Has women in the work force helped or hurt the family?

[The_Curt_Jester]

It has now been a well established fact that women pursue careers at nearly the same rate as men and they work fulltime at nearly the same rate as men. Those numbers have steadily increased for the last three decades. This has been the case long enough to help us create an informed opinion about the impact of these developments.

So, here are a few questions"

1. Has women working fulltime outside the home been a good or bad development for the American family?

Situations vary, but in general I would say worse. Pushing full-time working, even for married women, college, etc., is a part of the woman’s liberation movement. Does it mean that anyone who works is part of that? No. But it’s partially how we got to where we are. Families with children really need a parent at home and the mother is typically the best for working with them. Full-time work by mothers generally means baby-sitters and schools will be raising the children and not the parents. This is highly detrimental to the family, especially considering the behavior that is prevalent among society now and what is being taught in schools.

Of course, now that it’s standard in our society with both parents working, it’s so ingrained that it’s very difficult to break. Salaries and prices are set so that it almost forces them to work to make ends meet. It’s known that women often were (and are) paid less for the same jobs that men do. This has been used to gradually reduce men’s wage. Two parents working also depletes the work available, so while some families may have two parents working to afford all their possessions and nice lifestyle, there are others that can’t find work…

1. Has our culture improved since women entered the workforce in massive numbers?

No. Our culture has been on one big downhill slope for years. The mindset that both parents have to work so they can have two shiny cars, a huge house (and a boatload of debt) isn’t a bonus for culture. It’s materialism. Again, so many years and this being the norm of society, it’s hard to break off from it and I can see why people believe that everyone has to be working outside the home.

1. Are our children better or worse off?

Worse. What do you think? Children need to be raised by their parents, not dropped off at the baby-sitter for the whole day so they can be picked up in time for dinner and then tucked into bed. I know one person who stated that the baby-sitting expenses and eating out, etc., due to lack of time ate up a LARGE portion of her income. She might as well have just stayed at home with the kids. They needed her more than a few extra dollars anyway. Isn’t family worth more than a few more luxuries that you may have as a result of a job? I have a hard time believing that people don’t regret it years later when they realized how little time they actually had with their own children.

1. Has women working fulltime made this nation stronger, weaker, or no impact?

Weaker. As I said before, women working has been used as a method of lowering wages overall, it reduces the job options for those families that really do need work, and it contributes to the neglect of children who need to be raised by their own family. That last one is the big kicker, really. If children are taken away from the family so much, it stands to reason it’s much harder to raise them properly as good Catholics. Take a look around the world today and see just how our youth are growing up…

1. Have our children become stronger or weaker in the faith?

It certainly seems weaker. I have the privilege to work in a Catholic church and what I have seen from the children is deplorable. It’s hard to believe that some of them are even Catholic at all. The home-schooled children are a noticeable exception. Again, time with parents vs. time with strangers, baby-sitters, and bad examples in public schools.

1. Has entering careers and fulltime work been good or bad for women (and women who are moms)?

In general, bad. Read all the above. When a job becomes priority over family (and face it, it often seems to) is that helpful for a mother? Statistics show that a working mother ends up doing her job, PLUS most of the house work.

So, above answers, of course are in general. There are, obviously situations in which I don’t mind women working. I also think that there are jobs that are more suited to women than men. But there are times to go to work, such as being single, or once children are grown, or perhaps part-time from the home. But a mother’s REAL JOB when the children are growing up is to be taking care of them and NOTHING should replace that.

And on a lighter note, this is detrimental to the men too. Where’s that home-cooked meal waiting for us when we get home from work, huh?!

 

[Warrenton]

Some people might find this interesting -

Some people might find this interesting as well, from the same article:

Within the course of just one month at the end of last year, two major studies were published with different, if not necessarily conflicting, messages for working mothers.

 

[Serap]

Some people might find this interesting as well, from the same article:

Because people have their own personal agendas when publishing research. They will fudge the numbers to their advantage.

This is why I vote for whatever is best for each individual family.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

And on a lighter note, this is detrimental to the men too. Where’s that home-cooked meal waiting for us when we get home from work, huh?!

And the drink, and your slippers???



Well I do cook but hubby pours his own drink.

 

[Warrenton]

Because people have their own personal agendas when publishing research. They will fudge the numbers to their advantage.

 

[The_Curt_Jester]

And the drink, and your slippers???



Well I do cook but hubby pours his own drink.

Actually, I don’t mind cooking myself sometimes. The drink would be nice though.

 

[notredame_999]

I’m just curious and in no way intend to offend you.

Are you a traditionlist Catholic? Do you prefer Latin mass and support pre-Vatican II era?

Do you therefore disagree with Pope JP II’s teachings about working women?

I can’t speak for the poster, but I am a tradionalist Catholic, and I do support the pre-Vatican II era. Can you enlighten me on Pope John Paul II’s teachings about working women?

By the way, how do you feel about Pope Pius XII teachings about working women? I highly suggest them.

 

[child_of_God85]

I don’t think women working can be blamed for the way our children are these days. It’s the media and the whole anything goes that has damaged the way children act.
I think women working is fine. When women have children I don’t think they should quit their jobs.

 

[ChiRho]

I can’t speak for the poster, but I am a tradionalist Catholic, and I do support the pre-Vatican II era. Can you enlighten me on Pope John Paul II’s teachings about working women?

By the way, how do you feel about Pope Pius XII teachings about working women? I highly suggest them.

"We see a woman who, in order to augment her husband’s earnings,
betakes herself also to a factory, leaving her house abandoned
during her absence. The house, untidy and small perhaps before,
becomes even more miserable for lack of care. Members of the
family work separately in four quarters of the city and with
different working hours. Scarcely ever do they find themselves
together for dinner or rest after work–still less for prayer in
common. What is left of family life? And what attractions can it
offer to children?

"To such painful consequences of the absence of the mother from
the home there is added another, still more deplorable. It concerns
the education, especially of the young girl, and her preparation for
real life. Accustomed as she is to see her mother always out of the
house and the house itself so gloomy in its abandonment, she will
be unable to find any attraction for it, she will not feel the
slightest inclination for austere housekeeping jobs. She cannot be
expected to appreciate their nobility and beauty or to wish one day
to give herself to them as a wife and mother.

"This is true in all grades and stations of social life. The daughter
of the worldly woman, who sees all housekeeping left in the hands
of paid help and her mother fussing around with frivolous
occupations and futile amusements, will follow her example, will
want to be emancipated as soon as possible and in the words of a
very tragic phrase ‘to live her own life.’ How could she conceive a
desire to become one day a true lady, that is, the mother of a
happy, prosperous, worthy family?

"As to the working classes, forced to earn daily bread, a woman
might, if she reflected, realize that not rarely the supplementary
wage which she earns by working outside the house is easily
swallowed up by other expenses or even by waste which is ruinous
to the family budget. The daughter who also goes out to work in a
factory or office, deafened by the excited, restless world in which
she lives, dazzled by the tinsel of specious luxury, developing a
thirst for shallow pleasures that distract but do not give satiety or
repose in those revue or dance halls which are sprouting up
everywhere, often for party propaganda purposes and which
corrupt youth, becomes a fashionable lady, despises the old
Nineteenth Century ways of life.

"How could she not feel her modest home surroundings
unattractive and more squalid than they are in reality? To find her
pleasure in them, to desire one day to settle in them herself, she
should be able to offset her natural impressions by a serious
intellectual and spiritual life, by the vigor that comes from
religious education and from supernatural ideals. But what kind of
religious formation has she received in such surroundings?

"And that is not all. When, as the years pass, her mother,
prematurely aged, worn out, and broken by work beyond her
capacity, by sorrow and anxiety, will see her return home at night
at a very late hour, she will not find her a support or a help, but
rather the mother herself will have to wait on a daughter incapable
and unaccustomed to household work, and to perform for her all
the offices of a servant.

“And the lot of the father will not be any better when old age,
sickness, infirmity and unemployment force him to depend for his
meager sustenance on the good or bad will of his children. Here
you have the august holy authority of the father and mother
dethroned.”

~ an excerpt from Pius XII

 

[Serap]

I can’t speak for the poster, but I am a tradionalist Catholic, and I do support the pre-Vatican II era. Can you enlighten me on Pope John Paul II’s teachings about working women?

By the way, how do you feel about Pope Pius XII teachings about working women? I highly suggest them.

I am a huge Pope JP II supporter. “Letter to Women”. That is what I support. I support his teachings on the matter.

Hey we all have our personal opinions on this and we will support whichever teachings (albeit a Pope) to suit our beliefs. It’s human nature.

I was honestly just curious about the previous poster’s stance on pre-Vatican II era. I was not judging; we are all entitled to our own opinions. If someone believes that a woman’s job is in the home, then that’s ok. I just have a differing opinion and my opinion will not change no matter how many “facts” are thrown at me on this thread. I know what’s best for my family and that’s all that matters.

To be honest with you, I don’t particularly have any interest in Pope Pius XII’s teachings b/c Pope JP II’s teachings are most recent (my personal opinion of course).

 

[Serap]

ChiRho:
Sorry ChiRo, I support Vatican II teachings on this matter

I will not change my mind as I believe that the Holy Spirit was talking through Pope JP II in his “Letter to Women”. I believe in Vatican II. The Holy Spirit created Vatican II, so I’ll go with that.

 

[Katie966]

I was honestly just curious about the previous poster’s stance on pre-Vatican II era. I was not judging; we are all entitled to our own opinions. If someone believes that a woman’s job is in the home, then that’s ok. I just have a differing opinion and my opinion will not change no matter how many “facts” are thrown at me on this thread. I know what’s best for my family and that’s all that matters.

To be honest with you, I don’t particularly have any interest in Pope Pius XII’s teachings b/c Pope JP II’s teachings are most recent (my personal opinion of course).

I feel this way too- I think that Pius XII was responding to a different time and culture, where the issues were not quite the same. Not to say that none of his thoughts are applicable, but the circumstances of women and families in general are very different today, and even Pius XII might make some revisions if he were around now.

I stand by my opinion that what works for one family is not necessarily what is best for another. So making a generalized statement that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that women who work outside the home are somehow responsible for the downfall of society, I think takes things too far and is narrow-minded.

 

[Serap]

I feel this way too- I think that Pius XII was responding to a different time and culture, where the issues were not quite the same. Not to say that none of his thoughts are applicable, but the circumstances of women and families in general are very different today, and even Pius XII might make some revisions if he were around now.

I stand by my opinion that what works for one family is not necessarily what is best for another. So making a generalized statement that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that women who work outside the home are somehow responsible for the downfall of society, I think takes things too far and is narrow-minded.

Very narrow minded indeed.

I have been extremely supportive of SAHM full-time mothers/housekeepers on this thread and I have noticed that the people who believe that a WM is bad, have been quite judgemental and kinda mean.

SAHMs are amazing women. WMs are amazing women. Mothers are amazing women. Mothers sacrifice a great deal for their children.

Hail mothers!!! You are all full of grace.

 

[ChiRho]

I feel this way too- I think that Pius XII was responding to a different time and culture, where the issues were not quite the same. Not to say that none of his thoughts are applicable

what parts do you think are applicable?

So making a generalized statement that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that women who work outside the home are somehow responsible for the downfall of society, I think takes things too far and is narrow-minded.

except no one has said that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that those who work are responsible for the downfall of society. People have expressly stated that it is usually ideal if women are home more often, not that she can never work. Circumstances and individual abilities may vary. Most of the statements in this thread have been nuanced, aside from the horn tooting and defensiveness, and characterizing them through a great over-generalization as narrow-minded is ironic.

 

[Katie966]

what parts do you think are applicable?

I think the general idea that family life can become neglected if a family’s priorities are not straight is applicable to any family, in any generation. Of course, I think that this can happen even when a mother is home as well.

except no one has said that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that those who work are responsible for the downfall of society. People have expressly stated that it is usually ideal if women are home more often, not that she can never work. Circumstances and individual abilities may vary. Most of the statements in this thread have been nuanced, aside from the horn tooting and defensiveness, and characterizing them through a great over-generalization as narrow-minded is ironic.

Actually, there were several posters who responded with a simple “bad” to the question “Has women working fulltime outside the home been a good or bad development for the American family?” I think this is way too general. The question itself is a giant over-simplification. Most of the people on here have indicated that they think each family’s situation is unique. However, there are a few who refuse to acknowledge this, and make broad sweeping statements about what women should or should not be doing.

 

[Warrenton]

I just have a differing opinion and my opinion will not change no matter how many “facts” are thrown at me…

?!?!?!

 

[Warrenton]

Most of the people on here have indicated that they think each family’s situation is unique. However, there are a few who refuse to acknowledge this, and make broad sweeping statements about what women should or should not be doing.

The two are not necessarily contradictory. On one hand, all families are unique. But on the other, society does improve or worsen, or at least, aspects of it do, and the trend depends on the broad conduct of masses of people.

That is why questions of “what is best” or “what should people do” are usually answered generally, as in “it is wrong to kill or neighbor.” Everyone understands that in exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary.

 

[ChiRho]

Actually, there were several posters who responded with a simple “bad” to the question “Has women working fulltime outside the home been a good or bad development for the American family?” I think this is way too general. The question itself is a giant over-simplification. Most of the people on here have indicated that they think each family’s situation is unique. However, there are a few who refuse to acknowledge this, and make broad sweeping statements about what women should or should not be doing.

saying something has been a bad development (meaning generally so) does not mean it has been 100% bad with no advantages. I don’t think anyone would try to say that. There are very, very few things which are 100% bad in life, and you simply have to work with whether or not it is a majority good or majority bad, and plan accordingly. Once again, if a statement is made about “the family”, the question has to be answered generally.

It’s not even always wise to treat every situation individually because its: a. impossible to do on a large scale and b. assumes that every single family is so uniquely different that they can never be compared to or take advice from how another family or culture functions. That is not to discount that there might be circumstances where what is generally true is not true for a specific family, but the danger in immediately discounting general advice is the attitude “oh, that doesn’t apply to me” and ignoring that the general principles which promote a family best really don’t change.

 

[Serap]

what parts do you think are applicable?

except no one has said that all women should work exclusively in the home, or that those who work are responsible for the downfall of society. People have expressly stated that it is usually ideal if women are home more often, not that she can never work. Circumstances and individual abilities may vary. Most of the statements in this thread have been nuanced, aside from the horn tooting and defensiveness, and characterizing them through a great over-generalization as narrow-minded is ironic.

Actually, that’s not entirely true…I have read over and over that women should be in the home point blank.

 

[Serap]

?!?!?!

Meaning that everyone will go on the internet and present facts to back up their own claims.

example: There are websites that state working mothers set a good example for their daughters and their are websites that say otherwise. Each website would also have statistics and research to back up their claims.

I have formed my opinion based on my own experiences and expectations of life. Others have formed their opinions based on their experiences, etc.

How about we just blame it all on Dr. Spock? He seems like a better scapegoat than working women don’t you think