107 lines
3.4 KiB
YAML
107 lines
3.4 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Most working parents face a common dilemma-how to care for their
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children when they are not in school but the parents are at work. In
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this article Kathleen Christensen, Barbara Schneider, and Donnell Butler
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describe the predictable and unpredictable scheduling demands school-age
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children place on working couples and single working parents.
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The authors assess the potential capacity of schools to help meet the
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needs of working families through changes in school schedules and
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after-school programs and conclude that the flexibility parents need to
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balance family-work responsibilities probably cannot be found in the
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school setting. They argue that workplaces are better able than schools
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to offer the flexibility that working parents need to attend to basic
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needs of their children, as well as to engage in activities that enhance
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their children''s academic performance and emotional and social
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well-being.
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Two types of flexible work practices seem especially well suited to
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parents who work: flextime arrangements that allow parents to coordinate
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their work schedules with their children''s school schedules, and
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policies that allow workers to take short periods of time off-a few
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hours or a day or two-to attend a parent-teacher conference, for
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example, or care for a child who has suddenly fallen ill. Many companies
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that have instituted such policies have benefited through employees''
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greater job satisfaction and employee retention.
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Yet despite these measured benefits to employers, workplaces often fall
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short of being family friendly. Many employers do not offer such
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policies or offer them only to employees at certain levels or in certain
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types of jobs. Flexible work practices are almost nonexistent for
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low-income workers, who are least able to afford alternative child care
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and may need flexibility the most.
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Moreover the authors find that even employees in firms with flexible
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practices such as telecommuting may be reluctant to take advantage of
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them, because the workplace culture explicitly or implicitly stigmatizes
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or penalizes employees for choosing these work arrangements. The authors
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conclude by making a case for creating a workplace culture that supports
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flexibility. Such a culture, they argue, would enable working parents to
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better meet the responsibilities of their jobs as they care for and
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build strong relationships with their children.'
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affiliation: Schneider, Barbara, Michigan State Univ, E Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
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author: Christensen, Kathleen and Schneider, Barbara and Butler, Donnell
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author_list:
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- family: Christensen
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given: Kathleen
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- family: Schneider
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given: Barbara
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- family: Butler
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given: Donnell
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da: '2023-09-28'
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eissn: 1550-1558
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files: []
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issn: 1054-8289
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journal: FUTURE OF CHILDREN
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keywords-plus: 'PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT; EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES; ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT;
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN; METAANALYSIS; PATHWAYS; WORK; TIME'
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language: English
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month: FAL
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number: '2'
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number-of-cited-references: '97'
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pages: 69-90
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papis_id: 8ea5a24612251bec91e42d0656a1062e
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ref: Christensen2011familiesschoolage
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times-cited: '8'
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title: Families with School-Age Children
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:000296020800004
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usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
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usage-count-since-2013: '26'
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volume: '21'
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web-of-science-categories: 'Family Studies; Health Policy \& Services; Social Sciences,
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Interdisciplinary'
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year: '2011'
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