SOC 174 Lecture Notes - Total Fertility Rate, Fungibility, Job Satisfaction
Document Summary
Female labor force participation (lfp: the movement of married(!) women into the labor force is one of the most important changes in the american family in the 20th century. Led to a profound change in the gender balance of power: definition: labor force = employed (full or part time) + unemployed (not working but looking for work) Pull factors (i. e. , desire, opportunity: expansion of the service sector. Liberalized attitudes: fewer children (lower total fertility rate) Push factors (i. e. , compelled by circumstances: decline/stagnation of wages for lower educ/middle class men, high divorce rate. Does mom"s work hurt kids: despite drastic shifts in lfp, there is little evidence that fem lfp hurts children (except infants, a common misperception, especially among men. Money: dual earner families have greater financial resources: but among low educ couples fem lfp may be mostly compensatory (making up for men"s decreasing earnings) rather than a real (net) gain.
