Leaning Outcomes These are the learning outcomes for week 3. Upon successful completion of the work this week, you will be able to: 1. Define work/family conflict. 2. Analyze the strategies workers use to deal with work and family conflict. 3. Critique policies designed to foster and enhance family-friendly, diverse, or woman- and minority-friendly relations. 4. Compare the U.S. government’s family leave policies with those in the rest of the developed world. Gender and Work Over the past couple of generations, one of the most salient topics in the Sociology of Work has been the the issues that arise as an increasing number of women are choosing to go to college to prepare for a career, and then working after they finish school. One important ramification of this has been that women are postponing marriage and having children, which has shifted the demographics in places where this pattern is prevalent. When women delay marriage and childbearing, they will inevitably have fewer children over their lifetimes, across a population, simply because the closer they get to menopause without having their first child, the less time they have to have more children. But, as women work, they also tend to choose to have fewer children, due to the time constraints imposed by both work and raising a family. One of the demographic outcomes of this phenomenon has been declining populations in many countries around the world. By declining populations, I mean not only have the rates of population growth been declining, but many parts of the world actually are experiencing shrinking populations, as women on average are having fewer than 2 children. When the total fertility rate (TFR) declines below about 2.1 children per family, the population eventually begins to decline. This may be delayed for some years due to a phenomenon known as population momentum, which ensures that a growing population will continue to grow for about one generation after the TFR goes below 2.1, but eventually, if the birthrate remains below replacement level, the population will begin to shrink. As demographers have taken to saying, female empowerment makes a good form of birth control. Another ramification has been changes in workplaces, as both men and women have had to adjust to more women in important positions in companies. In the past, women commonly worked until they married, and then stayed at home to have children and care for their family. So, many of the women in offices were young, and carried out clerical duties. Virtually all of the management positions were held by men, and the culture of workplaces represented a male-driven power structure. Because they held some of the lowest positions in the company's hierarchy, women often were disregarded, and sexist attitudes were commonly expressed and often accepted as part of the culture. As more educated women began taking on positions of responsibility, the men had to adjust, as did the women who performed clerical work. And, ...

1. Leaning Outcomes
These are the learning outcomes for week 3. Upon successful
completion of the work this week, you will be able to:
1. Define work/family conflict.
2. Analyze the strategies workers use to deal with work and
family conflict.
3. Critique policies designed to foster and enhance family-
friendly, diverse, or woman- and minority-friendly relations.
4. Compare the U.S. government’s family leave policies with
those in the rest of the developed world.
Gender and Work
Over the past couple of generations, one of the most salient
topics in the Sociology of Work has been the the issues that
arise as an increasing number of women are choosing to go to
college to prepare for a career, and then working after they
finish school.
One important ramification of this has been that women are
postponing marriage and having children, which has shifted the
demographics in places where this pattern is prevalent. When
women delay marriage and childbearing, they will inevitably
have fewer children over their lifetimes, across a population,
simply because the closer they get to menopause without having
their first child, the less time they have to have more children.
But, as women work, they also tend to choose to have fewer
children, due to the time constraints imposed by both work and
raising a family. One of the demographic outcomes of this
phenomenon has been declining populations in many countries
around the world. By declining populations, I mean not only
have the rates of population growth been declining, but many
parts of the world actually are experiencing shrinking
populations, as women on average are having fewer than 2
children. When the total fertility rate (TFR) declines below
about 2.1 children per family, the population eventually begins
to decline. This may be delayed for some years due to a

2. phenomenon known as population momentum, which ensures
that a growing population will continue to grow for about one
generation after the TFR goes below 2.1, but eventually, if the
birthrate remains below replacement level, the population will
begin to shrink. As demographers have taken to saying, female
empowerment makes a good form of birth control.
Another ramification has been changes in workplaces, as both
men and women have had to adjust to more women in important
positions in companies. In the past, women commonly worked
until they married, and then stayed at home to have children and
care for their family. So, many of the women in offices were
young, and carried out clerical duties. Virtually all of the
management positions were held by men, and the culture of
workplaces represented a male-driven power structure. Because
they held some of the lowest positions in the company's
hierarchy, women often were disregarded, and sexist attitudes
were commonly expressed and often accepted as part of the
culture. As more educated women began taking on positions of
responsibility, the men had to adjust, as did the women who
performed clerical work. And, of course, the educated women
had to figure out how to fit into the workplace culture as well.
Over time, the culture of workplaces changed, and were more
accepting of women, although remnants of sexism remained in
many places. Many companies still had a "glass ceiling,"
discussed in last week's Instructor's Guidance, which allowed
women to rise up to positions of power, but only so far. The top
positions in the company were still reserved for men.
A third ramification has been the phenomenon known as the
second shift, referring to a new division of labor in the
household. Historically, men have been seen as the heads of
households, responsible for "bringing home the bacon," while
women stayed at home and cared for the children, the meals,
and the housekeeping. While women's work was unpaid, it still
was hard work, time consuming, and extremely valuable to

3. society. As women have started working outside the home more
- and this often is due to financial necessity in the home - there
has not been an adjustment in the household division of labor,
and the responsibilities of the husband, wife and children. Men
have continued to go to work, then come home, expecting food
on the table, and an evening of watching football on TV. They
have not taken up an equal share of the housework that
previously was the responsibility of women. As a result, when
women return home from a day of paid labor, they must
continue to perform the unpaid labor of caring for the family
and household.
The Wage Gap
Perhaps the best known gender and work issue is the persistent
gap between what men and women are paid for the same work.
This issue is widely discussed among sociologists, economists,
and among workers. There are various explanations for this
wage gap, and certainly there are numerous factors that
contribute to this phenomenon. However, one factor that
incorporates the issue of work and family is that employers still
expect that female employees will, at some point, want to have
children. From a purely economic standpoint, the possibility
that a female employee will take time off of work to have a
child reduces her worth to the company, and as a result
companies are not likely to pay a woman the same amount as a
man. Moreover, if women do take time off to have a baby, their
career is set behind a man's career, who works straight through.
Once a woman's income is reduced due to time off, the lower
income will follow her throughout her career, leaving her
behind male counterparts.
Barry Deutsch and Becky Hawkins
This approach to work and family, and its effects on women's
wages, takes us back to the discussion the first week on
capitalism. In a purely market economy, women have little
recourse to the economic pressures that depress their wages.

4. Capitalist economies need not be controlled completely by
markets, however. In fact, most capitalist countries, including
the United States, have mixed economies, with elements of
government intervention, control, and ownership in their
economies. An example of a government policy that might
address the gender wage gap due to women having children
would be a law requiring companies to provide maternity leave
for pregnant women and paternity leave for spouses, for the
same period of time. If paternity leave were mandatory, it
would eliminate any advantages males had over females for
working through childbearing. Such a policy creates a level
playing field for all companies, and thus does not discriminate
against any company or industry. Such a policy would be
justified as enhancing the public good, by supporting strong
families.
The Time Bind: Workplace or Home?
As more women work, an interesting phenomenon has resulted.
Dubbed the "time bind" by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, this
refers to the squeeze many families feel as both the husband and
the wife are working. In her study of a large and progressive
firm, Hochschild found that even though the company offered
employees a variety of family-friendly options like flex time or
telecommuting, which would allow employees to adjust their
work schedules to take care of family responsibilities, many
employees were not taking advantage of these programs. In
interviews with employees, Hochschild found that they were
choosing to stay at work rather than face the stressful pressures
of home life. This represents a significant change in people's
perspectives, as in the past people typically saw work as the
place of stress and pressure, and home as the peaceful refuge.
Now, people see work as their refuge, and home as the source of
pressure, with demands from their spouse and children. With
both spouses working, there is a lot of time pressure at home.
At work, on the other hand, they have parties for co-workers'
birthdays, awards for good work, time to gossip with co-

5. workers, and other perks that make the workplace a fun place to
be. Even with the stress of deadlines and oversight from
supervisors, work is still less stressful than the relentless
pressures imposed in a modern home - housework, cooking,
laundry, shopping, helping children with homework, driving
children to their extracurricular activities, planning family
vacations, and paying for all of this. The time bind that puts
huge pressures on families is perhaps the best example of the
difficulties in balancing work and family in contemporary
societies.
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