Response # 6

The struggle for parents to be able to enroll their children into quality childcare is a struggle that is based on the income in which the family is able to create or earn. The cost of quality childcare across this country is astronomically high. It has been statistically proven by the findings of an ASU professor, Mary Romero, that child can cost more than the average yearly tuition for a public college institution. The problem that many low-income families face is the ability to be able to send their children to childcare, and not be financially burdened. Many families who are labeled low-income receive some sort of financial support from the government to subsidize the cot of childcare. Although many people benefit from these subsides, many still cannot afford to send their children to quality daycare. Therefore, parents are sending their children at the most essential developmental stages of their lives, to childcare centers that are “malnourished.” Meaning, the centers do not have the resources to provide the children the utmost quality care.

When parents have to send their children to these types of institutions, the parents do not have peace of mind while they are away from their children. There is a lack of trust and reliability in the centers itself. Some families have to turn to other resources that maybe do not cost anything but in return, do not provide the childcare learning environment their children may need. Some parents rely on their friends of friends, or elderly family members, neighbors, who they barely know, to provide childcare while they are at work.

The problem that many childcare centers face are, high enrollment and few instructors, instructors are poorly paid and receive little benefits if any, and there is high turnover in regards to the teachers/instructors within the centers. These factors prohibit the children from building the trusting bond with the teachers, and also prohibit the parents from knowing who the people are that are watching their children. Many states have federal funding to help with these matters, and yet small portions if any, are being spent to lower the cost of childcare and improve the resources in which the centers have. By keeping childcare cost high, families who earn little money or just enough to support their families, parents are not able to keep the current jobs they have. In return, the economy is sacrificed, and unemployment begins to rise along with government dependencies from families with children.

Response # 5

Chaudry’s argues this issue with children being born into disadvantaged communities, is a public problem not a personal problem because the children are born into the families and do not get to chose. He also argues that many times the working poor have bee suppressed by the public and therefore, can not uplift themselves from the poor communities in which they have grown up in. In Annette and Aaron’s case, Annette grew up in the neighborhood in which she is raising her family. She dropped out of school at a young age to never go back and finish. The public problem that exists within the projects of cities is the fact that education does not play an important role within their society. With her low education achievement she receives low paying jobs that never give her the opportunity to bring her family out of the poverty state that live in. Another factor that is apparent that Chaudry argues is how the “projects” do not have adequate resources for working mothers to raise a family with. In the videos that presented many of them described or showed what the working poor class was, It also shoed why people fall into the working class poor. The two videos that really support Chaudry’s argument is the one with the gentlemen who once had a job and now is jobless looking for another job. The second was the one were the family was going to lose their house because the father lost his job due to his company moving things overseas. This shows how it is a public problem not a personal problem because; both of these persons had a job that was paying decent money and giving them a life style that was enjoyable. One family was able to buy a house and the wife was able to stay home and care for their children. The second gentlemen went from living in a two-bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood, the basement in the projects and eating at local soup kitchens. All of these examples supports his argument on how it is a public problem not a personal one.

Response # 4

Each family has a different situation than another, however, there are some basic family qualities that each family should posses. These characteristics may seem minute, but in realty will help maintain a stable family life. One of the most important characteristics every family should posses, is taking time out of the day to be a “family”, whether this may take place at the dinner table, or at the end of the night with everyone sitting in the living room talking. Another characteristic that can create stable family life would create reasonability not only between the parents, but also the children. One many argue in regards to the video of the single mother and her two children, which it is wrong and not safe for them to be cooking in the house. However, this creates a reasonability and form of trust in the child. When children are treated as adults to a certain point they tend to act mature like adults.

One major affect in having a “good family life” is the parents being able to balance their career and family time. This is ultimately a choice in which the parents have to make, but nonetheless, it is crucial one. Parents need to be able to set time aside from there employers to be able to have interaction with their families. As seen in the videos some women had trouble in this area and therefore, had to leave the workforce. This seems to be extremely unjust. Why, why should a mother not be able to work part-time, and raise a child? Another question that needs to be asked, is why is it okay for the men to work long hours? The balance in a career and family could be one of the most stressful situations a parent can encounter. The couple who work split-shifts have made the ultimate sacrifice. The father works the night shift and the mother works the day; to make sure their children do not have to spend time at a day care or a sitter. This may not be the best resolution for every family. However, each family needs to separate the work and family. At the end of the day the work needs to be set aside for another day and total focus needs to be directed to the family.

The gender roles that have taken place in the current revolution have made the household a much more complex entity. As described in the past, the household was very simple. The father was the breadwinner and the mother was the caregiver. Post WWII, women began to realize that they are also capable of performing the same task that men are completing and started demanding more opportunities for work. The other factor that played into this revolution was the aspect of inflation. The breadwinner’s dollar was not going as far as it used to, which led to the duel income. As women began to take on fulltime careers, men were aspect to start performing some of the household duties that women used to complete. What has been discovered through research is men have taken on some of the opposites gender roles in the household, but not enough. Many women call coming home from work, their “second Shift.”

Employer’s have to understand the stress and reasonability that people are facing in the world today. Mothers and fathers not only have their careers to pertain to, but also a family, sometimes with children who depend on them. Employers need to become more flexible wit schedules and hours worked through the week. I do not have children, but can say that my kid my play more than one baseball game, but he/she won’t play the game more than once a child that day. Employers need to implement family functions into the careers itself. This was something that was very usual about 10, 15 years ago. I can remember as a child once a month during the summer being able to go to a local theme park which was paid for by my mothers work. Here we got to meet other kids and it was a time where families had the chance to reunite and be thanked by their employer.

The support of family members, neighbors, or friends can make the balance of caregiving much less stressful and painful. As it was showed in the video, many family members were responsible for taking care of other family members on their own. When there are people to help you this can allow you to still run a semi-normal life. One of the main programs that the federal government has implemented for all workers is FMLA. This stands for family medical leave act. If a serious illness occurs to you or one of your family members, you are given time off with pay and the security of your job upon return. The may not last the whole time but allows you to step back from your career to take care of the situation with your fullest cooperation.

Response #3

The process of carework in my household has an equal balance. My fiancé and I both take part in the household chores and responsibilities. As a child, my mother and father both worked fulltime careers, my father is a firefighter and my mother is a nurse. Both of them have very demanding jobs, which took a lot of time to complete. As I was the oldest of their three children, I was given much of the reasonability, of my mother and father when they were not able to be home. I would be in charge of getting my younger bother and sister up and ready for school, packing lunches, locking the door, and many other task. This thought me a lot because I saw the stress that can be caused by having such a heavy workload, and performing well in school along with participating in after school activities.

Now, I am much older and starting a life of my own with someone, I know that the best way to keep both people less stressed and happy is to share the household responsibilities. In my home I do all the cooking, but in return my fiancé will do the cleaning up after dinner. We try to keep the chores equal and do them together. We will both fold clothes, wash dishes, and what I seem to realize is these are great ways for her and I to catch up on our live with each other. We ask each other how there day went, let out frustration from work or school, and remind ourselves that we are in it together and that we are never alone.

The UK and European countries look at work and family care much different than the U.S. The UK has a great program designed to help with the care for their families and themselves. The average vacation time an employee receives from its employer is only two weeks, whereas in Europe and UK, they receive as much as 6 weeks of vacation. The program that helps employee’s joggle work and care is great in many ways; the benefits are both in favor for the employee and the employer. As the video discusses, employee’s who need to take time off from work to deal with family issues, actually are less stressed and perform their job well during this stressful time. The employer benefits because they do not lose and employee and the workload the employee performs. The employer in return does not have to spend more money to rehire a new person, or out source the work because they lost an employee. This also creates loyalty and dedication from the employee; when an employee’s employer is caring and sympathetic in situations, the employee and loyal in return. The program has great purpose and needs to be implemented here in the states.