An Examination of Employed Mothers' Work-Family Narratives and Perceptions of Husbands' Support

Abstract

In this study I examine the role of husbands' supportive communication practices in serving to mediate some of the common problems that are often experienced by employed mothers. The problems that are examined in this study are work-family conflict, stress, inequity in the division of labor, and double bind beliefs. Employed mothers completed open-ended narratives of recent work-family conflicts. Wives' perceptions of their husbands' supportive communication practices were examined in the narratives. Either the presence or absence of husbands' concern was related to women's perception of inequity and work-family conflict, while husbands' participation was related to double bind beliefs. Collectively, the husbands' support practices of minimizing child care concerns, avoidance of housework, expressions of concern about housework, and participation in child care accounted for 15% of the variance in women's marital satisfaction.

"You Try to Be Superman and You Don't Have to Be": Gay Adoptive Fathers' Challenges and Tensions in Balancing Work and Family

“…This allowed them to maintain the salary they were earning prior to adopting. Furthermore, men who viewed themselves as breadwinners were not able to rely on a female primary caretaker in the same way that conventional heterosexual fathers often do (Edwards, 2007), and thus some men sought outside help so that they could maintain their positions as breadwinners. Indeed, nearly one-quarter of the couples were able to hire nannies to care for their children at home while both partners worked.…”

“…When heterosexual couples become parents, the female partner often takes on the majority of child care and housework (Edwards, 2007), whereas the male partner tends by society as the primary parents, and men's role as fathers is regarded as secondary in importance (Wall & Arnold, 2007). These societal assumptions impact fathers' practices with regard to child caretaking, hours spent working, and parental leave.…”

Aspects of Workplace Flexibility and Mothers’ Satisfaction with Their Husbands’ Contributions to Household Labor*

“…Mothers’ satisfaction with husbands’ contributions to household labor greatly affects both spouses in a marriage (Edwards 2007). In this article, we aimed to make three significant contributions to the literature on this topic.…”

Gay men and fatherhood: Doing gender, queering gender, and the package deal

“…In American society, fathers are usually viewed as the secondary parent, not as the primary parent (Mallon, ; Wall & Arnold, ). Women are seen as primary caregivers and parenting is viewed as “natural” to them (Doucet, , b; Edwards, ; Gianino, ; Mallon, ). Gay men who want to be parents choose the role of primary caregiver and must reconcile this identity with the identity of male—two roles that are customarily regarded as mutually exclusive (Hicks, ; Schacher et al, ; Stacey, ).…”

“…When heterosexual couples become parents, they generally follow gendered “scripts” that dictate each parent's responsibilities. In these relationships, the man is the primary breadwinner and takes a secondary parenting role (Miller, ; Wall & Arnold, ), while the woman often works as well, but is also responsible for the majority of child care and domestic work (Edwards, ). Heterosexual men have recently become more involved as parents, but women still do the majority of child care and domestic work (Bianchi & Milkie, ; Miller, ).…”