stress when trying to provide for their children.  In the last blog, we talked about the Carer's program and this is a great idea because it truly gives the employer flexibility to work full time and take care of their loved one's, whether elders or children, by allowing them to work odd hours or from a home office.

Some families are lucky in the sense that they have their family or neighbors support.  Carpooling with neighbor’s kids to school and back in the morning can cut down on unnecessary stressors related to transportation.  Switching off days to pick up the kids can help families work out some of these issues with neighbors by sharing the load.  Maybe your child can walk to a grandmother's house after school until you are able to pick them up after work, which would cut down on child care expenses, meaning you wouldn't have to work as hard to provide.  Family/Friend support in this area really helps people manage the balance between careers and family life.   It makes it possible to have both! 

Blog #3 - Balancing Home and Work/Public and Private

"Care work" in my family did not occur like a normal family.  My parents both have had very stressful and demanding jobs since before I was born.  I was born into a family that worked all the time and I spent everyday but the weekends with my grandmother while my parents were at work.  I was so accustomed to being with my grandma that when my Dad would come to pick me up, I would cry and say that I didn't want to leave.  However, care work existed in my grandma's household, she did all of the cooking/cleaning/laundry for her husband who was at work all day.  We went grocery shopping almost everyday followed by vacuuming the house so it would be perfect for when Pam-Pops got home from work... All while trying to take care of a baby.  She went from being an "empty nester" having normal stay-at-home wife responsibilities to a stay-at-home mom again.  However, when we moved to Colorado when I was little, we hired a live-in nanny and maid because we had no family around to help take care of the kids.  My parents did not do anything around the house that I can remember, they came home to their house cleaned and dinner on the table every night.   Their kids were bathed and ready for school the next day.  My nanny was really more like a parent to me because she was the one that spent the countless hours with me throughout the day doing the "care work" and the parenting.  It is interesting how I am already experiencing a different situation for me in my adult life than what I grew up with! 

The Juggling Work and Care video that I watched describes a great thing that they are trying to do and it seems to be having a very positive impact on their employees.  Everyday stressors are going to be with you at work, you can't help that, so by having your employer accommodate those situations it makes you much more loyal to your job and it makes you want to work harder for them.  This is the outcome that Centrica has experienced by implementing the Carers program.  This allows mothers to work from home with small children, or son's to work odd hours to take care of his elder mother in the nursing home.  It really is a great program.  They encourage employees to talk about their problems with one another so people are more supportive when a situation arises, and they focus on teamwork so they can keep productivity up while being flexibility with their employees.  

Blog #2 - Major Concepts & Theories on Gender Inequality and Assignment

"Sex segregation" in the workplace means that women and men have very different expectations and it is not socially acceptable (or wasn't) to cross those boundaries.  I took another class over the summer similar to this one in which we discussed women in education and how this really affected the fields that women enter into.  I think this has a lot to do with the sex segregation at ASU.  There are a very small number of Professors that are women in the physical sciences and engineering fields.  This is because of the lack of women in the educational courses, as well as discouragement from social boundaries to enter these fields.  Women are not educated in these errors and continue to get degrees in other areas so males will consistently dominate the field. 

At home, gender roles play a major part of our life.  I go to work full time, just like my boyfriend, but it always seems that my work is not as tiring or difficult as his.  After the power battle, I end up doing the laundry and cleaning, while cooking dinner and doing my homework and he can "relax" and mentally prepare for his next day of work.  When is my relaxing supposed to happen? When I'm knee deep in my last semester of college textbooks? Although I make more money than he does and he benefits from this, it kills him inside that he is not the "head of the household" on his tax forms. 

At work, I am in a very female dominated field (Property Management) but am surrounded by males in the construction and acquisitions sector of my company.  There are currently no women that work in either of these fields.  Women are shifted automatically into the Property Management side of the business.  I'm sure that this is not a coincidence that only males are interested in construction and women are only interested in Management... however, personally I don't complain because I love my job.  In my office there are females and one male, until you get to the maintenance team, which consist of 4 male technicians and one female HOUSEKEEPER.   

I am happy to say that I don't face very much sex segregation at school because my degree is pretty even as far as male and female participation.   I haven't experienced anything that has been uncomfortable for me because I was a female, besides learning about the injustice that is occurring around us everyday between males and females.  

After listening to "Moms become Breadwinners As Job Losses Hit Men", I believe that the gender gap still occurs because the women are not ready to give up their responsibilities as a housewife, but still having to support their family.  14% of full-time working mothers have to take on a second job, and then return home to finish their "second shift" at home by cooking dinner and cleaning up after their children.  This is really affecting women because they don't have as much time for their children as they used to.  4 out of 5 of the job cuts have been men because men dominate the fields that need to cut labor (construction, car companies, etc.)  On a positive note, 75% of the health care industry is women and the industry is booming in this economy.  However with the women still making less than men (77 cents to every dollar), they have to work harder than ever before.