Sybil and Sheila share some similarities but have many differences and you can say that, from Sheila’s actions, she is from the new generation. This is demonstrated whilst the family are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft, Sybil says ‘when you’re married you’ll realize that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll just have to get used to that.’ Sheila’s response was I don’t believe I will’ this is insinuating that Sheila may not stay at home and raise a family but will acquire a job. These actions are dissimilar to Mrs Birling’s as Sybil would and has been looking after the house and also raising a family. This implies that Sheila disagrees with the way her mother lives and would like to have the same rights as men showing that she is a person who wants equality.
The wives no longer cook for the family or take care of the children and the husband is no longer the primary sources for the family. She defines family being legally married couples sharing a household, which a male provides the income and a female has the responsibility for taking care of the husband, household, and children. Her major concerns for marriage and family today are a lot of people will not get married because they are afraid of divorce and that many children will grow up without a father
The Imbalance of Work and Family Many times in modern society working individuals find it difficult to balance family time and work. One will always take time from the other and finding a balance between the two is rare. This is shown in “Contents of The Dead Man’s Pocket” by Jack Finney, where Tom Benecke choses to work instead of going to the theatre with his wife, and he ends up regretting this choice greatly. The theme of this story is that family time is much more important than work and family must be held before work, and a similar theme may be seen in “Double Daddy” by Penny Parker, and “The Child’s View of Working Parents” by Cora Daniels and Ellen Galinsky. First of all, the theme is shown as the story progresses and Tom Benecke’s character develops.
“As a result of this attitude, wives seldom worked at outside jobs,” Benner stated (Benner pg.1). Some women tried to have a job out of rebelliousness or some just desperately needed a job because their husband could not maintain a well enough paying job. Women weren’t sought out to be the type person who would get a job and provide for the family. The man of the house was supposed to do that. That was the norm, the norm was that the man of the house was the one who was to protect his family, provide for his family, and be there for his family.
People who are on welfare tend to play the system because they know they can get away with it and take advantage, because the welfare office does not check like they should. I came across a family who did just that took advantage of the welfare system. First, the women had two children who were becoming older but when she realized how fast she would be losing her benefits she became pregnant with her third child. Second, against welfare rules, she had her “husband” actually which was her boyfriend live with her whom at the time was bringing in an income from his full-time job. According to TANF rules each recipient was to get a job within two years of being on the program, this women never attempted to get a job, however, she was never checked by the welfare office.
Welfare Reforms The dream of most women is to have the traditional family, which includes a husband and their children. There are more single mothers in this day and age that face more challenges on the way to achieving the American Dream. They find it hard to provide financially even working a full-time job because the pay is normally minimum wage and most still rely on public assistance to make ends meet. Some single mothers lack education and work experience, which prevents them from obtaining a decent paying job. Budget cuts to welfare programs are making it that much harder for the single mother to provide the necessities for their children because these supplemental programs are necessary to the day to day workings of a family.
Thirdly, single parent families created after an increase in the divorce rate greatly increased the demand of day-care centers and preschools. Besides the above three reasons, we see a changing trend in family structures as well. With increasing mobility, families are traveling more which takes the children away from their relatives which otherwise would have taken care of them in their parents absence. Families are now getting Nuclear; consisting of one or two parents with their child, which is actually declining the influence of Extended Families, which is a network of family members that is beyond the actual family such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Though the need for child care for working parents became quite important and thus gave rise to the early childhood education, the other main reason behind its popularity are the studies which revealed that such educational programs leave a lasting effect on the children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Children without adoptive parents can be raised by their grandparents or other family members. Although mother have more responsibility to raising a child, I personally think that both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child. In this era, in most family, fathers are working hard to fulfill his family needs. Many children spend more time in home with mother as compared to the time that they spend with their father. Almost every time child spend without father, just with their mother.
Men are no longer the sole earners for the family. Many stay at home to raise the children. Women are no longer expected to take on the full-time responsibility of maintaining the family home. The need for dual income to earn a family-wage is a near necessity. Many women out-earn their male counterparts in today’s economy.
Taking care of newborn baby is very difficult; therefore, women always have the maternity leave from work after birthing so that they can have enough time for their child. Apart from the maternity leave, paternity is also necessary for men. Some people say that men take a very important role in their families because their wives need their support after delivery day and their infants need their care as well. The others argue that men should not have time off because of making financial problems as a consequence. It is the assertion that wives absolutely need their partner’s help after a child is born.