Saturday, May 15, 2010

56

part 1
  1. Do you think it is generally better or worse for society to have both parents working?
  2. Would you rather have both your parents in your family working or just one?
  3. Where do you think the main differences are? what are the main changes in the lives of children who have dual working parents compared to single working families?
  4. Do you think there are differences in the benefits/disadvantages between sons and daughters of dual working families?
  5. Do you see this a big step towards gender equality?
part 2
Interview 1:
Do you think it is better for society in general to have both parents working?
Yes I think for the progression of an equal and more progressive society having a dual working family is essential. When your talking about society as a whole there is really no reason not to. However that is just society I understand why some people might not want to work because of they don't want to leave their children. There's a difference between society and family.
What would want both your parents to work or just one?
I think it depends on the age of the child. When he or she is young they would want both of their parents or a least one home. But as they got older especially in the teenage years it wouldn't mean as much. Looking back I wouldn't want to be the reason my mother or father didn't work so i would rather both work.
What are the main differences of children with single and dual working parents?
Independence is a big one, I would expect children of dual working parents to be more able to fend for themselves when compared to their single wage counterparts. Not to say that kids from single wage families can't be independent but its almost compulsory for kids of dual wage families to be independent.
Is there a difference between the benefits and disadvantages between sons and daughters when both parents work?
I think generally it is the same on both ends but I would expect it to have a more profound effect on the daughter rather than the son, I except the daughter to look up to the mother more than the son looking up to the mother, especially if the daughter understands that the mother wasn't sure what she should do. The son generally looks up to the father and the daughter looks up to the mother so a lot of what they see as either a benefit or not comes from the gender. This topic is much more meaningful to the daughter than the son. The whole changing of gender roles is a thing that effects the daughter much more than it would the son, so that is one benefit that is seen more in daughters than sons.
Is this gender equality?
It is a step toward gender equality because it changes the former norm that the mother stays home while the father works, it changes the perception of gender roles and that is obviously a step toward the direction of gender equality. While it is gender equality that's not the only factor people think about when deciding whether or not to work or stay home, its also about how they want to raise their kids. Do they want to do it or do they want to pay someone to do it? Its important to note that there are other factors to think about not just changing gender roles.

interview 2:
Is it better or worse for society to have more families of dual working parents?
He said that he didn't think it really made that much of a difference. He didn't see that much of a big change whether or not more parents work. He added that for sure its not worse and its good that it changes an old unequal norm. Upon thinking some more he said its better for the family financially. By having two families working there is obviously more income and a higher standard of living, so in that respect it's better.

Are there many differences between children who have single and double working parents? if so what are they?
His response was that he didn't expect there to be "universal" differences seen every child. But he would expect kids who have two working parents to have more separation anxiety when they were younger but that would eventually wear off and they would become more independent. One interesting thing he said was that its possible that the kids who have dual working parents would be less motivated to finish their homework every night or might become procrastinators because they wouldn't have anyone pushing them to do their work. But he was clear that it was only speculation and not necessarily a general truth.
Do sons view dual working families differently than daughters?
He said they probably would not be that different, both would come from the same family and thus would have very similar lives. He said that because of this if say the son becomes more independent the daughter would be to, and vice-versa. However he also said that the daughter would gain a deeper appreciation for the mother once she got older. When the children are little they would realize the choice the mother had to make, to them it is just "dad works and mom works" it isn't until they get older that specifically the daughter might change their perspective
interview 3:
As a mother was it hard for you to go to work after you had kids?
Her response was that at first she wasn't sure whether or not she would go directly back, or go back at all. But ended up going back after a while. She said that of course part of her didn't want to go back and wanted to stay home but she also didn't want to be a stay at home mother.
Do you think it was better that you work?
yes, she doesn't regret it. She explained that she felt she had spent a good about of time with her kids even though she worked and that it was never really that much of a problem. She wanted her kids to be able to live on their own and not have to babied when they got older so she worked instead of staying home.
Is the growing trend of mothers and fathers working a big step for gender equality?
her response was that it is, but that wasn't a big part of her life or decision. She brought up the fact that both of her parents worked so it wasn't really anything new, its good that this is a growing trend but and it was inevitable.
Do you think there are any repercussions to children who come from dual waged households?
Again she brought up the point that her parents both worked and she turned out fine so the idea that it is going to have any lasting problems is ridiculous.
She said that the only real difference between the two groups would be some slight separation anxiety in the first few years but that would subside and its better to happen then than latter like in college.
Do you think if you didn't live in a city you would still work?
her simple response was yes, she brought up the point that she likes working and the gender role thing was very minor. She also emphasized the point that she wanted her kids to be proud of her and she couldn't do that sitting at home. The Interview was ended with her saying that her going to work benefited both her and her kids.

part 3: Through my interviews I have reached the conclusion that in general most people think that having both parents work benefits the family. I also found that one of the things everyone agreed on was that it gives the child more independence and doesn't baby them which is good. One response that I got that was interesting was that all of the effects like morals and "looking up to" doesn't come until the child is older, if then. When the child is young it doesn't know whether or not someone should be working, it was interesting to think about the fact that the recognition doesn't come for years if does at all. This also plays into the relationship with family aspect of my question. The recognition or idolization that might come up can show a lot about how these familial relationships work. But what was really interesting was what was said in interview 2 that having two working parents can mean that there is no one to force the kid to do work and thus he/she won't do it. This is an interesting perspective on a possible effect dual working parents can have on work ethic. Also for the gender role aspect of the questions showed that a lot of the impact in changed gender roles are seen in daughters not son's. The responses showed that this is a big changer in the perceptions of gender roles and ideology specifically in daughters.

part 4: question/statement for survey

Having both the Mother and Father working at the same time will only BENEFIT the family, children in particular: scale of 1-5 agree to don't agree.

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