Today in class we asked the question "Does the mother working cause her to have fewer children or does having fewer children cause the mother to work?" (...or something along those lines) and I thought this question had some application to my whole "6 of 9" deal.
At first I was thinking, "Well, a mother wouldn't need to go to work if she had fewer children to provide for..." but then I double guessed myself.
Because, you see, my mom had 9 kids, and never worked. My best friend's mom had 10 kids and she never worked. And thinking on both of these amazing, strong women, I realized that perhaps the number of children could, indeed, influence the decision to work. A woman with less children would be done raising them sooner, for sure, and could then go to work as a source of fulfillment once they had all moved out while a woman with more kids would spend more of their life caring for children (like, my mom's in her mid-50s and still has a 10-year-old in the house). But also, I think that women who have lots of children do so because they are dedicated to them. They see bringing children into this world as their first priority. Because of that, they are less likely to go to work and more likely to spend more time raising their many children.
Not saying that if you are a working mother means that you don't love your children, or that the number of children you have is correlated to the amount of love you feel for them, just that the number of children one has CAN influence the decision to go to work.
Just another thought I had.
:)
Monday, April 29, 2013
Alright, now for the interesting stuff...
Over the weekend, I had the chance to study a long list of social changes happening in the modern world that have some significant implications for the family. They are as follows:
1) Premarital Sex ^
2) Births out of Wedlock ^
3) Living Alone ^
4) Cohabitation ^
5) Delayed Marriage
6) Birth Rate Falling
7) Household Size Falling
8) Employed Mothers ^
9) Divorce ^
("^" means that the rates are going up)
Now, while some might not seem very significant or detrimental to family life (like, more people are living alone, so what? Or waiting to get married--is that such a big deal?), follow my lead and take another look. Upon inspection, all these trends are so closely related and interconnected that they all affect each other. For example, take the fact that people are waiting longer to get married. Why could that be seen as a problem?
Well, women that wait till 26/27/28 to get married (because, say, they are too dedicated to their career) might find that their biological window for having kids is a lot smaller now and, therefore, won't be able to have as many kids. This contributes to the falling birth rate and household sizes, as well as to more lonely, unsatisfied people.
Also, WHY are people delaying marriage? Several of these patterns apply to this question as well. Because premarital sex and cohabitation are common practices now-a-days, people can get some of the benefits and pleasures from being married without having to make that commitment.
And that was just one example. See if you can find more connections between these social changes and how they can effect the future of families of the United States.
Till Next Time!
1) Premarital Sex ^
2) Births out of Wedlock ^
3) Living Alone ^
4) Cohabitation ^
5) Delayed Marriage
6) Birth Rate Falling
7) Household Size Falling
8) Employed Mothers ^
9) Divorce ^
("^" means that the rates are going up)
Now, while some might not seem very significant or detrimental to family life (like, more people are living alone, so what? Or waiting to get married--is that such a big deal?), follow my lead and take another look. Upon inspection, all these trends are so closely related and interconnected that they all affect each other. For example, take the fact that people are waiting longer to get married. Why could that be seen as a problem?
Well, women that wait till 26/27/28 to get married (because, say, they are too dedicated to their career) might find that their biological window for having kids is a lot smaller now and, therefore, won't be able to have as many kids. This contributes to the falling birth rate and household sizes, as well as to more lonely, unsatisfied people.
Also, WHY are people delaying marriage? Several of these patterns apply to this question as well. Because premarital sex and cohabitation are common practices now-a-days, people can get some of the benefits and pleasures from being married without having to make that commitment.
And that was just one example. See if you can find more connections between these social changes and how they can effect the future of families of the United States.
Till Next Time!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Hey guys!
Just an introduction of my blog here (as well as a post to test if people are able to comment). This blog was originally started for my Family Relations class and will be where I can comment or discuss impressions and bits of information I find interesting as I complete this semester. I love learning about families and their relationships with each other, so I'm really excited for this course! Feel free to comment on any and all of my posts, just remember to be respectful to other people's views and cultures as I endeavor to do the same.
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