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CHAPTER 12
Paid Worker Role
and Health
L
ife was pretty simple for June and Ward Cleaver ofLeave It to Beaver.Every
morning, Ward, dressed in a suit, kissed his wife and left for work. June, in a
dress, took care of the children and had a hot meal waiting for Ward’s return
from work. The routine was the same for Margaret and Jim Anderson, the married
couple onFather Knows Best.These two popular television shows from the late 1950s
depicted the traditional nuclear family, where men worked outside the home and
women worked inside the home.
Contrast that scenario with today’s single-parent families where a woman might
be responsible for the emotional, practical, and economic support of her children.
More recent television shows reflect this changing state of the family by offering
alternatives to the traditional families of the 1950s, such asParenthood, a show about
a single mother raising two children, orModern Family, a show about two gay men
raising an adopted girl. Even the media images of two-parent families reflect a move
from the traditional. Consider the showFriday Night Lights, a show about a mother
who is the high school principal and a father who is the football coach, both of whom
are involved with raising children. Today, more families are sharing responsibilities.
Women, even mothers, often work outside the home, and men are more involved
in parenting. There are societal signs of this shift. For example, public places have
“family restrooms” where both women and men can change children’s diapers.
Today, both women and men juggle multiple roles, in particular the roles of spouse,
parent, and paid employee. Aroleis defined as a position in society governed by a set of
norms, which are expectations for behavior. Having multiple roles means that there are
many norms to which you are expected to adhere, posing the potential for role conflict.
On the other hand, access to multiple roles provides many resources—resources that can
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