Work and Family Discussion

Work and Family Discussion

by Joshua Leerssen -
Number of replies: 15

Wiley chapter 18 focuses on the transmission of social and cultural capital among families. In specific, this part of the discussion will focus on the parental work schedules. Wiley page 373 states, "the timing of parental work schedules can influence the ways in which parents invest in their children." This most affects children of parents in lower SES families, children living in single parent homes, and children of parents who travel for work. However, all children are impacted in some way by their parents' work. My first question is:

How did your parents' work schedule(s) affect you as you grew up? Did you get to spend more time with your parents because they worked from home? Or did you maybe not get to see one parent because they were working all the time?

Second, Wiley chapter 20 talks about families from the children's perspective. A section of this chapter talks about children's work and how different cultures view child labor. The text states, "the characterization of children as 'priceless but useless' may underestimate their continuing contributions to the domestic economy, the division of labor, and family care." I think every single one of us grew up having to contribute in some way to the household, whether it was by working or just doing household chores. My questions related to this are:

Did you have a heavy amount of chores as a kid? Did you and your siblings evenly share the chores? Did your parents give you an allowance for doing these chores or was it just expected of you to complete them?

***I know there are a lot of questions, don't feel like you have to answer every single one of them

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Hannah Daoust -
Growing up, both of my parents worked outside the home, with my dad working longer hours than my mom. My dads work schedule began early in the morning and until around dinner time, making it more difficult to see him as much as mom my due to her only working part of the day. Having both parents work outside the home did not really affect me in any negative way, due to me being in school most of the time they were at work and then extracurriculars afterwards, allowing my free time later in the evening to be spent with both of my parents. Additionally, due to my mom being home more often than my dad, she generally did most of the house work and cooking, however, giving me and my sister both weekly chores to help her around the house and to also teach us responsibility. The chores would range from cleaning our rooms, to feeding the dog, to cleaning and washing dishes after meals, and whatever smaller stuff they needed help with around the house. Me and my sister were both given weekly allowances for doing our chores, however, it was lessened or taken away if we did not complete them that week.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Deleted user -
Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents because both of my parents worked long hours outside of the house. My mom would take me to school, and then pick me up from my grandparent's house after she got off of work. Her work hours were really consistent and we had a pretty standard routine so I always knew when I would see her. My dad had a much more physically intensive job with longer and more inconsistent hours. His schedule rotated about every two weeks, so as soon as we would get used to a routine, it would change. In my family, chores weren't really divided up in any specific way. My parents would just delegate chores to me and my sister based on what needed to be done and what chores were appropriate for us at certain ages. We didn't get allowances or anything, but if we did want money we could just do extra chores.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Regan Skedgell -
Growing up, both of my parents worked outside the home Monday-Friday, all year long and commuted at least 45 minutes to work every day. My two older brothers and I had a nanny who lived with us and she took care of us during the week and sometimes the weekends, if my parents were away on business. Even thought my parents worked a lot, looking back it did not negatively affect our relationship and we really valued the time we spent together. In my family we believe it is not the amount of time you spend together that matters, but how you choose to spend that time together. I did not have a heavy amount of chores as a kid. My brothers and I were just expected to clean our rooms and the playroom, put our laundry away, etc. We did not get an allowance.

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In reply to Regan Skedgell

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Joshua Leerssen -
I like your point on quality over quantity time spent together as a family. My family was kind of the same way and we would always make time at some point during the week to spend quality time with each other, even if it was just for dinner one night.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Deleted user -
When I was growing up, my parents worked in the office, and I did not get to see them as much during the day. When they would get home, we would spend a lot of time together. My mom worked closer to home, so I could see her more because there would not be much traffic, but my dad sometimes would not get home till 7 or 8 during on how bad traffic was. I do not feel that it affected me because I grew up with older sisters, so I was never alone and always had someone to be with me. I also had my grandmother right across the street if I needed anything.
When I was a kid, I did not have a lot of chores because I had sisters, so the chores were shared evenly. All I had to do was bring down and up the laundry bins, and the same with the trash cans. I was also responsible for the dogs by ensuring they always had food and water and letting them out. I did not get an allowance. This was expected to help my parents out, and I did not expect an allowance for doing so.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Elijah Ingleson -
For the first question, both of my parents worked full time, and neither of them worked at home. I really did not get to see them until the evening when I got home from school and practice. This had more to do with my schedule rather than theirs. However, when I was out of school and had more free time, I always felt that I barely saw my mother. She works as an ER nurse and would work about four twelve-hour shifts a week. When she was not working, she was being the primary caregiver for her parents. Because of both her occupation and domestic obligations, I did not spend nearly as much time with her as I did my Dad.
For the second question, my brother and I never got an allowance nor were we expected to do a ton of chores. This stopped as we got older as we realized it was our responsibility to take care of the house as well. We were not expected to do much, but we both grew into sons that would help out with the chores. Maybe this had something to do with us modeling our own behavior after our parents.

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In reply to Elijah Ingleson

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Joshua Leerssen -
I like the last part of your response, my parents raised me and my sister in the same way. We grew up modeling our behavior after our parents and as we got older helped out around the house more since, like you said, we realized it was our responsibility to take care of the house as well.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Colin Glover -
Growing up I was not able to spend as much time with my parents because both of them worked mostly year-round. It didn't really affect me that they weren't there because I used that time to just hang with friends in my neighborhood or found thinggs to keep me occupied. I would see my mom more often than my dad though due to the fact that my mother was a principal, and she would get home early. Growing up I had a decent number of chores I would say. Most of my chores weren't extensive work and didn't take long so I sometimes took them for granted

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In reply to Colin Glover

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Joshua Leerssen -
I had a similar experience growing up. Both of my parents worked but it didn't negatively affect my relationship with them and I would just hang with my friends that lived close by.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Sarah Kaye Carpenter -
My dad worked as an administrator at a middle school when I was growing up. His work hours were very similar to mine and my sister's school hours, which means we usually spent more time during the week with him at home. My mom however was the director of business development for a company, so she had long hours and also traveled a lot for work. My mom would do her best to run morning carpool for me and my sister, but otherwise, we spend most of the time not at school with my dad. My sister and I had some chores growing up, but not a super heavy amount. My sister and I shared the chores evenly and would even trade off some. My parents did not give us an allowance, because as a member of the family I was expected to help around the house. While we didn't get an allowance my parents were always willing to give us some cash if we needed it to go do something, and they were more willing had we completed our chores.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Sarah Van Hoose -
Growing up, my mom was a teacher, and my dad worked a normal 9-5 job at an office. I spent more time with my mom because she would take us to and from school, as well as pick us up after practices. I didn't get to see my dad as much, but I think that is partially due to the activities I was involved in outside of school. So, my dad may have made it home around 5:30, but I wouldn't get home from practice until 7:30.
Growing up I never had a list of chores to do on a certain day or by a certain time. Instead, it was almost expected for me to keep my room clean, do my laundry, and help clean up when asked. I did not get an allowance for what I did, because like I said it was almost an unspoken thing for me to complete a task like unloading the dishwasher or wiping off the kitchen counters. I have an older brother and sister; I think my brother definitely had less responsibilities when it came to helping around the house, where me and my sister did pretty equal amounts.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Angelina Piccini -
I never got to see my dad during the day because he was always at work. But my mom stayed at home to watch the kids, so I got to see her a lot. I had a relatively small amount of chores when I was a kid. I was the youngest of 5 so mainly they carried all the chore load. However, since I was the youngest, they all left and I was the only one left in the house. So then I was the only one doing the chores for many years. My parents never gave us an allowance and just expected us to do our part.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Kevin Roberts -
In response to your question on chapter 18, both my parents worked outside of the home growing up, and later my mom didn't have to work, so I have experienced both levels of involvement. The biggest effects i felt by not having a parent at home was the opportunity to experience extra curricular activities wasn't always possible, and when i was sick I would usually just have to go to school anyways when i was really young. Growing up, I had two older brothers so we all did our part in getting all the chores done, and switched off every week. We did not get an allowance for this, but we still had to get them done.

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In reply to Joshua Leerssen

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Audrey Chatfield -
When I was little both my parents worked in an office and then my mom switched to working from home. Despite that, I still saw them an equal amount because my dad would be up to drive me to school and he would be home by the time my rehearsals were over. At some point it flipped to where my mom was working in an office and my dad was working from home. I still saw them an equal amount. Since my parents have worked from home it was hard to differentiate between they were in “work mode” or “parent mode.

I didn’t have a heavy amount of chores as a kid but I was expected pick up messes that I made like dishes I used, clothes I wore things like that. I didn’t have any siblings so I think that is why my parents asked me to mainly focus on the things that I directly affected. I didn’t get an allowance for doing chores but if I needed money to go out with friends that was provided to me.

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In reply to Audrey Chatfield

Re: Work and Family Discussion

by Joshua Leerssen -
My parents also switched a decent amount between working from home and working at the office. I agree with your point on it being hard to differentiate between work mode or parent mode, I would always just stay away if they were on a call or something like that

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