Dual-Earner Families and Issues Within Them

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Table of Contents

Summary
Problem Analysis
References

Summary

Since the 1960s, dual-earner families, implying both spouses are employed in paid work while raising children, exhibit a confident increase in popularity in the US society. This phenomenon is stipulated by different socio-economic and demographic factors, including women’s involvement in higher education, a need to sustain a middle-class living standard, and egalitarian distribution of sex-role responsibilities. This paper aims at examining issues occurring in dual-earner families and offers respective strategies, considering societal effects, cultural contexts, and related concepts.

Problem Analysis

Dual-earner families still remain a predominant trend in contemporary US society, with a prospect for further growth. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), over 48 percent of families have both husbands and wives employed, as of 2017 (Hu and Nash, 2019). Especially this rate concerns families where children above six-year-old, comprising almost 65 percent. This way of family life has become popular due to several apparent benefits, such as an opportunity for both partners to be independent, expand social contacts, and increase self-esteem. Moreover, dual-earner families gain two incomes accounting for around $84.000 overall (Hu and Nash, 2019). As a result, such an approach allows for ensuring a much better material position.

Despite these undeniable advantages, dual-earner couples typically face various problems primarily connected with household chores and caring for children. Since household labor is time- and energy-consuming, it requires the involvement of both partners. However, females are usually more engaged in performing chores than males, which frequently results in conflicting situations in families trying to distribute home duties.

The study by Cerrato and Cifre (2018) concluded that traditional gender roles in the household are often the source of work-family conflict (WFC), affecting equally husbands and wives. Another concern stems from the necessity to raise children, which is challenging in dual-earners families. In this regard, parents have to either hire childcare workers, turn to kindergartens, or left children on self-care during their absence. The last case can cause children’s mental problems, especially lower self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and others.

It is worth noting that societal and familial structures and patterns also contribute to the uneven allocation of chores. Hu and Nash (2019) indicate that females who earn over 50 percent of family income perform less housework than those who gain under 50 percent. Besides, the current increase of multigenerational families due to the surging diversification of US society creates favorable opportunities for dual-earner families. Overall, spouses can delegate responsibilities in multigenerational households, including childcare, eldercare, and chores, among grandparents and siblings. Such living can also enhance financial resources, tackle loneliness, and alleviate the emotional load.

Before offering effective strategies, it is worth discussing the problem of juggling various roles from the view of role theory. This socio-psychological hypothesis assumes that in everyday life, all people occupy specific roles that are defined by a set of duties, norms, expectations, and social contexts (Kossek and Lee, 2017). The theory also contains a concept named roles strain, occurring when a particular statuses make individuals feel physically or mentally overloaded. Moreover, people can encounter role conflicts implying that they have to be torn between several roles, primarily work, family, and school. For instance, women can try to correspond to family, work, or college expectations, which usually leads to psychological problems and frustrations.

Considering the issues related to dual-earner families and people’s increasing involvement in employment, there is an acute need to develop practical strategies. According to Livingston and Parker (2019), both fathers (52 percent) and mothers (60 percent) find it challenging to balance work and family. In this regard, workforce boars, local policymakers, and educational establishments should strengthen cooperation to satisfy parents’ learning needs.

For example, they can provide childcare assistance and additional time off for parenting. Additionally, low-income families can receive financial aid or low-cost childcare from specific governmental funds (Hu and Nash, 2019). Furthermore, at the individual level, couples can develop strategies that effectively and fairly share their domestic responsibilities. Husbands should help their wives in childrearing and chores to avoid the overburden of the latter and that they have sufficient time for educational or work purposes.

References

Cerrato, J., & Cifre, E. (2018). Gender inequality in household chores and work-family conflict. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(1330), 1-11. Web.

Hu, J. X., & Nash, S. T. (2019). Marriage and the family: Mirror of a diverse global society. Routledge.

Kossek, E. E., & Lee, K. H. (2017). Work-family conflict and work-life conflict. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Web.

Livingston, G., & Parker, K. (2019). 8 facts about American dads. Pew Research Center. Web.

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Dual-Earner Families and Issues Within Them

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