There are several major reasons for this change. One is that women want to have a fulfilling career that brings meaning to their lives outside of the family and homemaking roles. Available options for women are increasing and many women look for fulfillment through their work. Another main reason for change is economical. To achieve a certain lifestyle that used to afforded by one income now demands two. In many cases, just surviving demands the employment of women (click here for graph) (Working Woman, December 1995, 16). Our expectations of what is necessary in life has risen to ever more expensive heights due to new technologies and household goods. Our conception of leisure plays into this as well.
However, despite the change in women's working trends, our acceptance of an "average" work schedule has not significantly changed. We assume that 8 hours a day, 5 days a week is the normal requirement for any serious work. Yet, this schedule was established over the years by men in management who had the support of their wives working full-time at home. In addition, commitments required for careers disregard the unpredictable needs of children or women's unique needs. Problems such as child care, sleep deprivation, dissatisfaction with family life (as in not enough time to spend with partner or with children), and stress are increasingly being talked about. Thus, with more women working out of the home, how we organize work and family time is being seriously challenged. Possible changes and solutions are beginning to be explored by both employers and employees of large and small businesses. Problem One: Time and Child Care With both parents working 40+ hours per week, child care is obviously one of the most pressing concerns. According to J. Brian Phillips, "more than half of all women with children under the age of six have jobs outside the home; almost 40 percent of all working mothers are single, widowed, divorced, or married to men who make less than $15,000 a year; and the average cost of day care is $3,000 per child."(J. Brian Phillips, "The Real Child Care Crisis," The Freeman, October 1989, 1) Even women that can easily afford child care have difficulty finding good care and still lament not having enough time with their kids themselves. Companies are increasingly learning to respond to family needs with flexible schedules, in-house child care and options to work at home or part-time. These family-oriented perks are becoming a valuable way to attract talent and keep important women employees. The private sector is offering new options as well with National child care chains such as La Petite and Kinder-Care Learning Centers.
But in addition to family responsibilities, men and women are beginning to question their hectic lifestyle that the baby-boomers established as the norm. Married couples rarely have relaxed time together. Weekends are increasingly occupied with children or work-related activities. Some couples are searching ways to slow down and enjoy their lives (for more on effects of work see dual-career marriages).
Obstacles to Success as stated by executive women A male-dominated corporate culture 54% A glass ceiling or a point beyond which women never seem to advance 51% A reluctance to give women the same assignments and responsibilities as men 35% An unwillingness to give women equal compensation for equal work 33% A failure to recognize women's family needs 31% (from Working Women, November 1994, 40).
Although men are also considering taking time off when they have a newborn, the necessity for maternity leave for women is a vital necessity. In a study published in Business Horizons, May 1990, it was found that, "the decision to have children and the subsequent alterations this required in career strategies was mentioned as being detrimental by 80% of the respondents who felt their careers were hurt by home and family responsibilities ... One respondent expressed the concern quite succinctly, noting that while she received promotions, her 'career momentum' was lost due to maternity leave."(Business Horizons, May 1990) Returning to work after maternity leave also continues to pose problems. Women without children are perceived as serious and dedicated to their work while having children caused people to assume that these women were more dedicated to family. Thus, many managers found they had to work extra hard for several years to gain back the trust of their colleagues. In addition, even if women were prepared to work the same as they did before they had children, their company assumed they could not do extra work or stay after-hours, and thus these women found themselves excluded from certain projects and opportunities.
Solution One: Flex Time This appears to be a popular solution to the time constraints traditional working schedules put on women, and the most beneficial aspect about this is that child care problems can usually be solved if a parent can be home earlier than usual. Furthermore, employees on nontraditional schedules can avoid the headaches of commuter traffic. Options include arriving at 7:00 to leave by 3:00, working only 4 days a week with more hours per day, or working part-time at work and part-time at home. Companies are finding that such options are not only tools to attract and keep valuable women employees, but it is better for company business as well. One example is if some staff comes to work early, they can do business with customers in different time zones. And as one company put it, "As long as projects get done on time and within budget, it makes sense for us to accommodate employees' desired schedules as much as we can." (Kara Skruck, "The Early-Bird Option," Working Mother, April 1995, 29)
Another similar, but different tactic is for a couple to have different shifts; one during the day, one during the night. This obviously eliminates time for the couple to be together, but child care issues are solved because one parent is always home which means a big savings in money. This kind of scheduling is growing; already 5,600,00 couples work split-shifts. (Lynne Dumas, "The Split-Shift Solution," Working Mother, April 1995, 32) Solution Two: Downshifting and Redefining "Success" An interesting trend that has recently caught attention is the exodus of men and women from high-powered jobs to low-stress, low-paying jobs in order to have a more balanced and fulfilling life. Men and women are exchanging status and money to pursue long-lost hobbies (i.e. working with their hands to make items that can be marketed), open coffee shops, live on a farm, or write books. This of course requires a drastic change in materialistic comfort, but the time that these people gain for themselves seems to be a sufficient payoff. According to Working Women, a poll in 1993 found that one-third of Americans are willing to take a 20% pay cut if they or their spouse could work less hours. Apparently more women desire such a change than men (32% women vs. 23.5% men). (Working Women, December 1993, 28) After a generation of constant reaching for higher paying, more stressful jobs, men and women are evaluating how they have defined "success" and realizing their are other goals they want to obtain that are not possible with an all-consuming job. 72% men and 87% women of this 1993 poll said they wanted a more "balanced life." Solution Three: Working at Home and Telecommuting According to Miki Powers, home-based work has increased for three reasons: 1) in the 1980s, many working women wanted to keep their work and income but also have time for children, 2) new technologies, such as computers, printers, faxes, and modems, became more available so office work could now be done in home, 3) employers are seeing home-based work as a way to cut down expenses. ("Home Is Where the Work Is," Human Ecology Forum, Winter 1995, 8) The article outlines an in-depth study on home-based work comparing Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Vermont. An interesting finding from the study was that women who worked at home were more likely to have work activities that made them spend time in the home while men would often go out for contracting or sales. Furthermore, the reasons for working at home given by respondents to a survey were "flexibility, the ability to care for children, being able to save time, and ... being able to avoid commuting." However, complaints also included the fact that it was hard to separate personal life from work life and young children at home often made work difficult. Therefore, around 40% of home-based workers used child care services. In addition, less than 30% of home-based workers had small children, and thus motives to leave the office are not only related to work. In another survey regarding the advantages of telecommuting, 57% cited flexibility, 48% wanted to set their own hours, and 33% wanted to work at home to reduce stress. 30% liked not having to commute. (American Demographics, June 1995) Connect to Telecommuting Solution Four: Technology That Helps Technological advances for housework includes familiar items such as the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, and microwave. But as some studies have suggested, such technology does not necessary cut down on housework time because our standards of cleanliness has increased as well. However, new advances of technology have inspired dreams of complete home automation and other aids. Consider this excerpt from an article by Simon Garrett.
You've had a bad day at the office, and you're going to be late home. So you call your home on the phone. Nobody is in, but the house management system answers your call. There have been two callers. Your telephone answering machine also takes messages from callers at the door, and you listen to what they had to say. Curious about one of the callers, you display his picture (taken by the security camera on your front door) on your computer system. Then you tell the management system that you will be late (so it can economize on heating and adjust the lighting ready for your arrival). If your children arrive home first, they can check what time you expect to be home, but you leave a message for them as well ... When you finally get home, you are greeted by an appetizing aroma from the kitchen: your dinner has not burnt to a frazzle while you were out. Naturally, the management system has delayed the cooking of your meal to allow for your late return." (Simon Garrett, "Housing a thing of the past? Home Automation," British Telecom World, June 1990.)
Such a situation used to be mere dreams back in the 1920s. With the development of microprocessors, systems that can adjust and communicate with other systems is possible. The use of voice recognition and speech commands is possible as well making the use of these kind of systems rather user-friendly. Services available over the Internet or telephone will make certain chores more quick and less of a hassle, such as shopping, banking, and reservations. To go a bit further, computer technology has been developed to aid the elderly who live alone in apartments and need minor help for daily chores. One example is the "Sidekick" that is long robot arm that can do dusting or open cabinets and reach for items on top shelves while the person can be sitting with the control panel. (Karen Kaplan (Times Staff Writer), "The Cutting Edge: Computing/Technology/Innovation; Robots Roll up Their Sleeves," n.p. 1.) There is even a new type of robot, developed by Cyberworks Inc. of Orillia, Canada that can go around a room to clean the carpet by using pivoting sensors to get around furniture.
Technology does not eliminate the problems of time constraint, but it could help if we learn to use technology to our benefit (versus being driven by them).
Voices From Lewis & Clark College on this Topic "Some kids called you a feminist, Mom, but I punched them out." (New Yorker, Feb. 26 & Mar. 4, 1996, 83)
Further related net sites to explore...
http://www.users.fast.net/~ann/ Ann's Links to Women's Web Resources . This web page has links at the bottom to numerous web sites for and about women.
http://www.cybergrrl.com/women.html Cybergrrl's Women on the Web Resources Women on the Web. Contrary to previous beliefs, there are women on the Web and on the Internet, exploring new worlds...seeking out new life and new civilizations...boldly going
http://www.west.net/~bpbooks/ Going a little crazy trying to juggle a job and a life in the high pressure nineties? I Work Too: Working Wives Talk About Their Dual-Career Lives, Two Years Without Sleep: Working Moms Talk About Having a Baby and a Job, and The Men At The Office: Working Women Talk About Working With Men can really help. Also posted here are the popular Working Together: Question of the Week, and information about joining Working Together, WT-L. It's a great group where we candidly address workplace problems.
http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/Sex-and-money.html As known to virtually everyone but Phil Gramm and Wall Street Journal editorialists that the middle income ranks have been thinning in the U.S. for well over a decade, to swell the extremes of rich and poor. But this picture is just an average, and as is often the case with averages, there's lots of action hidden under its surface.
http://mindlink.net/knowware/iowa.htm A Critical Look at the Culture of Work and a Re-evaluation of 'Free' Time. Instead of our work continuing to decline, as it did, steadily, for a hundred and fifty years before mid-century, it has expanded. Now more of our populations work, and more of us work longer hours than our mothers and fathers. Instead of proving to be "labor saving devices," our machines create more work for more of us to do! Instead of the "problem" of leisure, we face an array of problems caused by overwork; such as families that erode because we have no time to be at home, troubled and troubling young people who share little or no time with adults, anemic communities bled dry of time, their life's blood, and institutions that focus solely on teaching people how to work rather than how to live together freely.
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