Stressed, Tired, Rushed: Portrait of the Modern Family

            The article Stressed, Tired, Rushed: Portrait of the Modern Family written by Claire Cain Miller discusses the overarching theme of the tradeoff between time spent at work and with family.  It does this by talking about the ever growing phenomenon in which families have both parents working full time jobs.  This lifestyle is compared to families with only one parent working or families with one full-time worker and one part-time worker.  It is now more likely that children will grow up in a home with both of their parents working.  This trend has grown substantially in the past few decades and has left many parents feeling “stressed, tired, and rushed” most of the time.  Many parents feel as if they are not spending enough time with their families and find it hard to come up with an equal balance between work, friendships, and family.  Miller then goes on to mention a survey which found that “college-educated parents and white parents were significantly more likely than other parents to say work-family balance is difficult.”  This highlights the so-called “stress gap” between race and education. 

            Miller then writes about the differences in work between mothers and fathers.  Mothers are still performing most of the house work and caring for the child while also working at a full time job.  This leads to many parents feeling as if they aren’t performing their best in the various aspects of their lives.  They aren’t spending as much time with their children or performing their best at work, leading to a lot of tension.  However, the article provided some data pertaining to the tradeoff between both parents working full time and having one parent stay at home.  Looking at the median household income as data to highlight this claim, Miller points out that the household income with both parents working full time is $102,400.  This number is compared with $84,000 when one parent works full-time and the other part-time, and finally $55,000 when only one parent works full time.  But when parents are spending time at home, they are spending more time with their children instead of housework.  In addition to this change, parents are also taking a more “egalitarian” approach and are attempting to divide childcare and housework evenly between the two parents.  The article ends with the topic of paid family leave, with one woman stating that it should be “absolutely gender-neutral.”