Changes in U.S. Family Life - Essay Example

The paper will explore patterns of rising women employment, effects of the change on men and women’s time in household roles and the likely trend in paternal roles among men and women. Patterns of rising women’s employment in the recent decades The past decades have witnessed changes in parental roles in families. Originally, women were involved in domestic chores while men worked out in towns and industries. The primary roles of women included getting married, giving birth, and raising their children.

As a result, the family structure was characterized by early marriages and high number of children as women did not have commitments that could restrict their parental roles. There was however, a shift in the 1960s as the social structure took a new direction. Women became involved in labor force and as Andrew explains, work related pressure led to changes in family structures and roles between husbands and wives (Andrew, p. 68). The rate of involvement of women in the labor force is explained by sudden changes that were witnessed after the year 1960.

The average marriage age among people increased while the number of children in households started to decrease. Similarly, the rate of divorce increased. These experiences were due to increased involvement of women in the labor force (Andrew, p. 68). . 690). Transition has however witnessed a “devotion to work” schema in which women delegate their paternal roles to house helps as they concentrate in their careers (Loy, p. 690). The changing trend in social factors such as rate of divorce, increasing age at which people get married and the number of people who shy away from marriage due to commitment to work is therefore a proof of the increasing involvement of women in highly demanding employment opportunity (Loy, 696).

Effects of the changes in on women’s and men’s times spent in house work and with children The effects of the involvement of women in career activities can be explored from two perspectives, the effects on women themselves and the effects on men. Being involved in activities that take them away from their homes means that women’s time in household chores and time spent with children is reduced. This is because the women have to dedicate their time to work, time that was previously meant for domestic chores.

The effects on men’s time can however be explored from two perspectives. When the woman delegates her roles to a house help, the man will in most cases be free to retain ancient role of being employed to make income for the family. There are however some cases in which the man dedicates more of his time to take care of domestic chores instead of working. Under these circumstances, men have been more involved with the children than was previously the case (Loy, 693, 694). Such involvements have also been facilitated by the idea that the role of a father is not just financial provisions but involves dedication of time to children (Townsend, 53).

While the women’s time