Table of Contents
Part 1
Hochschild and Machung (2012) use the concept of ‘extra work’ to describe the household responsibilities of married career women. Although Milkie, Raley and Bianchi (2009) enlighten the reader concerning the same concept they use the word ‘second shift’ for the same. Both writings illuminate the need for men to assist with the ‘extra work’ at home after work hours while showing the positive and negative social and psychological consequences of the same. Full-time mothers who assume full responsibilities at home according to both articles work for a lot more hours than their husbands which culminate into an ‘extra month’ every year (Kotila, Schoppe‐Sullivan, & Kamp Dush, 2013). As such, in the face of civilization the question of gender equality requires urgent address starting from the family institution.
According to Kotila et al., in the wake of modernity where women are at liberty to take up careers, house chores are evidently ‘extra work’ yet both involved ‘laborers’ are exhausted from the day’s turmoil (2013). As such, combined effort is necessary. However, the same does not happen in my TV family. Mother seems to always do the lion’s share of work while the rest of us share the remaining bits such as clearing the table, vacuuming, tidying our rooms, and once in a while cleaning the dishes. Child care is solely mother’s job; she takes our little twins to the day care every morning, picks them, bathes them, feeds them and tucks them in at bed time. She is always tired and busy.
The situation with my TV family is consistent with Milkie et al.’s findings (2009. Evidently, mother is always exhausted with all she has on her shoulders, ends up disregarding the quantity of time she spends with family. In fact, she always speaks of quality time. Nonetheless, she has almost no time for herself and even keeps fighting with father. However, our situation is inconsistent with the ideal family described by Hochschild & Machung (2012) that involves Michael Sherman and Adrienne who juggle up their careers with household duties and still manage to spend quality and quantity time with their child.
Part 2
A tech director at Apple Inc earns $11.25 hourly and works ten hours daily
$ (11.25×10×30) ×2.5=$ 8,437.50
Monthly salary- (housing + healthcare + car insurance+ fuel+ food +gas and electricity +sanitation costs +cell phone +internet + grooming+ entertainment)= net income
$ 8,437.50 – $(1,000+100+250+50+300+150+80+80+30+50+50) = $2,140
$2,140×2= $4,280
The bills remain yet a baby means additional expenses, some of which are usually unplanned for such as illnesses. Thus, from the look of things, a parental leave for a mother in such a case is possible but can only last a short while. In the case of the father a leave is not a good idea until the child is older. Day care expenses are therefore unavoidable in which case both parents’ salaries are needed.
- Hochschild, A., & Machung, A. (2012). The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
- Kotila, L. E., Schoppe‐Sullivan, S. J., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2013). Time in parenting activities in dual‐earner families at the transition to parenthood. Family relations, 62(5), 795-807.
- Milkie, M. A., Raley, S. B., & Bianchi, S. M. (2009). Taking on the Second Shift: Time Allocations and Time Pressures of U.S Parents with Preschoolers. Social Forces 88(2) 487–518. The University of North Carolina Press.