Flexibility, the Family Ethic, and Rural Home-Based Work

Abstract

Flexibility is often considered an advantage to workers, especially women. This article shows, however, that, in relation to home-based work by rural women workers, flexibility, when set within the frame work of the family ethic, is often a trade-off for job security, wages, and other benefits. The author suggests that work can become flexible only when tasks are no longer rigidly gendered.

Rhetoric and Reality of Economic Self-sufficiency Among Rural, Low-Income Mothers: A Longitudinal Study

“…Yet, hours of work and pay are problematic for rural workers and especially for mothers balancing child-care responsibilities. Prior research has documented the prevalence of low wages and part-time and temporary work in rural areas, especially for female workers (Davis, Connolly & Weber, 2003;Findeis et al, 2001;Gringeri, 1995;Jensen et al, 1999). Based on our analysis, rural workers with children need sufficient hours of work to compensate for lower wages in order to increase their family financial well being.…”

“…Rural culture often dictates strict notions regarding gender roles and work expectations (Flora, Flora, Spears & Swanson, 1992;Larson, 1978), and these may contribute to the earnings gap. Part-time work or a temporary job that is usually low-paying is customarily considered appropriate work for women in rural areas (Gringeri, 1995). Small, rural towns also are likely to have high occupational segregation by gender (Semyonov, 1983).…”

Getting Down to Business and Off Welfare: Rural Women Entrepreneurs

“…The influences of early role models and later mentors seemed to have overridden the limiting societal messages of the rural culture. The women's narratives magnify the necessity to deconstruct gender-related work roles to prevent low-income women from being stereotyped as belonging in certain employment classifications (Gringeri, 1995;Swigonski, 1996).…”

“…Employment in rural areas is concentrated in low-paying, low-status jobs, largely as a result of industry moving out of these areas (Lichter & McLaughlin, 1995;Morris, 1986). Gender-appropriate work for a rural woman is a part-time or temporary low-paid job (Gringeri, 1995). Therefore, it is not surprising that the proportion of women and children on welfare is higher in rural than in urban areas (Duncan, 1992).…”

“…The literature describes three strategies that low-income rural women generally use in response to these economic limitations : participation in informal economies (McInnis-Dittrich, 1995), the receipt of welfare (Fiene, 1991), and home-based piece work (Gringeri, 1995). Some rural women are choosing a fourth strategy to attain economic self-sufficiency: sole business ownership.…”