Marriage, Parenting, and Work-Life Balance

Flashcards covering key concepts from lectures on marriage, parenting, and work-life balance.

Health Benefits of Marriage

Married people tend to live longer, have better mental health, and experience fewer illnesses than unmarried people.

Selection vs. Causation Debate

Some researchers argue that healthier individuals are more likely to get married (selection), while others believe marriage itself leads to better health (causation).

Gender Differences in Marriage Benefits

Men gain more health benefits from marriage than women, partly because wives often monitor their husbands' health behaviors.

Marriage and Happiness

Married people generally report higher levels of happiness than unmarried people, though this varies by the quality of the marriage.

Marriage Quality Matters

Unhappy marriages can lead to worse health outcomes than being unmarried or divorced.

Parental Roles and Responsibilities

Parents are expected to provide emotional support, discipline, and guidance.

Concerted Cultivation

Middle-class parents actively fostering children’s talents through organized activities.

Natural Growth

Working-class and poor parents providing care but allowing children more autonomy.

Intensive Mothering

Especially among middle-class mothers, there's a cultural pressure to invest heavily in children’s development.

Fathers' Involvement

Increasing, especially among middle-class and nonresident fathers, but varies by race and class.

Child Well-being

Affected by parenting style, economic stability, and parental relationships.

Dual-Earner Families

Now the norm; both parents often work, especially among married couples with children.

Work-Family Conflict

Many families struggle to balance job responsibilities with home life, particularly in the absence of supportive workplace policies.

Time Crunch

Parents, especially mothers, often feel pressed for time due to paid work and unpaid domestic labor.

Gender Division of Labor

Despite progress, women still do more housework and childcare than men.

Workplace Policies

U.S. lags behind other nations in providing paid parental leave and flexible work arrangements.

Split-shift parenting

One parent works while the other cares for the child, then they switch.

Tag-team parenting

Alternating work and childcare responsibilities.

Selection Effect

Happier and healthier individuals are more likely to marry.

Protection Effect

Marriage itself leads to better health outcomes because of emotional, social, and financial support.

Marital Satisfaction

A strong predictor of mental and physical well-being.

Authoritative Parenting

High in warmth and control; linked to positive child outcomes.

Intensive Parenting

A parenting style that is child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, and financially expensive.

Socialization

The process by which children learn cultural norms and expectations.

Second Shift

The unpaid household labor women typically do after their paid job.

Work-Family Conflict

The tension that arises when demands of work and family roles are incompatible.

Occupational Segregation

The division of labor where men and women are channeled into different kinds of jobs.

Chapter 11: Marriage: Health and Happiness

Summary:

This chapter explores the relationship between marriage, health, and happiness, analyzing whether marriage makes people happier and healthier or whether healthier, happier people are more likely to marry.

Key Points:

Health Benefits of Marriage: Married people tend to live longer, have better mental health, and experience fewer illnesses than unmarried people.

Selection vs. Causation Debate: Some researchers argue that healthier individuals are more likely to get married (selection), while others believe marriage itself leads to better health (causation).

Gender Differences: Men gain more health benefits from marriage than women, partly because wives often monitor their husbands' health behaviors.

Marriage and Happiness: Married people generally report higher levels of happiness than unmarried people, though this varies by the quality of the marriage.

Marriage Quality Matters: Unhappy marriages can lead to worse health outcomes than being unmarried or divorced.

Chapter 12: Parents and Children

Summary:

This chapter examines parenting in the U.S., focusing on how parents' approaches differ by class, race, and culture, and how parenting affects child outcomes.

Key Points:

Parental Roles and Responsibilities: Parents are expected to provide emotional support, discipline, and guidance.

Class Differences:

Middle-Class Parents practice concerted cultivation: actively fostering children’s talents through organized activities.

Working-Class and Poor Parents tend to use natural growth: providing care but allowing children more autonomy.

Cultural and Ethnic Variations: Parenting styles differ among racial and ethnic groups due to historical and social contexts.

Intensive Mothering: Especially among middle-class mothers, there's a cultural pressure to invest heavily in children’s development.

Fathers' Involvement: Increasing, especially among middle-class and nonresident fathers, but varies by race and class.

Child Well-being: Affected by parenting style, economic stability, and parental relationships.

Chapter 13: Work and Family Life

Summary:

This chapter addresses how the world of work interacts with family life, including the challenges of balancing employment and caregiving responsibilities.

Key Points:

Dual-Earner Families: Now the norm; both parents often work, especially among married couples with children.

Work-Family Conflict: Many families struggle to balance job responsibilities with home life, particularly in the absence of supportive workplace policies.

Time Crunch: Parents, especially mothers, often feel pressed for time due to paid work and unpaid domestic labor.

Gender Division of Labor: Despite progress, women still do more housework and childcare than men.

Workplace Policies: U.S. lags behind other nations in providing paid parental leave and flexible work arrangements.

Strategies Families Use:

Split-shift parenting