Many believe that job-family balance is strictly
a time management issue. With many women and men reporting difficulties in
constantly adjusting to the demands of the double duties of employment and
family in an atmosphere of economic insecurity, demanding jobs, and unsupported
workplaces, tradeoffs become essential. Yet inspite of these perceived difficulties,
we do find existence of both single income and double income families. Let us
explore this phenomenon through a lens of an economist.
Economics posits the presence of trade-offs. Studies
indicate the existence of both employment trade-offs and family trade-offs. The former refer to sacrifices that people
make in their jobs because of their family responsibilities and the latter
refers to the other way round. As individuals
offer themselves in the labour market, the benefits accrue through increased
income, increased knowledge and consequent associated higher living standards.
This however results in decreased time spent towards nourishment and guidance
of children. As responsibilities increase, the time allocated to work
increases. This increases results in increasing sacrifice of time towards the
family responsibilities. Both the time spent on work as also on undertaking
family responsibilities yield utility. As we know an individual allocates the
resources towards the basket of goods in a manner that utility from the last
currency unit spent on the good is equal across all the goods in the basket. In
the initial period, leisure is abundant relative to income from work and hence
substitution occurs from time spent on leisure towards increased time on
work. Higher job responsibilities
necessitate the sacrifice of family lives. The leisure becomes relatively
scarce and the substitution stops when the utility gained on the last cost unit
spent on leisure is equal to last cost unit spent on gaining extra income. Further
tradeoffs can be unequal. The costs differ from family to family. People may be
more willing to miss out on a family occasion or unable to do some of their
chores at home rather than be unable to nurse a sick child.
If incomes are lower, then both family
members may opt to work to yield the desired standard of living. If the cost of
both members working in terms of family sacrifices is higher relative to a
single member working, then we possibly see the emergence of single income
family. In a single income family, who should sacrifice the work?. It is the
one with the lowest opportunity cost. Typically, the wife may be the one who
has the lowest opportunity cost to shift to family care from work place and
thus we may find men work while wives stay at home.
In short the family balance in terms of the
staying together, child care, economic insecurity and the career goals
determine the decision to go in for single income or double income families. A
trade off results.
Source:
Sue Falter Mennio et al (Tulane University), “Job-Family trade offs”, Work and Occupation, May 2002 ; Blogs on
Double income families
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