Work/Life Issues Are a Family Affair
This recession is going to leave some lasting effects, and one might be a change in our attitudes about work.
A new Families and Work Institute study on gender in the workplace found that the share of duel-earner family income contributed by women rose to 44 percent. About 26 percent of women now earn 10 percent or more than their husbands.
The findings also show that men are spending more time with their young children, and 59 percent report work/life conflict.
Of course, the findings can also be attributed to the changing times, recession or not. It's less unusual for men to be stay-at-home dads while their wives work, and women have been contributing more to family income for decades.
But the economy is playing at least a small role, says Ellen Galinsky, the institute's co-founder. "We all know that men dominated the kind of industries where there have been more layoffs," she says.
In this economy, many people are doing whatever they can to get by. Laid-off workers are taking jobs that pay less. Stay-at-home parents are going back to work. And more people are moonlighting, either through their employer or a second job.
These kinds of changes are hard on families, hard on marriages and hard on your mental health.
A new Families and Work Institute study on gender in the workplace found that the share of duel-earner family income contributed by women rose to 44 percent. About 26 percent of women now earn 10 percent or more than their husbands.
The findings also show that men are spending more time with their young children, and 59 percent report work/life conflict.
Of course, the findings can also be attributed to the changing times, recession or not. It's less unusual for men to be stay-at-home dads while their wives work, and women have been contributing more to family income for decades.
But the economy is playing at least a small role, says Ellen Galinsky, the institute's co-founder. "We all know that men dominated the kind of industries where there have been more layoffs," she says.
In this economy, many people are doing whatever they can to get by. Laid-off workers are taking jobs that pay less. Stay-at-home parents are going back to work. And more people are moonlighting, either through their employer or a second job.
These kinds of changes are hard on families, hard on marriages and hard on your mental health.
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