Families, work, and an aging population: developing a formula that works for the workers

This article examines the intersection of family caregiving, work, and long-term care. Supporting families who provide care in order to minimize negative work effects while enhancing the acceptability of care options is of common concern to employers, state and federal policymakers, and the homecare professionals in the community-based care system. The contribution of families to the long-term care system, how employer policies have developed, how the public policy agenda has addressed family caregiving, and the importance of a more effective partnership on the state level are discussed.     

Juggling three life spheres: reconciling work,family and politics

In the field of work–life balance, most research focuses on the reconciliation of role-related expectations that derive from the work and family spheres. This article aims to identify coping strategies that reconcile life spheres in situations that go beyond the classic two-sphere framework. We analyze the actual coping behavior of individuals juggling three life spheres by studying local Flemish politicians. The strategies that were found in this study were communication with family, recognizing priorities within the political sphere, consciously creating time for family moments, downsizing and segregating the life spheres. The results suggest that women usually remain the manager of the household, which reinforces traditional gender roles.     

Gender,work and childbearing: couple analysis of work adjustments after the transition to parenthood

This study focuses on Swedish couples' work adjustments following the transition to parenthood. Specifically, we ask whether couples' gender role attitudes influence whether they make adjustments to their work situations after the end of the parental leave. Using couple data from the Young Adult Panel Study, we find that both partners are more likely to make work adjustments when both partners hold egalitarian attitudes. It is also more likely that only the male partner will make work changes when both partners are egalitarian. When one partner holds more egalitarian attitudes than the other partner, it tends to have a stronger impact on the work adjustments of the more egalitarian partner. For example, couples with egalitarian male partners are more than three times as likely to have the male partner change his work situation as couples in which neither partner holds egalitarian attitudes. While less consistent, there is some evidence that female egalitarian attitudes increase the likelihood of female work changes.     

Women's employment patterns during early parenthood: A group‐based trajectory analysis

Research on women's employment and parenthood frequently focuses on the correlates and consequences of decisions at a particular time, such as a birth. This article applies a group‐based trajectory method to examine women's employment trajectories across the period of early parenthood using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N= 2,093). We find that throughout early parenthood, women exhibit significant movement into and out of the labor force. Factors that typically predict women's employment status, such as age at first birth and education, are also good predictors of women's employment patterns. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research, particularly on the use of a static measure of women's or couples’ employment status.     

Flexible employment: Positive work strategies for the 21st century

V. Conclusion The United States has thus far wisely rejected the European path of low jobs growth and high unemployment and has instead embraced flexibility. Moreover, attention is starting to be paid to the need for change in the laws affecting the workplace to accommodate and promote this new flexibility. The “jobs clearinghouse” role of temporary help and staffing firms is one of the most salutary developments in the labor market in this century and should be encouraged. Not only is there no need for laws to regulate or limit temporary work, consideration should be given to providingincentives to firms that provide those services, such as tax credits based on the skills training provided and the job placements made. This would help promote a vigorous and efficient private sector job service that has become increasingly essential to American workers’ ability to find the right job at the right time in an increasingly complex and mobile work force.     

Managing work and family in home-based employment

Two 10-item scales, one describing the management of the home-based work and the other, the management of the family work, were administered to a sample of household managers who are also the home-based worker. Scale items are designed to assess dimensions of input, planning, implementing, and output.T-tests are used to compare the means of the individual items and the scale means. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to assess whether the factoring of the scale items support the theoretical framework. Scores are higher for the management of the home-based work than for the management of family work. Although both scales are highly reliable, the items in the home-based work scale factor clearly into the dimensions of standard setting and controlling. One interpretation may be that, given a choice, the dual-manager may choose to consciously organize the paid work instead of the family work.This paper reports results from the Cooperative Regional Research Project, NE-167, entitled, At-Home Income Generation: Impact on Management, Productivity and Stability in Rural/Urban Families, partially supported by the Cooperative States Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Experiment Stations at the University of Hawaii, Iowa State University, Lincoln University (Missouri), Michigan State University, Cornell University (New York), The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, Utah State University, and the University of Vermont. Appreciation is expressed to Frank Chiang at Cornell University and Young Rae Oum at Iowa State University for the computer assistance needed to complete this research article. Patsy Sellen was instrumental in formatting and stylizing this paper to required guidelines.Her current research interests include household asset and debt formation, working families and employers' benefits, and home-based employment. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1978.Her current research work includes an analysis of family resource management in Mexico and housing conditions in rural areas. She is also involved in the study of households who work at-home for pay and their associated management practices and coping strategies. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1970.Her current research work includes such topics as divorce settlements, at-home income generation and management practices of households who are engaged in home-based employment. Her Ph.D. was received from Cornell University in 1978.     

Screening for depression and suicide: self-report instruments that work

Self-report instruments for depression and suicide risk can help busy clinicians identify adult clients who may be at risk for depressive disorders. These instruments provide a baseline measure of clients' behavioral status, reflect response to treatment, and improve clinical decision making. Such scales can also detect symptoms of depression regardless of whether they are reported or observed. Clinicians' recognition of depression is improved when self-report screening tools are used. When it is not feasible to conduct a thorough psychiatric evaluation, screening instruments can identify at-risk clients who need further evaluation.     

Looking for work: youth,masculine disadvantage and precarious employment in post-millennium England

ABSTRACT

The changing nature of youth (under)employment in England since the start of the new millennium is explored through a comparative analysis of three cohorts of young working class men searching for work in English towns between 2001 and 2017. Labour market changes, including the rise of precarious work and forms of self-employment, as well as increasing inequality and cuts in youth services since the financial crisis in 2008, are having a serious impact on the least qualified young men. However, changes in the nature of employment at the bottom end of the service suggest the re-evaluation of earlier claims about the relative disadvantage of (some) young men.     

Policies for a smoother transition from work to retirement

Japan has maintained a relatively high labor-force participation rate among older people. Although the rate had declined steadily until the mid-1980s, the trend has since reversed and the participation rate is expected to rise in the future. In contrast, the labor-force participation of older people has sharply declined in the United States and European countries, especially since the 1970s. This article explores why Japan's experience differs markedly from other advanced countries. Improved pensions have a strong influence toward early retirement, even in Japan. However, other factors such as a low replacement ratio, improved health, and several loopholes in the income test of the pension systems push up the participation rate of older people. The government also encourages active labor-force participation of senior citizens by introducing reformed partial working pensions and wage subsidies for workers in their second and third careers.     

Factory women,redundancy and the search for work: toward a reconceptualisation of employment and unemployment

A number of social scientists (see for example, Allen et al., 1986; Brown, 1984; Purcell, 1985; Purcell et al., 1986; Roberts et al., 1985) have drawn attention to the way in which patterns of working have changed radically in recent years suggesting that we need to rethink and reconceptualise with regard to work, employment and unemployment. This paper examines these issues in Sweden where recession in the early eighties and economic restructuring, similar to the experience in other Western countries, have affected individuals’relation to the labour market. It is our view that the effects of these developments (have) affect(ed) women and immigrants differently. It is furthermore our contention that welfare state policies related to the functioning of the labour market (inadvertently) play a role in the maintenance of inequality.     

Privileging work not sex: flexibility and employment in the sexual services industry

We present findings from a study of sex workers recruited in indoor licensed premises in Victoria. While the study addressed regulation, enforcement and working conditions, we focus on the value of flexible well‐paid work for two particular groups of female workers (parents and students). We link this issue of flexibility to broader gendered employment conditions in Australia, arguing the lack of comparable employment is crucial to understanding worker decisions about sex work. Debates and regulation focus on gendered inequalities related to heterosexuality much more than they recognize gendered inequalities related to labour market conditions. The focus on criminalization, harm, exploitation and stigma obscures the centrality of work flexibility and conditions to women's decision‐making. A more direct focus on the broader employment context may produce better recognition of why women do sex work.     

Crisis and quality of work in the Nordic employment regime

The Nordic countries have been renowned for labour markets with high-quality jobs. The key question for the article is whether this also holds in the current financial and Eurozone crisis. Focus is on the initial years of the crisis, and indicators from the European Working Conditions Survey are used to trace changes in job quality. Physical job demands are on a lower level in the Nordic region compared to the European level. Instead, time pressure and working to tight deadlines are more common. In general, the downturn in the economy seems to have decreased the intensity in the work situation of employees. Temporary employment and job insecurity are more present in Finland and Sweden than in Denmark and Norway. Still, the Nordic employment regime is characterized by a large proportion of jobs where employees have influence and autonomy, and are rather satisfied with their job. One possible explanation for these encouraging results is the high level of unionization that has persisted through the crisis.     

A Critical Review of Singapore's Policies Aimed at Supporting Families Caring for Older Members

Abstract

This article critically examines the family-oriented social policies of the Singapore government aimed at supporting families caring for older members. The sectors focused on are financial security, health, and housing. Singaporeans have been reminded that the family should be the first line of defense for aging families, followed by the community-the state would step in as the last resort. Drawing from recent research and examination of the state policies, the author argues that more should be done to help family caregivers looking after elder relatives. Recommendations for innovative ways to recognize and reward family carers conclude the paper.