Families That Work Children in a Changing World (1982) / Chapter Skim
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A TIME OF TRANSITION
A TIME OF TRANSITION
Pages 1-36
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PARTI A Time of Transition
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The form of the family is changing and with it the roles and relationships among family members. Increasingly during the past 10 years, women, including women with children, are working or looking for work outside the home, while the proportion of men in the labor force has actually fallen somewhat.1 Changes in patterns of labor force participation have been accompanied by dramatic changes in family structure.
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Our objective was to map the domain -- to define the significant linkages between and among work, family, and formal and informal community institutions as they affect children's daily experiences. We believe that recent trends in labor force participation will very likely continue.
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Most importantly, however, the "subtle revolution" has significant implications for children. Of all issues associated with changing patterns of labor force participation and changes in family structure, those concerning the care and nurture of future generations have caused the most controversy.
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MAPPING THE DOMAIN: OUR APPROACH TO THE STUDY The Panel on Work, Family, and Community was established to review the current state of knowledge about how families, various formal and informal community institutions, the workplace, and the marketplace have adapted to changing patterns of labor force participation and related changes in family structure and with what consequences for children. In order to accomplish this objective, the panel undertook several related tasks.
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The Conceptual Framework We began with the premise that recent widespread changes in labor force participation and family structure are likely to have far-reaching implications in our society for the future of both its institutions and its children. As a first step in identifying and understanding these implications, the panel developed a conceptual framework that relates changes in the workplace, in family life, and in the roles of formal and informal community institutions to the status of children living in different circumstances in our society.
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cS .! | H 1 C c §"'" In" O IM LT c u c E s .- o .a o c U tg -- C U '> ^ Child Ou-cri Differert Sei Farily/hrre care/preschr' righbrhrr Relevant Oui Physical ard crgri-ive de\ srrali-y char -udes ard va aspira-irs a educa-iral 1 Is -S 5 1 C 'S c S f « Is uf: '?
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that result from children's experiences in the different settings in which they spend time (e.g., family/home, school, day care/ preschool, peer groups, neighborhood, workplace)
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We made several efforts to commission papers on adaptations by schools and other formal and informal community institutions (e.g., churches, social service agencies, neighborhood groups)
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It also presents a brief sketch of the policy and research issues that have arisen from changing patterns of work. In Part II the existing data and research on the ways in which the workplace, families, and community institutions are responding to these social phenomena and their consequences for children are reviewed in a series of papers.
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Moreover, a greater number of children will spend more time each day in the care and company of individuals other than their parents. In the remainder of this chapter, we present data concerning changes during the past decade in labor force participation -- especially among women with children -- changes in family structure, changes in family income, and changes in the settings where children spend time.
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Those with school-age children are more likely to be working than those with preschool-age children; however, the rate of increase in labor force participation by women has been far greater for mothers of preschoolage children. Following the historic pattern, however, black mothers with husbands present, unlike their single-parent counterparts, are more likely to be in the labor force than white or Hispanic mothers in this category (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1980)
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14 A TIME OF TRANSITION TABLE 2-1 Children by Age, Type of Family, and Labor Force Status of Mother: 1970 and 1980" (Numbers in Thousands) 1970 1980 Change from 1970 to 1980 Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent All children under 18 65,755 100.0 58,107 100.0 - 7,648 -- years Mother in labor 25,554 38.9 30,663 52.8 5,108 35.7 force Mother not in labor 39,550 60.1 26,493 47.2 - 13,057 -38.1 force Children in married58,399 100.0 46,829 100.0 -11,570 -- couple families Mother in labor 21,982 37.6 24,218 51.7 2,236 -37.5 force Mother not in labor 36,417 62.4 22,611 48.3 - 13,806 -19.4 force Children in families 6,695 100.0 10,327 100.0 3,632 -- maintained by women Mother in labor 3,562 53.2 6,445 62.4 2,883 17.3 force Mother not in labor 3,133 46.8 3,882 37.6 749 -19.6 force All children 6-17 years Mother in labor 46,149 19,954 100.0 43.2 40,688 23,196 100.0 57.0 - 5,461 force 3,242 31.9 Mother not in labor 25,627 56.8 16,722 43.0 - 8,905 -24.3 force Children in married40,479 100.0 32,150 100.0 - 8,329 -- couple families Mother in labor 17,035 42.1 18,032 56.1 997 33.2 force Mother not in labor 23,444 57.9 14,118 43.9 - 9,326 -24.2 force Children in families 5,102 100.0 7,768 100.0 2,666 -- maintained by women Mother in labor 2.919 57.2 5,164 66.5 2,245 16.2 force Mother not in labor 2,183 42.8 2,604 33.5 421 -21.7 force All children under 6 19,606 100.0 17,418 100.0 - 2,188 years*
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. Although the proportion of single-parent families headed by fathers has increased only slightly during the past decade, the labor force participation rate among men in this group has declined somewhat.
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Mother in labor 25,510 52.0 4,485 57.4 2,064 44.2 force Mother not in 22,780 46.4 3,172 40.6 2,540 54.3 labor force Children in mar49,915 100.0 3,864 100.0 3,657 100.0 ried-couple families Mother in labor 21,235 50.7 2,395 62.0 1,611 44.1 force Mother not in 20,680 49.3 1,470 38.0 2,046 55.9 labor force Children in fami6,376 100.0 3,792 100.0 947 100.0 lies maintained by women Mother in labor 4,275 67.0 2,090 55.1 453 47.8 force Mother not in 2,100 32.9 1,702 44.9 494 52.2 labor force All children 6-17 34,295 100.0 5,562 100.0 3,012 100.0 years* Mother in labor 19,380 56.5 3,326 59.8 1,447 48.0 force Mother not in 14,280 41.6 2,121 38.1 1,510 50.1 labor force Children in mar28,767 100.0 2,683 100.0 2,323 100.0 ried-couple families Mother in labor 15,891 55.2 1,714 63.9 1,107 47.7 force Mother not in 12,876 44.8 968 36.1 1,216 52.3 labor force Children in fami4,894 100.0 2,764 100.0 634 100.0 lies maintained by women Mother in labor 3,490 71.3 1,613 58.3 340 53.6 force Mother not in 1,404 28.7 1,152 41.7 295 46.5 labor force
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c Data for children under 3 years old cannot be computed separately. SOURCE: Unpublished data from Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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. It is highest, 10.2 percent, among single-parent mothers with children under 3 years (unpublished data, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1981)
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TABLE 2-4 Unemployment of Mothers in the Labor Force, by Marital Status and Age of Children: 1980 (Numbers in Thousands) With Children Under 18 Years Total 6-17 Years 3-5 Years Under 3 Years Total mothers 30,927 17,347 5,311 8,269 In labor force 17,493 11,168 2,880 3,445 Labor force participation rate 56.6 64.4 54.2 41.7 Unemployment rate 6.9 5.3 8.1 10.9 Mothers in married-couple families 24,829 13,561 4,201 7,067 In labor force 13,447 8,381 2,161 2,906 Labor force participation rate 54.2 61.8 51.4 41.1 Unemployment rate 5.7 4.3 7.0 8.8 Mothers maintaining their own families" 9,463 6,277 1,672 1,513 In labor force 6,541 4,711 1,120 710 Labor force participation rate 69.1 75.1 67.0 46.9 Unemployment rate 6.8 5.8 7.2 10.2 " Includes married mothers whose husbands were absent, and divorced, widowed, and never-married mothers.
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. The increasing number of children in single-parent families largely reflects a rapidly rising divorce rate, although rising illegitimacy, particularly among teenage mothers, also contributes.
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, Bureau of Labor Statistics (1980) , unpublished data from Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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SOURCE: Unpublished data from Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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. Therefore, although causal relationships have not been clearly established, changing patterns of labor force participation and family structure would seem to be linked.
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. Although the earnings of wives in black and Hispanic families are not substantially lower than those of their white counterparts, white children in two-parent families benefit from higher median family incomes.
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However, they were not on the average as economically advantaged as children in two-parent families, regardless of their mothers' labor force status. In 1980, among children in single-parent families in which the mother worked, the median family income was less than half that of all married-couple families and less than $2,000 above the poverty threshold for a nonfarm family of four ($7,412)
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More than 42 percent of all black children under 18 years of age and more than 33 percent of all Hispanic children live in poor families. Although the rate of poverty has declined substantially during the past decade among both white and minority children living in twoparent families, among black and Hispanic children in female-headed families the problems of poverty have become more pronounced.
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. CHANGES IN THE SETTINGS WHERE CHILDREN SPEND TIME As family structure and work patterns have changed, so do the settings where children spend time.
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are more likely than three- to five-year-olds to receive care in their own homes or in family TABLE 2-9 Preschool Enrollment by Age of Child Percentage Enrolled in School Age of Child 1969 1979 3 9 23 4 23 46 5 69 93" " 80 percent in kindergarten, 4 percent in nursery school, 9 percent in first grade. SOURCE: Bureau of the Census (1981b)
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. In contrast, children of full-time working mothers are more likely to spend time in day-care centers (18.8 percent versus 29.8 percent)
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Hispanic children below the age of five are less likely to be enrolled in school than black or white children. Black children between the ages of three and four are the most likely to be enrolled in preprimary school; by the age of five, when kindergarten typically begins, black and white participation is about the same (Bureau of the Census, 1981b)
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TABLE 2-10 School Enrollment by Level of School, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1970 and 1980° (Numbers in Thousands) Percent Change White Black Hispanic 1970-1980 School Level 1970 1980 1970 1980 1970 1980 White Black Hispanic Nursery School 893 1 ,637 178 294 62 146 83.3 65.2 51.4 Kindergarten 2 2 ,706 ,595 426 490 263 184 -4.1 15.0 42.9 28 22 Elementary ,638 ,510 4,868 4,259 1,805 2,363 -21.4 -12.5 30.9 School High School 12 ,723 12 ,056 1,834 2,200 608 1,048 -5.2 20.0 72.4 " Civilian noninstitutional population.
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There has been a significant decline in the proportion of families with children and a decline in the numbers of children such families have. Family income has risen for married-couple families in which the wife-mother has entered or reentered the labor force.
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Moreover, the consequences of changing patterns of work and family structure for children may vary for those of different ages, sexes, races, and ethnic backgrounds; for those living with one parent and those living with two parents; for only children and those with siblings; for children in families that are poor and those that are affluent; and for children in families that are socially and physically isolated and those with close ties to the community and with relatives and friends nearby. The issues of how changing patterns of work and related changes in family structure affect children are complex and interrelated.
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The community institutions with which children interact in their daily lives are many and varied. They include schools, churches, community social service agencies, recreational facilities, libraries, day-care facilities, and neighborhood groups and associations.
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In Part II of this volume, we review the relevant social science research on the effects of changes in the work patterns arid work status of parents and related changes in family structure; on how families function, both as a socialization system and as an economic system; on how employers have adapted to the changing family responsibilities of their employees; and on how children themselves have been affected, both in their school performance and in their attitudes about the world in which they live. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Abt Associates (1978)
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(1980) Trends in the labor force participation of women.
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