Discussing America’s Care Deficit and Work-Life Balance
Ways in which the United States is facing a “care deficit”
The work force in the United States has a deficit of healthcare and social workers who work in the industry. This has led to the small number of care workers who are already working and the result is that they are overworked The deficiency has resulted from lack of interest from the young people who enroll into other courses when they get into college instead of enrolling into the care industry.
What are some examples of “care work” and can we increase the supply of care in our society?
Some of the examples of care work include health care professionals like nursing and clinical medicine, social work and community health care. Care workers can be increased by encouraging students who are applying for college to choose care courses in higher institutions of learning. The jobs can be advertised through positive testimonials from already practicing care workers of how fulfilling care work really is.
This would help in encouraging more individuals to be recruited and practice for care courses. Meanwhile, before students enroll in healthcare courses their courses, the government can recruit care workers for the society from other nations. The health care sector has been hit by a decrease in numbers of workers to cater for the society.
With the retiring of the baby boomers generation, there has been a decrease in the number of health care workers to cater for an increase in the number of people who fall ill in comparison to the ratio of the number of people who are in need of health care. With the change in the diet of people from healthy to unhealthy and non organic food, there has been a recorded increase in the number of people who get terminal illnesses like cancer.
This has led to a high demand of people who need medical attention in health care institutions. With increase in demands of healthcare facilities and a deficiency in health care facilities, there is a deficit in the number of healthcare workers.
Furthermore, there has been a change in cultural practices and beliefs of many people leading to the rise in the number of individuals who are taken to old age nursing homes instead of being taken care by their families. A few generations ago, old people grew old in the care of their families and not in old age homes. Therefore, there is a deficit of health care workers in old age nursing homes.
Ways in which the new workplace is changing the balance between work and family
Most work places have developed human resources departments that are very considerate to their employees. These human resource departments have been able to create work balance policies that offer employees flexibility of working due to the fact that employees can choose the time that they report and leave from work as long as it is within a given time range.
This allows employees to fix their working hours to the time that is convenient for them to be able to spend enough duration with their families. Most of the work and family balance has also been made possible by use of technological advancements which have made it very easy to do work without physically going to work.
Technology has ensured that people can still do and hand in their work by using their home computers and sending it via the internet. Employees can also use their mobile phones to get information from the office without physically going there.
Due to the flexibility of work that is achieved in the work family life balance introduced in most companies, there has been reduced cases of absenteeism witnessed in companies.
This is because most employees are feeling that the flexibility they are given in their work and life is working for them. In some companies, this has created confidence and comfort in the employees enabling them to achieve high productivity for their companies.
On the other hand, there have been complaints about the work life balance because of the family time disruption created depending on the careers of individuals. Due to the deficiency of employees in the care industry, the available employees feel overworked. The result is that these individuals get home when they are tired and they might not be able to spend quality time with their family members.
This makes these people to feel stressed because they consider that they have no control of the situations they are faced with. Stress emanates from the fact that such individuals know that they have to cater for their family expenses hence, they cannot quit their jobs.
This happens nowadays as most families are catered for by single parents. There is a lot of pressure due to the fact that income of single parents is not enough to cater for the needs of the family.
As you read the articles from the Wharton reader as well as Hochschild, do you find that Americans in general are overworked?
The articles by Hochschild and Wharton seem to indicate that American society is overworked. In the articles, the American family is seen to be under threat due to overworking of parents (Hochschild 28).
The authors observe many parents who are overworked and the result is less time spent with their families. This has resulted to families living a hurried and hasty life. The families tend to have days crowded with activity and at the end of it, they are too exhausted to spend meaningful time together (Wharton 20).
Children also tend to be overburdened by activities such as sports and extra curricula activities. The demands on the children at times are overwhelming and the children tend to suffer from stress related diseases and burn out.
Parents schedule their children for the previously mentioned activities to compensate for their absence because they have been exhausted in the work place. The net effect is that, as a whole the American society is overworked and overburdened.
Hochschild (22) notes that in a way, “home has become work and work has become home.” The work place where most people spend most of their time has begun to be like home. This is because it has acquired the qualities and characteristics associated with a home. The work place provides a place where workers time is not under threat and employees can socialize with fellow employees.
They can send e mails and chat with other workers in the organization while at the same time, they can access counselors whom to share their work problems with. The home on the other hand, is a place where the workers are usually pressed for time and rarely experience relaxation.
They spend the least time in the home and when they perform family duties, they tend to be overwhelmed. This results in them feeling a sense of anxiety at home and relative ease at work. This interchange of work and home has a negative ripple effect on the American society as a whole.
Should overwork be considered a social problem in this country?
Over the past decades, the average time spent at work by the working American has been on a steady rise. ‘Time is money,’ is a popular phrase and in the capitalist society that America is, this words ring true. Citizens are spending most of their working hours toiling to earn a living (Hochschild 55).
Research has shown that overworking is having a profound impact on society as a whole and the situation needs to be arrested. From research findings, one can conclude that there is a strong link between increased work hours and some social problems.
Some of the problems that have been linked to longer working hours are increased stress levels and anxiety. Research has shown that more people than ever before complain of experiencing high stress levels on daily basis. This has led to a rise in stress related diseases such as hypertension, depression and exhaustion.
Compensation claims for work related stress have also increased. Increasing working hours means less time is spent on relaxing and the fast paced life lived by overworked people who end up being stressed (Wharton 64).
Increase in the number of working hours may also have contributed to an increase in sleeping disorders. Experts say that the use of an alarm clock should be an indication of lack of enough sleep. This has been a consequence of a twenty four hour economy with the worker being stretched to the highest limit.
Less time is allocated to the much needed rest, sleep and relaxation. The result is overworked employees whose efficiency at work is reduced while at home, they are unable to play their roles properly leading to strained relationships in the home (Wharton 67).
Studies indicate that increased working hours have negative impacts on the family unit. Households where both parents work are more likely to suffer from divorce. This is due to the strain on the marriage caused by couples having less time to themselves because most of the time is spent at work or other work related activities.
Families where both parents work suffer because the loss of quality family time means family bonds and relationships are weakened. The result is an increase in the number of divorce cases and broken homes which create new social problems (Wharton 75).
There has also been a rise in cases of child neglect. With both parents entangled by work, children are more likely to be neglected. Children are left with no care or self care when parents are away at work.
The time spent as a family is usually eaten up by other activities and when the family is together, activities such as watching television take precedent. Quality family time has become a thing of the past. Children suffer from lack of proper care and the result is children who lack proper role models to guide them.
What are some ways to reduce this?
One way to reduce the social problems created by overworking workers is by reducing the working hours. This will have the effect of reducing the demands on the employees who will have more time to engage in other activities such as resting or spending quality time with loved ones.
The reduction in hours spent at work can be beneficial to organizations because the efficiency of employees will increase and this will impact positively on productivity. Reducing the working hours would mean employees are not affected by stress and a myriad problems caused by overworking (Hochschild 80).
Introduction of shift based working system would also help reduce the burdening of employees. The shifts would be beneficial to both employer and employee.
This is because the employee would have less working hours and more time to spend with family while the employer would not have a loss in production as the shift would accommodate the shortfall. The shift system would also be beneficial in terms of creating more employment opportunities.
What might a “family-friendly” workplace like?
Organizations that value their employees will offer them attractive terms and good working conditions. One of the incentives offered to employees by progressive organizations is a family friendly work place. This kind of arrangement is usually beneficial to both employer and employee.
A family friendly environment is one which takes into account the responsibilities of the worker and their families and accommodates the employee accordingly (Hochschild 36).
An employee who is not working efficiently is a loss to an employer. Increasing work load usually leads to an increase in working hours and an overworked employee. The output of the employee will eventually be negatively affected which will translate as a potential loss to the employer.
For employers to fully exploit the output of the employees, they must ensure that the employee is working at their optimal potential. It then follows that the employee should work at an environment which is best suited for them to maximize their potential which is a family friendly environment (Wharton 72).
What kinds of policies should employees offer working parents?
Offering a family friendly environment to employees is a great way to motivate the workers to work at their optimal efficiency. One way to create a family friendly work place is by having flexible working hours. The hours should be within the limits of the law and should be sensitive to employees with families. Reducing working hours without reducing the wages means workers spend less time at work.
The workers are then able to spend quality time with their families at the end of the day because they will not be too exhausted or stressed. Overtime should be adequately compensated and should be only given when necessary (Hochschild 48).
A family friendly work place means that employees are entitled to leave time which should run for an adequate period of time. The leave period should be mandatory which will allow the employees enjoy a restful period of time with their families before resuming work (Wharton 55).
Organizations which offer leave benefit by having a workforce that is productive. This is because offering leave translates into employees having enough rest and likely to enjoy their work which in turn translates into greater efficiency and productivity. Both the employer and employee stand to benefit from the worker taking time off work.
Organizations with family friendly work places recognize the demands on working mothers. This is why they offer maternity and paternity leave to their employees. This allows new parents adjust to their new status and organize their schedules to accommodate their family demands.
An organization with a family friendly work place can also organize events where employees can bring their families which serves to affirm the organizations commitment to supporting workers with family demands. This will create a good relationship between workers and their employers and will in turn have a positive effect on the quality of work produced by employees (Hochschild 56).
Works Cited
Hochschild, Russel. Time Blind When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. New Yolk: Metropolitan Books, 1997. Print.
Wharton, Amy. Working in America. 3rd ed. New Yolk: Mc Graw Hill, 2000. Print.