History Term Paper

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Cerritos College *

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100

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History

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Oct 30, 2023

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Herrera1 Sean Herrera History 103 26 June 2021 Term Paper Assignment: Mothers, Work, and Family, 1950-2000 The United States today sees that working mothers are heroes, but throughout history, they have been demonized by men, their instincts being questioned by society and regarded as sacred. Their guilt is brought back on themselves when they spend most of their time with their children. Mothers with small children who worked outside of home only amounted to 19 percent by the 1950s. Working mothers with older children have become common. However, the attitude does not match reality. Roughly 16 percent of Americans believe mothers working full time are ideal for children. Yet, a third favored mothers as full-time stay at home moms while only 42% believed part-time would be ideal. In the 21st century, mothers began spending more time with their kids compared to the 60s and 50s. By 1965, mothers were spending 10 hours a week with their children. But around 2000, the hours increased to 12 despite the number of working hours increasing. The aspect of increased affection for children was compared in 2000 to how much mothers showed their love in the 1950s. As motherhood became privatized close to 2000, much concern for children's welfare has raised concern from the government. Mother’s worries have changed, and her attitude towards solving childcare problems has also changed. During the 1950s and 60s, mothers had few legal rights to speak of. But as the 21st century approaches, they are increasingly participating in the movement to raise questions. Such as their own values and rights to participate more in the welfare of their children as well as be more actively involved in politics. Lately duties and responsibilities of family members have undergone some major

Herrera2 changes. Not only were women providing less financial assets to their families but weren’t as actively involved in financial planning and decision making. Even so, not only is it acceptable, it's expected that women in a relationship participate in all decisions about finance or any major decisions. As men and women reach new levels of equity in the labor force, strains can be shown on family life as raising children and leading a successful marriage has become more difficult as “a new national survey has found that after nearly a generation of sharing the workplace and renegotiating domestic duties, most men and women agree that Increased gender equity has enriched both sexes. But both also believe that the strains of this relatively new world have made building successful marriages , raising children and leading satisfying lives ever more difficult .... ” 1 (Capstone 344). Children of this generation have seen parental arrangements unheard of in the past half-century. In 1998, only 51.7 percent of children lived in such households. But in 1973, 73 percent lived with both parents who were married. While both men and women work out arrangements to best fit each other they seem to lack understanding as to how to best come to those arrangements given how much the politics have changed over the decades. Even though the women stay home and take care of the children can be easier for one but many find it “surprisingly, although men and women agreed they should have equal work opportunities, and men said they approved of women working outside the home, large majorities of both said it would be better if women could instead stay home and just take care of the house and children .... ” 2 (Capstone 344). Moreover, the arguments against women attempting to build successful careers and be mothers at the same time have harmful effects on their children and spouses. However, it is not to say that men can’t also share the responsibility that comes with 1 Morin, Richard and Megan Rosenfeld. "With More Equity, More Sweat; Poll shows Sexes Agree on Pros and Cons of New Roles Series: REALITY CHECK: THE GENDER REVOLUTION Series Number: 1/5: [FINAL Edition]." The Washington Post, Mar 22, 1998 2 Morin, Richard and Megan Rosenfeld. "With More Equity, More Sweat; Poll shows Sexes Agree on Pros and Cons of New Roles Series: REALITY CHECK: THE GENDER REVOLUTION Series Number: 1/5: [FINAL Edition]." The Washington Post, Mar 22, 1998

Herrera3 having children and it is said “most men in the polls said they were happy to share child care and domestic chores with wives who work outside the home. Yet household duties remain sharply divided along gender lines. Working mothers still do twice as much housework as their husbands, and more than half of all women questioned expressed at least some dissatisfaction with the amount of help their husbands provide around the house .... ” 3 (Capstone 344). A woman's true place is home is the kind of mentality largely both men and women have come to outgrow. American families see marriages wane as the past generation underwent major changes. It evolves generations and more in the coming century. As families move their household away from a traditional family structure with the working dad, and children under the care of the mom. Seen as a strain on both adults and children in the family structure causes families to strain relationships with each other. “….rather than emphasizing their differences and blaming many of life's problems on each other, men and women share a sense of conflict and confusion about how to make it all work under today's pressures. To a large extent, the politics of resentment have become the politics of fatigue .... In important ways, the survey suggests that we have yet to find new patterns of living that recognize the real workloads of two-career couples with children, and some resentment, nostalgia and fatigue are reflected in the survey results .... ” 4 (Capstone 344). A long running tradition of women’s focus mainly mothering their children. Interpreted that their children will be better off when their mother provides constant support and attention. It is becoming more and more obvious that the attention of parents is equally important to the normal development and success of the child. In the 1950s there was an expectation of women to stay home while the men worked. The 3 Morin, Richard and Megan Rosenfeld. "With More Equity, More Sweat; Poll shows Sexes Agree on Pros and Cons of New Roles Series: REALITY CHECK: THE GENDER REVOLUTION Series Number: 1/5: [FINAL Edition]." The Washington Post, Mar 22, 1998 4 Morin, Richard and Megan Rosenfeld. "With More Equity, More Sweat; Poll shows Sexes Agree on Pros and Cons of New Roles Series: REALITY CHECK: THE GENDER REVOLUTION Series Number: 1/5: [FINAL Edition]." The Washington Post, Mar 22, 1998

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Herrera4 view of an idealistic woman was she did not work outside the house but instead, their focus was the well being of the children and husband. This idea of the idealistic women was not the case for many women as many worked because of financial necessity. Work brings pressure, and some women are dissatisfied with their roles. Even so, there was still a vision of what an idealistic woman should be like. 50 years later, the situation had changed drastically as it expected a woman to have some sort of career outside home. Women were still not equal to men in every way but still anticipated to have the same career standards as men do. Almost all the work at home burden still relied heavily on the women as they presume to be the primary caregiver and workers at home. An expectation that leads to the belief that women should have the same equity as men as not only did they endure oppression since the 50s but have come a long way in earning their way towards that equity.