Effects on Children When Both Parents are Employed
In the contemporary world, with standards of living soaring sky-high, a single earning parent can only contribute like a drop in the mammoth bucket of expenses making it almost mandatory for both the parents to play a vital role of bread-winners for their healthy sustenance. However, this recent shift in the methodology of upbringing has its own pros and cons. While a recent edition of DNA newspaper gave a thumbs-up to working parents, this topic has always been a topic of deliberation to the socio-economic aspect of the gen-Y society.
In the 1970s, women were supposed to play the role of a home-maker. However, in the new millennium definitions have altered. A woman is no longer a mere epitome of a child-bearer and sacrifice. She has walked the extra mile and re-defined her scope thereby performing a dual role. So now, the question is, is this favourable enough for the healthy growth of a child? Doesn't this mean that children become devoid of all the attention and care that they must be attended to? Or is there some kind of non-acceptability thriving within a child to comply with these new changes? Let us discuss the following aspects in a more systematic manner and search for these answers.
Scrutinizing the reasons behind these questions, to begin with, in the embryonic stage of a child, care needs to be taken that the profession of the mother does not create a ridge between the children and the family. A regular feature that may be regarded as a con is that the children tend to bond well with their nannies or caretakers. Lack of attention can result in unhealthy food habits, kindling their fondness to television or computers causing them to backslide or feel ignored.
Also in case, the work pressure continues to mount, it can result in surmounting frustration for the parents too. Time is wastefully spent in doing household chores or spending extra hours at office eventually leading to lack of "quality" time with their children. This may prove to be an adjunct to the emotional surge within a child. To grapple such a situation, a balance needs to be maintained by the parents between the time spent at workplace and home. Also, it is extremely crucial to keep a check on the habits of one's kid when such a case arises. Moving to the pros, working parents, especially the mothers tend to draw respect, awe and self-confidence from the society. Their individualistic personality is a paragon for her kids imparting an implicit message of responsibility, maturity, self-reliance and social compatibility and nurturing them into conscious citizens of the country. In fact according to some of the surveys, it is said that house-wives generally tend to spend either more leisure time or doing petty house-hold jobs that may be totally irrelevant or can be handled by others. On the other hand, working women spend more "quality" time even if that means cutting down some of her personal rest hours.
Another edge that working parents have is, being educated they have more exposure to the socio-economic aspects of society and are able to provide their children with the best education and tend to mesh with them as pals. Even the children are able to break the ice and bridge the so-called generation gap. Another worthy thought is that working parents generally tend to be egalitarian in their views and hence there is no factor of gender biasing while grooming up a son and daughter at the same time. This gives a boost to the rights of a daughter in the same proportion to that of son. It is an abettor to the various movements for women empowerment, a gift in return; a blessing in disguise.
From many stories of famous personalities born to working parents, it is interesting to note that in most of such cases, the bond between the siblings tend to bolster. Specially, the elder sibling tends to take up the role of parents in their absence which makes them responsible enough and also provide them with a standing example to idolize.
In a nutshell, the naivety of children is divine. It is like melted wax that takes the shape of the vessel in which it is moulded, under the supervision of parents; the umbilical cord between the mother and the child playing the more vital role. Working parents are surely an asset to children in some spheres but it adds to the pressure of a working woman. Hence, as far as there is mutual understanding between the mother and father and regular commuting between the parents and children, working parents are surely a thumbs-up to the society
By
Swasti Raizada
