Chapter 13

1.) Chapter 13, “Balancing Work and Family Life,” discusses:

· The Significance of Work

· Work: physical or mental activity that accomplishes or produces something, either goods or services

· Work in the Contemporary United States

· Deindustrialization, Globalization, and Offshoring

· Deindustrialization: a process of social and economic change resulting from the reduction of industrial activity, especially manufacturing

· Globalization: the growth and spread of investment, trade, production, communication, and new technology around the world

· Offshoring: the sending of work or jobs to another country to cut a company’s costs at home

· Social Class, Wealth, and Income

· Wealth: the money and economic assets that a person or family owns

· Income: the amount of money a person receives, usually through wages or salaries, but may come from other areas

· How the Economy Affects Families

· Low-Wage Jobs and Nonstandard Work Hours

· Part-Time Work

· Unemployment

· Poverty

· Homelessness

· Women’s Participation in the Labor Force

· Changes in Women’s Employment

· Why Do More Women Work?

· Are More Women Leaving the Workplace?

· Economic Roles Within Marriage

· The Two-Person Single Career

· One spouse participates in the partner’s career behind the scenes, without pay or direct recognition

· Stay-at-Home Dads

· Two-Income Families

· Dual-Earner versus Dual-Career Families

· Trailing Spouses

· Commuter Marriages

· When Wives Earn More

· Inequality in the Workplace

· Women and Minorities in the Workplace

· The Gender Pay Gap

· Sexual Harassment

· Families and Work Policies

· Bringing Babies to Work, Flextime, and Telecommuting

· The Pregnancy Penalty

· Family and Medical Leave Policies

· Care for Dependents

2.) The most important point I received from reading this chapter was to be happy for what I do have and don’t dwell so much on what I want or “need.” I’m better off than a lot of people in this country and sometimes I forget that when I’m dwelling on what I need to buy or what I want, and I lose sight of the big picture. We all know that we’re better off but sometimes it takes coming face-to-face with it or reading about poverty/homelessness to make you snap back to reality and realize how life could be a lot worse.

3.) I found it interesting how some company policies allow employees to care for babies in the workplace. To me, it seems as though this policy would decrease productivity because you have a Mom or Dad taking time away from their work to care for the baby, and the co-workers in the vicinity may also become annoyed and less productive if the baby is fussy or crying. What is your opinion on this policy?