17hoursper week for both married and
single mothers (Bianchi et al., 2006). In
the same study, single mothers were
found to be only slightly more stressed
trying to balance work and family than
either employed mothers or fathers. This
could be a result of the kin network
support or the increased household
chores performed by older children in
single-parent homes. (Romich, 2007).
Unemployment
Sofarinthischapterwehavebeen
lookingatfamiliestryingtobalancework
andfamilylife.Whataboutthefamily
experiencingunemployment?
Unemploymentincreasestheriskof
poverty,contributestoincomeinequality,
andcreatesaseriesofdebilitatingsocial
effectsontheunemployedpersonandtheir
family(Saunders,2002).Withthecurrent
unemploymentrateat9.5%,3.2%greater
thanthe10yearhighof6.3%in2003,many
Americanfamiliesarefacedwith
involuntaryjobloss(U.S.BureauofLabor
Statistics,2009).Theeffectsof
unemploymentonallfamiliesare
devastatingbutnotallfamiliesareaffected
equally.Blackfamiliesaremorethantwiceas
likelytofaceunemploymentthanwhite
families(Bucks,Kennickell,&Moore,2006),
andmorelikelytofallfromprofessionalor
managerialpositionsthanarewhite
employees(Kalil&DeLeire,2002).
Unemployment negatively affects
families’economic security (Kalil &
DeLeire,2002).This is reflected in how
families spend money on necessities such
as food,clothing,and shelter.Families
may move to less expensive housing and
be forced to rely on public assistance.
Research has shown unemployment has
negative physical and emotional health
consequences (Burgard,Brand,& House,
2007; Saunders,2002; Stack &
Wasserman,2007),and increases the
likelihood of divorce (Kalil & DeLeire,
2002; Lewin,2005).
Children are also affected by
unemployment.When parents are
unemployed, children’s wellbeing is
diminished, which can lower their
academic achievement. The stress ofChapter 9
African-American families are more than twice as
likely to experience unemployment.MarioTama/GettyImagesNews/GettyImages