The Work-Family Time Binds of Low-Income Mothers: Nurse Aides Struggle to Care

The Impacts of Worktime Control in Context

“…As the least powerful occupation out of the four studied, CNAs may have lower expectations than the other three occupations for their level of discretion at their workplace and thus not experience greater stress when pressured by a supervisor. Alternatively, the chronic underemployment of CNAs—who are often seeking additional hours to have the income to pay their bills—might make supervisor pressure to work more hours a lesser source of job stress than, say, supervisor pressure to cut hours (Kahn, 2006).…”

“…Kahn (2006) reports that strict attendance requirements at nursing homes lead some CNAs to "report to work when they themselves are ill, sometimes with contagious illnesses, in order to conserve possible discipline-incurring absences for the occasions when they have sick children" (p. 105). In the larger study, we found the same patterns .…”

“…At this intersection of race and gender, workers are disproportionately likely to be employed in low-wage work (Jensen & Slack, 2003) and thus more likely than those in higher wage occupations to seek additional work hours to meet basic family financial needs (Geiger-Brown, Muntaner, Lipscomb, & Trinkoff, 2004; Jacobs & Gerson, 2004). These financial pressures may be especially acute for CNAs, many of whom are single parents or the sole or primary earners in their households (Kahn, 2006; Rakovski & Price-Glynn, 2009). Attention to occupational context is critical to illuminating how the struggles of socially marginalized workers, such as CNAs, are compounded by the limited control this article elucidates.…”

“…Raising wages, providing subsidized child care, and giving workers paid sick leave are solutions that would benefit not only these health care workers but also those for whom these workers are providing care (Gornick & Meyers, 2008). Kahn (2006) reports that strict attendance requirements at nursing homes lead some CNAs to “report to work when they themselves are ill, sometimes with contagious illnesses, in order to conserve possible discipline-incurring absences for the occasions when they have sick children” (p. 105). In the larger study, we found the same patterns (Clawson & Gerstel, 2014).…”

Women in Construction and the Workforce Investment Act

“…This type of employment flexibility provides an important benefit for single parents, 77 percent of whom are female (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). Single mothers have reported stress when struggling to care for their children in the face of inflexible work arrangements in low-wage jobs (Kahn 2005).…”