The type of job that you toll at from 9 to 5 (or on the midnight shift, whatever the case may be) has more of an impact on your kids than you might think. (What matters is how much physical and emotional stress you're exposed to while you're at work.)
Researchers from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland found that jobs like housekeeping, teaching, nursing, and factory work that rank highly in terms of both social stress and physical hazards take their toll on both moms and their kids.
Moms who work in these types of jobs tend to arrive home from work feeling mentally and physically exhausted. They tend to be less patient, attentive, and responsive with their kids than moms in less physically and emotionally demanding types of careers.
In general, the researchers found that the worse a mother's job, the more poorly her children performed on tests of verbal skills. But the mother's education level had a significant impact on how harmful a bad job was to her kids.
Stressful jobs for more educated moms tend to pay relatively well, and Hsin believes the higher pay compensates for the higher stress mothers experience in these occupations. Less educated mothers suffer a double whammy: high stress plus low pay. They can't afford to tap into outside supports that would help to relieve the stress on themselves or help their kids catch up academically. The family budget is as stressed as they are.
A 2007 study conducted by Statistics Canada found that 28% of working women reported having a high-strain job, compared with 20% of men. One-third of women felt quite a bit, or extremely, stressed most days at work, compared with 29% of men. Shift workers were more likely to have high-strain jobs than other workers. They were also more likely to perceive their jobs as physically demanding. Individuals with low personal incomes were more likely to have high-strain jobs than individuals with high incomes. Almost 28% of workers with incomes of less than $20,000 had high-strain jobs, compared with only 18% of workers earning $60,000 or more.
So how stressful is your job? Does your job become more stressful (or less stressful) during the summer months? What do you do to try to keep all the balls in the air at home and at work?
Researchers from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland found that jobs like housekeeping, teaching, nursing, and factory work that rank highly in terms of both social stress and physical hazards take their toll on both moms and their kids.
Moms who work in these types of jobs tend to arrive home from work feeling mentally and physically exhausted. They tend to be less patient, attentive, and responsive with their kids than moms in less physically and emotionally demanding types of careers.
In general, the researchers found that the worse a mother's job, the more poorly her children performed on tests of verbal skills. But the mother's education level had a significant impact on how harmful a bad job was to her kids.
Stressful jobs for more educated moms tend to pay relatively well, and Hsin believes the higher pay compensates for the higher stress mothers experience in these occupations. Less educated mothers suffer a double whammy: high stress plus low pay. They can't afford to tap into outside supports that would help to relieve the stress on themselves or help their kids catch up academically. The family budget is as stressed as they are.
A 2007 study conducted by Statistics Canada found that 28% of working women reported having a high-strain job, compared with 20% of men. One-third of women felt quite a bit, or extremely, stressed most days at work, compared with 29% of men. Shift workers were more likely to have high-strain jobs than other workers. They were also more likely to perceive their jobs as physically demanding. Individuals with low personal incomes were more likely to have high-strain jobs than individuals with high incomes. Almost 28% of workers with incomes of less than $20,000 had high-strain jobs, compared with only 18% of workers earning $60,000 or more.
So how stressful is your job? Does your job become more stressful (or less stressful) during the summer months? What do you do to try to keep all the balls in the air at home and at work?
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