PYC4805 – Developmental Psychology Assignment 6 (701383) - Razaan Galiel

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ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING Illustration : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageing The Position of Dual-Earner Families: An Argumentative Essay The Position ... of Dual-Earner Families: An Argumentative Essay Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The Advantages of the Dual-income Family 4 2.1 The Lifestyle and Financial Benefits 4 2.2 Job Satisfaction and Occupational Prosperity 4 2.3 Psychological Wellbeing 5 3. The Disadvantages of the Dual-Income Family 5 3.1 Social and Cultural Role Expectations 5 3.2 Division of Household Chores and Dependent Care 6 3.3 Work Constraints and Work/Family Conflict 6 4. Conclusion 7 5. References 9 6. Plagiarism Declaration 11 1. Introduction It is easy to assume that dual-income families are in a better position than families where only the husband or the wife earns a salary. More income is synonymous with, among other things, better living conditions, better education and healthcare options, more leisure activities, happier families, and more life satisfaction. According to Edwards (2012) life satisfaction relates to the individual’s personal feelings of contentment and happiness within all the domains of life, including family, marital relationship, and occupation. Life satisfaction is a cognitive process of appraisal of the quality of one’s life in relation to all aspects of life (Edwards 2012). But what are the drawbacks of having both parents employed and how do they impact they family? According to Barciauskas and Hull (cited in Edwards, 2012), among dual-income couples, the wife’s income is required to meet monthly debt obligations and unless one spouse’s income is exceptional, one income can no longer sustain a family with typical middle-class needs and aspirations. In the U.S, of married-couple families with children, 97.5 percent had at least one employed parent in 2019, and 64.2 percent had both parents employed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Among employed mothers, those with older children were more likely to work full time than those with younger children and 80.3 percent of employed mothers with children ages 6 to 17 worked full time, compared with 75.8 percent of mothers with children under age 6 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). In Australia, most families with children have two employed parents (van Wanrooy, 2013). The rate of employment of married men has declined slightly from 92% in 1978 to 89% in 2008 whilst the rate of married women in the workforce has climbed to 70% from 45% in 1978, an increase of more than 50%. As a result, employed couples are the most common household type in Australia (van Wanrooy, 2013). The dual-income couple thus needs to make critical decisions about how to allocate and share responsibilities for both earning and caring for the family (van Wanrooy, 2013). Decisions about employment of both spouses are not made in isolation and are subject to social, financial, occupational and personal constraints. These patterns raise questions of how dual-income couples share their paid employment and household responsibilities (van Wanrooy, 2013). .........................................................................................continued.......................................................................................................... [Show More]

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