The effects on children of growing up in a household where both parents work outside the home - Essay Example

This paper examines some of the most common causes of working of both parents, and the general effects of this practice on the children. In the present age, women go shoulder to shoulder with men in every walk of life. Be it education, work, or research, women have set their footprint in all areas. In the past, in a traditional nuclear family, man used to play the role of bread earner for the family, and the woman used to nurture the kids at home and take care of their nutrition, studies and such other necessities.

That practice was very beneficial for the children in particular as they would spend sufficient time with at least one of the two parents. With the passage of time, more and more women began to go out of the home particularly for work. There were several underlying factors that caused an altogether change in the traditional roles of mother and father in a nuclear family. First of all, by working, women have made an attempt to fulfill their long cultivated desire of coming at par with men. In the past, as discussed above, man used to be the sole bread earner for the whole family.

This gave him the opportunity to go out and build social relations. The social network of man became stronger as compared to women, who had to resort to socialize mostly with other women in the neighborhood. The increased social networking placed more power in the hands of the man, and women started to feel themselves as living in a male dominated society. In order to come out of this suppressing feeling, more and more women started to study, though it would be wrong to say that this was the only reason why women today study in large numbers.

There are several reasons behind this. Most of the times, it is indeed, the parents that want their daughters to be as educated as their sons, so the choice is mostly made by the parents and not the daughters themselves. However, paralleling the men is undoubtedly, one of the many causes why we see more women out today than in the past. Secondly, as the society has generally become more receptive towards the applications made by women for jobs, women can easily find work. In fact, in many cases, it so happens that when there is a competition between a woman and a man with equal qualifications for a particular job, the woman gets hired and the man does not.

More and more women have made use of this fact and have started to work as a result. Thirdly, it is quite reasonable for both parents to work in the contemporary age of economic recession. As a result of the recent financial crisis, companies have been downsized by the owners in an attempt to maximize the profits. A lot of people have been expelled from jobs. Those, that have continued to work are being offered much lower pays than what they used to be offered only few years ago. There is little to no job security these days, and people may be fired any time.

To top it all, prices of products and facilities of everyday use are skyrocketing. Taking these circumstances into consideration, it is quite wise of both the parents to work. However, the practice has conventionally had negative impacts on the children. With both of the parents out of the home, children are mostly left at the disposal of maids or servants. Some maids and servants are morally corrupt. Because of that, children are exposed to the risks of physical abuse, kidnapping and such other threats.

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