Outline the major problems faced in dual-earner marriages, and note why the second shift most often is a problem for women

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

In 2013, over 50 percent of all marriages in the United States are dual-earner marriages

—marriages in which both spouses are in the labor force. Many married women leave their paid employment at the end of the day and then go home to perform hours of housework and child care. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild refers to this as the "second shift" —the domestic work that employed women perform at home after they complete their workday on the job. Thus, many married women today contribute to the economic well-being of their families and also meet many, if not all, of the domestic needs of family members by cooking, cleaning, shopping, taking care of children, and managing household routines. In recent years, more husbands have attempted to share some of the household and child-care responsibilities,. Overall, when husbands share some of the household responsibilities, they typically spend much less time in these activities than do their wives. Couples with more egalitarian ideas about women's and men's roles tend to share more equally in food preparation, housework, and child care.

In the United States, millions of parents rely on child care so that they can work and so that their young children can benefit from early educational experiences that will help in their future school endeavors. In the United States, child-care arrangements are a reflection of the class system. In the upper-income categories, preschool age children of working mothers are more likely to be cared for in their own homes by nannies or governesses. Middle-income families with working mothers typically send preschoolers to day-care centers or family day- care, which takes place in the home of the caregiver. In low-income families, most preschoolers with working mothers are taken care of by nonparental relatives.