Blog # 3

Care work is described in the clips as all the unpaid labor it takes to raise a family. This can include raising children, taking care of elders, maintaining family relations, and the basic daily duties. My family is a “traditional” middle to upper class family. My father is self-employed and my mother has been a stay at home mom since I was born. I am the oldest in my family followed by two younger sisters. Before I was born my mom had a successful job, but my Dad wanted her to enjoy being a mother and not have to work. I couldn’t imagine what my childhood would have been like if my mom wasn’t always there to bring me my lunch when I forgot it or pick me up when I was sick. Recently since the economy has been hurting my mother has gone back to work. Although it has been 21 years since she has worked in the public, her time as a mother has not been easy. Even though my mom only works part time and my dad works full time when he can my mother is still responsible for all the care work in my family.

“Juggling Work and Care” talked about the efforts being made in the UK to help care work employers in companies succeed. In the UK they carefully addressed that when large groups of woman join the workforce the standard of raising a family is lowered. The more woman work the more they feel they have to keep up with the house to compensate for being the number one bread winner. The UK has really started to ask the important questions of what is more essential woman’s right to work or woman’s right to raise a family the way she wants.

Society needs to reconstruct their notions that household work like laundry, raising children, cooking, cleaning, and shopping are not only woman’s work. Men are just as capable of doing this work as well. As more and more woman our going to work to help manage families financially, males should step up in the households to keep the family lifestyle balanced.