Recently,
some friends were at my home and a conversation ensued about everyone’s
jobs. One person in particular, a
relatively recent college grad, commented on the numbers of hours she was
working. She commented that many of the
other employees have to leave early or at a specific time because they have
children at home and it wasn’t fair that she was left “picking up their slack.” As a working mother myself that made me very
sad and made me wonder if that is what my co-workers think of me. My work schedule is dictated by my child care
schedule. Often time working parents
utilize daycare for their children while they are at work. Daycares charge sizeable fees if you are late
picking up your child which become a burden on the family. Not to mention the need for a child to spend
time with their parents. School aged children
get off the bus at a specific time often necessitating for a parent to be home
to meet them. As a mother my first responsibility
is to my family conversely as an employee it is expected my first responsibility
be to my employer.
There is a
lot of discussion surrounding work life balance. What is work life balance? America is one of the only industrialized countries
where such little emphasis is placed on the family. According to the Center
for American Progress, 90 percent of working mothers and 95 percent of
working fathers report work-family conflict. The idea of the 40 hour work week and leaving
work at the office seem to be a thing of the past. Marriages are currently toting only a 50-60%
success rate and the number of marriages per year is also declining. I find these statistics both troubling and
telling. It appears as the demands of
the work force are increasing the focus on the individual and the family is
declining. Online dating has become a
norm, even finding a partner has become streamlined due to people having less
free time. The expectations of the
individual to the company are usually very defined through job descriptions,
annual goals ect., however what responsibility do companies have to their
employees? It appears to me this is
often less defined.
Why should
my co-worker who does not have children have more pressure placed on them to put
more hours in at the office? They as an individual
need time to grow and explore their interests.
If I put my family first is it
going to stall my career? Should I pick up the computer and work instead of
playing in the yard with my kids? I’ve
heard of my co-workers reading reports to their young children as a bedtime
story or answering emails when up for a midnight feeding with the baby.
I personally
struggle with the balance. Isn’t the
goal in doing a good job to get rewarded and promoted? In my experience you need to go above and
beyond your expected job goals to advance in the workplace. If the expectations of my employer are that
which are detrimental to my family I am forced with a choice. I want to be successful in my career but I
also want to be a good mother. I ask
myself looking back on my life will I be more upset if I miss this time with my
kids or will I be more upset that I didn’t get a specific promotion? The answer is often to put work aside and
spend the time with my family but I also feel like my career is in a holding
pattern as a result.
Will the
struggle ever change? I hope for my kids
it does. If not for me, for them. If we continue in this direction the family
as we know it is going to be a thing of the past. No one should ever feel like they have to
work 70 hours a week just to be successful.
I wonder with people working that many hours, how many of them are truly
productive or are people so worn out they can’t get as much done. I hope the family and the individual become
more of a focus. I’m going to continue
to struggle with the balance every day, I love my family and I love my career
and they are going to remain in competition for my time.
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