Valeurs De Famille
A few statistics to chew on:
Americans work an average of 1,966 hours annually. More than any other industrialized country.
According to a 1997 study of families with working mothers, 41% of children under 5 years of age spend 35 or more hours a week in non-parental care.
Over the past thirty years, working couples lost an average of 22 hours a week of family and personal time.
Nearly 20% of children between the ages of 5 and 14 have to regularly care for themselves.
For married couples with children under 6 where both parents work, the total number of combined hours worked rose 16 hours a week between 1969 and 1998.
There's something wrong here. In this country we constantly hear the phrase "family values" from political, corporate, and religious leaders, yet the statistics reveal that our priorities include everything but what's good for our families and children. The United States is a country of stressed-out working parents who increasingly feel that in order to maintain their career they must spend more time at work pleasing management and stockholders rather than seeing to the needs of their spouse and children.
Why are we headed in this direction? We like to talk a lot about strengthening family and home life, yet our leaders will not encourage these behaviors at the cost of decreased profits and productivity.
In his New York Times column, Paul Krugman highlights one European country that actually supports the family institution with tangible policies and laws. French workers have shorter work weeks and longer vacations, a result of government regulations that allow families there to spend more time together. The trade-off is a lower income, but since they have learned not to be such voracious and mindless consumers, the money is never missed. And besides, what price would you place on time spent with your family?
I've heard of corporate workers in the US who are actually afraid of taking their vacation time. Their fear is that they will somehow be punished for having a life outside of work. These fears are rarely allayed by management, which rewards the aggressive careerist who toils the long hours with little regard for family, friends, illness or stress.
Honestly, I'm surprised more people don't rise up and demand a change in our cultural priorities. Why are we not shocked that working hours have increased so dramatically over the past few decades? Why are we not angry that so much importance is placed on the health of our corporations while we turn a blind eye to the health of the American family?
Right now there is nothing that demands our attention more than our families, our children, and our own peace of mind. Americans like to say that we lead the world in areas such as health care, technology, agriculture, and human rights, but when it comes to the subject of family values, we have a lot of catching up to do.
There's something wrong here. In this country we constantly hear the phrase "family values" from political, corporate, and religious leaders, yet the statistics reveal that our priorities include everything but what's good for our families and children. The United States is a country of stressed-out working parents who increasingly feel that in order to maintain their career they must spend more time at work pleasing management and stockholders rather than seeing to the needs of their spouse and children.
Why are we headed in this direction? We like to talk a lot about strengthening family and home life, yet our leaders will not encourage these behaviors at the cost of decreased profits and productivity.
In his New York Times column, Paul Krugman highlights one European country that actually supports the family institution with tangible policies and laws. French workers have shorter work weeks and longer vacations, a result of government regulations that allow families there to spend more time together. The trade-off is a lower income, but since they have learned not to be such voracious and mindless consumers, the money is never missed. And besides, what price would you place on time spent with your family?
I've heard of corporate workers in the US who are actually afraid of taking their vacation time. Their fear is that they will somehow be punished for having a life outside of work. These fears are rarely allayed by management, which rewards the aggressive careerist who toils the long hours with little regard for family, friends, illness or stress.
Honestly, I'm surprised more people don't rise up and demand a change in our cultural priorities. Why are we not shocked that working hours have increased so dramatically over the past few decades? Why are we not angry that so much importance is placed on the health of our corporations while we turn a blind eye to the health of the American family?
Right now there is nothing that demands our attention more than our families, our children, and our own peace of mind. Americans like to say that we lead the world in areas such as health care, technology, agriculture, and human rights, but when it comes to the subject of family values, we have a lot of catching up to do.
Permalink posted by Phil at 12:09 AM
3 Comments:
Phil, I totally agree and of course write about this topic a lot on my site. I strongly believe that "family values" is nothing but a front to attract voters.
But neither party has been working very hard recently to help families nor will they anytime soon. That's because "working parents" don't have time to be fighting for their rights. They're too busy at work and sitting stuck on roads long ago too small.
I've heard friends say that the culture we live is intentional: this is what this nation's leadership and intelligentsia want. Why? Because leaders don't want the the vast majority mucking up the money-power complex that currently exists.
I know this is heretical to some people, but neither party is motivated to help the average person. They are their for themselves, and those who enter the political arena with pure intentions are either co-opted or defanged as quickly as possible.
Amen, Phil.
One of the (many) clues that I was supposed to leave my career and join my family, was when I got promoted past the rank and file into management. When I looked at the few above me, the corporate A-team who had reached the company's 90th percentile. . . I saw enless strings of divorces, broken families, and family failures. Almost every one of these men had failed in his family life almost as spectacularly as he'd succeeded in his corporate life.
We live in a One Or The Other Society, you can't have success in both family and corporate life. It is sad, but I'm glad I figured out the rules at the young age of 35 so I could make my decisions accordingly.
Thanks for a rockin' post. Some days a Stay at Homeschool Dad needs some positive reinforcement.
Well I don't have kids yet, but I can't imagine how we could afford kids if my husband and I both don't work. The only large payment we have that isn't a necessity is my husbands car. He could downgrade and cut out about $150, but that's it.
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