Bureaucracy: Childcare Cost - Assignment Example

Bureaucracy Question The social problem is childcare cost. A summary of analysis of the “Child-Care Subsidies and Family Well-Being” article with an aim of discussing key points in light of Marx and Weber’s theories on social problems, by critically analyzing there cause, and how well the measures in place can tackle them. Healy and Dunifon (2014) in their article titled ‘Childcare subsidies and family well-being’ observe that the introduction of Child Care and Development Fund was in line with the government realization that child-care costs are expensive especially for low-income families, and that the program could effectively aid in the transition from welfare dependency to actual work. According to Carl Marx, the mode of production in the capitalist economy is such that the worker’s ability to determine his destiny is impaired by the deprivation of his rights to think straight and have control over his actions, characteristic of capitalism. This implies that the worker is unable to have control of his actions, and due to the meager return from hi labor, is unable to benefit from the goods and services in which he invests his labor. Marx notes that it has “agglomerated population, centralized the means of production, and has concentrated property in a few hands” (1848, p. 6). Healy and Dunifon observe this scenario as being the course of the apparent inability of the majority low-income earners to meet such costs as childcare costs. In light of Marx’s thoughts, the introduction of Child Care and Development Fund is a way through which the rich of the society are trying to legislate the majority poor people out of poverty. As Healy and Dunifon notes, childcare subsidies lead to increased household income as it relieves the family of the burden of catering for all childcare needs. However, in Marx’s thought, the money used to finance this course comes from the pockets of the rich of the society, as they are the ones who pay more tax. Marx advances that “these laborers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market” (P. 8), and are not beneficiaries of the said program. This is therefore a passive means of resource decentralization, the core principle of communism. Secondly, Healy and Dunifon observe that several factors that seem to deter access to childcare subsidies are in place. The two points that eligibility for childcare maternity incorporates the need for the said mother to be engaged in an income generating activity, and the income thereof must be below a certain set minimum. Furthermore, Healy and Dunifon notes that beneficiaries of these subsidy are required to make bi-annual recertification, a process that also entails too much of paper work that most mothers find even more stressing compared to the childcare burden itself. The aim of this bureaucratic legislation, from Marx’s point of view, depicts an attempt by the affluent individuals of the society to regulate the rate of upward mobility. Indeed “not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons” (Marx, 1848, p. 8). Carl Marx believed that the rich, in the capitalist economy, would always strive to further their own course of amassing wealth, usually at the expense of the laborers, which in this case are the less fortunate mothers. While Weber’s theory seems to be in agreement with Marx’s on socioeconomic aspects, Weber in his theory introduces such terms as social mobility and social equality. Social mobility depends on the quality and level of education, which again depend on level of intelligence of a child and the opportunities available for the child to have access to quality education. Healy and Dunifon, while citing Duncan and Brooks-Dunn (1997), observe that children from single parents tend to show better cognitive gains when such childcare benefits are accessible to them. Cognitive ability translates to higher level of performance especially in matter concerning academics. Excelling in academics puts an individual at a place where he can bargain for a better paying career field, which in turn will put the person into a different social class. However, Webber’s theory present a situation whereby the social class in which one is born plays a crucial role in determining the level of success he achieves. Weber noted that the major dictate of upward mobility is rather a psychological mindset determined by the social class in which one is born. Healy and Dunifon while citing Currie (2001), further observe that the impact of childcare subsidy varies by level of advantage, with the more disadvantaged beneficiaries of the subsidy showing impacts that are more positive. The level of advantage in the sense of Weber’s theory corresponds to social equality. The recipients of childcare subsidy can thus be divided into different groups depending on the level of need. Despite the fact that childcare subsidies result in an overall improvement in the income of a family, it does not affect the well-being of the family. Since social equality is tied to the overall wellbeing of the family, this implies that better strategies other than provision of subsidy should be adopted to address the issues related to social wellbeing, and which hind social equality in the society. An attempt by the government to address such issues as stagnating social mobility and inconsistencies in the wellbeing of the society through the provision of childcare, though important, is not yielding the appropriate results. Addressing these issues therefore require proper understanding of various aspects of the society, and integrating the findings with subsidy provision. Question 2 The term bureaucracy has been widely used in varied contexts both in governance and in the field of business. It refers to a system of governance or administration that aims at accomplishing a multiple of tasks through systematic coordination of an abundant human force. Weber advances that bureaucracy is the ideal administrative system, as it delivers better results compared to other forms such as charismatic and traditional systems. He advances a number of features that are characteristic of this system, and which he believe that with proper execution, the management can efficiently control the organization and achieve better outcomes. According to Gerth and Mills (1946), Weber’s bureaucratic administrative system has a formal hierarchical structure in which there exist different managerial levels that differ in the level of control and influence. Arguably, “the principles of office hierarchy and of levels of graded authority of super- and subordination….” (Gerth & Mills, p.197)). The levels are organized in a descending order, with each level having significant power of control over the one lying below it. This type of administration ensures that no single level goes unsupervised, the type of supervision that according to Weber improves the efficiency of the workforce. The formal hierarchy enables centralization of planning activities, and which fosters a centralized decision making. Gerth and Mills also points that Weber’s bureaucratic administration system has a distinct administrative class. As such, “the management of the office follows general rules, which are more or less stable,…, it involves jurisprudence, or administrative, or business management,” (Gerth & Mills, p.198). This class is responsible for the co-ordination of activities within the organization. This administrative class attains its position purely through merit, are paid as full time employees, and their tenure is determined by the rules as set by the organization. Furthermore, no single individual from this class should have proprietary interests whatsoever in the organization, and there salaries and any other benefits are based on the rank they occupy. This implies that their responsibilities are limited to serving the interests of the organization, and their decisions are independent of personal interests. Another aspect that Gerth and Mills espouse as being characteristic of this system of administration is the existence of official rules that govern the daily operation of the organization, as well as the conduct of employees. It is worth noting that “the authority to give the commands required for the discharge of these duties….strictly delimited by rules concerning coercive means, physical, sacerdotal….(Gerth & Mills, p. 197). He notes that every organization needs a system of stable rules that ensures an existence of uniformity as well as coordination of efforts by all members of the organization for effective and more productive performance. In addition, these rules provide the necessary stability and continuity in the flow of work within the organization. Existence of written records is another aspect characteristic of Weber’s bureaucracy with “body officials actively engage in a ‘public’ office” (Gerth & Mills, p. 197). All the decisions, prospects, as well as activities of the organization are recorded and safely kept for future reference. Bureaucratic organization therefore have to adopt a comprehensive record keeping system that ensures all the details pertaining to the business activities as well as those of the employees are safely kept in such a way that they can later be retrieved when necessity arrives. In a bureaucratic administration, execution of tasks is by functional specialty characterized by division of labor. Hiring of employees is based on their technical competency, and the work force is organized into units each performing specific duties relevant to the level and nature of expertise convenient. This ensures that each office performs a clearly defined set of duties, with every employee well conversant with the limit of his roles in the organization. High level of specialization coupled with division of labor ensures that execution of duties is by a competent team, and that no role remains unattended. Another aspect characteristic of Weber’s bureaucracy is the existence of impersonal relationships i.e. there is a separation of the office from the office holder. One of the primary purposes of the modern organization is to set aside the “bureau from the private domicile” of the official (Gerth & Mills, p.197). All dealing between an individual and a fellow employee or between an individual employee and a client must be devoid of influence emanating from personal differences, or emotions and sentiments that arise as a result of difference in opinion and/or interests. This aspect advocates for the advancement of rational decision making as opposed to serving one’s own interests. Finally, Weber espouses that a bureaucratic administration is also characterized by the presence of mission(s). The aim of such mission(s) could be to serve the interests of the empowering agency, which could be the business owner for instance, or to serve the organization itself and the people within it, in which case the major focus would be on profit increasing, market dominance or improvement in the cash stream strategies. Weber’s bureaucracy therefore offers a comprehensive and ideal administrative system that ensures among other things, proper management of the organization, as well as maximum utilization of human resource. Additionally, the system has received accolades for being more robust and success oriented compared to other approaches such as the charismatic approach. These factors depict bureaucracy as being awash with benefits that include increase in consistency in the behavior of employees, duly execution of duties, optimum utilization of human resources as right people get to do the jobs that they are conversant with, as well as a well co-ordinated stream of flow of work. References Gerth, H.H., & Mills, W. (1946). Bureaucracy. New York. Oxford University Press. Healy, O. & Dunifon, R. (2014). Child-Care Subsidies and Family Well-Being. News and Announcements Journal, The University of Chicago press, 88(3). Marx, K. & Engels, F. (1848). Manifesto of the communist party. Read More