Working Environment and Family - Essay Example

Book Review The has given a detailed comparative analysis about the different countries working environment and issues related to families. The issue is particularly taken with reference to policies and regulations related to labor laws in general. Moreover, the book also covers the socio-economic dependencies, working laws, and care giving scenarios in different families. The book has mentioned in detail the rating and comparative analysis of different European and countries with North American region.

The book is prcised and focused to evaluate the effectiveness of working hours in different types of organizations and their impact on the family life of different individuals in the society. The key issue that has been addressed in this book is the emergence of increase in number of working women, who have mostly young children. The relationship of working mothers in this hair-pulling environment to justify between workload and family responsibilities is the main area of discussion. Different types of social parameters have analyzed to get the gist of this social problem.

Parameters includes the rate of poverty per family, low birth weight incidences, pregnancies in teen ages, abortions ratio, mortality rates particularly among young children and infants and the result of eight-graders particularly in mathematics and science.Why are private solutions inadequate to address the work/family needs of Americans Americans, both males and females are moving towards working environment. No matter multi national corporations, Non-governmental organizations, Food chains, departmental stores or any other.

The imbalance has visibly seen among all the fields if, we closely observe the work/family needs of all Americans. This issue has not been identified or noticed by the employers. Mostly the solutions offered by most of the private companies are not pro-employee rather they are more focused towards productivity or company demands. The role of American labor and law making bodies is also negligible in this regard. If we compare the European countries with American work/family laws, they are much flexible and give space to an ordinary citizen to maintain balance between the two.

European working laws allow the parents, particularly mothers to spend parental time with their families along with their working routines. On the other hand the private companies are too demanding and very little flexible in terms of parental leaves/maternal leaves. The average parental leave is 13 weeks in America as compared to 52 weeks- 300 weeks in European countries. This huge gap reflects the social policy flaw in American working laws particularly with reference to working mothers. Working timings, day-night shifts, and overtimes disallowed the parents to give care to their children.

As a result of this phenomenon, either child could not be able to adjust himself in the society as desired or get indulged into vicious cycle of poverty. The different stats in this regard taken from a renowned research paper are worth-mentioning. As mentioned in, Family Strengthening Policy Center, 2004 Report, a program of National Human Services Assembly states: The state of the nation's families is particularly distressing when considering the following data:- 2003 Census Data reported that the poverty rate among children under 18 jumped from 16.

7 percent in 2002 to 17.6 percent in 2003, representing a total of 12.9 million poor children. More than one in every three poor people in 2003 were children (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2004).- Poverty is increasingly prevalent among children of working parents. In 1980, 21% ofchildren below the poverty line had at least one parent working full-time. By 1999, thenumber had risen to 31%. (Kids Count Data Book, 2003)- 58 percent of low-income households with children have housing costs that exceed therecommended threshold of 30 percent of the family's income.

(Kids Count Data Book, 2003)- Almost half of low-income families had no liquid assets in 1999. (Kids Count Data Book, 2003)- In 2003, 45 million people - 15.6 percent of Americans (almost one in every six) - lacked health insurance throughout the year. 11.4 percent of those uninsured were children (2003 Census, U.S. Census Bureau as cited in Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2004).The relationship between American working environment and family implications is quite evident from the above statistical data.

The data reveals the low income groups and poverty relation across different working groups in American society. As 2003 Census report has shown the substantive increase in Children Poverty rate, as it jumps from 16.7 percent in 2002 to 17.6 percent in 2003. Moreover, in particular the Kids Count Data Book, 2003 has reflected a decade analysis of Increasing Poverty rate in working parents. The comparison has shown that, in 1980' almost 21% of children fell below the poverty line with working parents.

This figure increased to 31% by the year 1999. This trend reflects that if the same pace persists, the poverty rate would have reached to 40% or above by the end of year 2008. This researched work has adequately answered the question of the inadequate private solutions offering in the American society, with respect to work/family needs of American. The social family policy of America needs to be revisited and analyzed in order to provide a cushion for parents to spend more time to their families.

This emerging socio-economic issue in the American society is increasing day by day. The liberalization and growing economic demands pull the parents to work, to make their both ends meet. Eventually, a imbalance occurs between the office work and family commitments. At least private solution providers should pay a heed to these practical problems of the society to secure the social structure of the system. This is the core area, where private solutions are lacking and need more attention.Another research paper "Work and Family in the 1990s" by Perry-Jenkins has also highlighted four factors which needs to be focused, while discussing socio-working responsibilities of the parents.

The key research areas were Maternal Employment, Work Socialization, Work stress and multiple roles of a working individual and its impact on the society at large. What do Gornick and Meyers mean by a "dual-career" society The term "dual-career" or dual-earner society is used by the author in reference to highlight the rapidly growing social problem of the American society. This problem refers to the conflict between working parents and their family responsibilities, particularly if both the parents are working.

This issue reflects the social image of the working class and its impact on the society in future. Because, if the parents could not be able to give care to children in their childhood, then definitely these children would go for bad activities and as a result the whole society would be affected in distinct future. Child is a father of a man, they say. The term "dual-career" has great implications for the society and progress of new economic working style of any country. The author has used this term extensively, to highlight the cross-national child care policies and their analytical aspect with reference to the working environments of the American society.

The term also refers to the practical implementation of social system with respect to the role of working parents. Which of the authors' policy proposals do you find most plausible Least plausible Why The author has proposed different case scenarios while studying cross-national social policies and their impact on the society in particular. The author has tried to establish a link between Social Welfare "Family-friendly" European policies in contrast to American tight working Rules and regulations of private solution providers.

To some extent the author's proposal of these co relational studies has practical outcomes, if we try to implement in America. On the other hand, problems identify or reveal from the statistical data of Socio-economic American society projects that the policy level change is badly required in American Society. Or in other words we can say, a slight Social Transformation is required in the working and labor policy of American Society. While suggesting, we can not ignore the element of Private Sector response and their reaction towards the policies if implemented.

What will be their reaction How do they respond to these types of "Family-friendly" policies in America What would be the impact on pay structures How do economies suffer at large by this transformation All these questions should be answered before analyzing the proposals given by author in detail. The practical insight of all the stakeholders involved in this complex social transformation is a must. Family obligations and working responsibilities should go side by side. An adequate balance between the two is mandatory in order to create a proper Social Welfare American Society.

Sources:Journal article Work and Family in the 1990s by Perry-Jenkins. Journal article Working Poor Families with Children: Leaving Welfare Doesn't Necessarily Mean Leaving Poverty from Child Trends. Journal article Research on Household Labor: Modeling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work, by Scott Coltrane published durin the 1990s. Lesson-Drawing in Family Policy: Media Reports and Empirical Evidence about European Developments, Janet C. Gornik June 26, 2000Kids count Data Book 2003