Sociology

The family is a very important unit in society. Everyone comes from a family and in all of them, there are parents whose responsibility is to take care of the family and raise the children. However, over time, economic conditions have forced a lot of families to have both parents working. This has had an impact on the family unit as a whole due to the absence of both parents at particular times.

According to statistics, an estimated 65.9 (16,977,000) of 25,778,000 married couples with children under the age of 18 have both parents working (Catalyst Inc, 2009). This is quite a large number of parents away from home and their children. Children are the most affected by both parents working and their relationship with their parents suffers. In some cases also, the relationship between the working parents may also be affected. Overall, the family as a whole is affected.

The biggest problem that the working parents usually have is time. The fact that both parents work means that they spend very little time at home which means that less time is spent with the kids. This becomes a problem since parents do not get a chance to spend quality time with their children. During child development, it is important to spend quality time with the child so as to be there during every stage and moment of the childs life (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009).

Working parents usually have to work for the better part of the day and this can at times be very draining. When the parents get back home after a long days work, chances are that they are tired and stressed. Therefore, on arrival the only thing they probably want is peace, quite and a chance to rest. This eventually affects the children since they dont get the attention that they require. They may not be able to play with their kids or even tolerate them due to stress. Taking it out on their kids is not unusual (Knol, 2007).

When both parents are working, they may not have time for each other to the extent of not giving each other the attention that is required to maintain a healthy relationship. But, with both of them working hard during the day, having time for meaningful talks between each other becomes hard. This puts strain on the marriage and when the marriage is affected, the family unit as a whole also gets affected. Anger and stress is brought home from work. Excessive work piled over during the day may be brought home. Some parents work late, long hours or go for long trips and end up not being home for significant periods of time. All this leads to spouses not spending time with each other and their kids (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009).

The case of working parents is definitely a child rearing issue. When both parents have to work, someone has to stay home and take care of the children. In most cases, a nanny is employed or a close family member takes up the responsibility (Whiting, n.d.). The child-parent relationship is a very important one in the development of a child. Experiences such as toilet training, puberty, first days of school and sporting events that the children have require that the parent be present. The problem comes in when the children end up spending more time with the nanny or at daycare than they do with their parents. They thus end up missing out on the chance to have their first experiences with their parents and this has lasting psychological effects on them. They may feel as if theyre not worthy of their parents attention and end up being insecure or shy. Children do not understand such concepts as work. To them, most things are simply black and white. Therefore, the only understand what is logical to them that their parents always leave and are not there for them. Such feelings end up defining the children as they grow up. Parents lose touch with their children while the children make assumptions and find other ways to learn things that their parents would have taught them (Knol, 2007).Slowly, the children and parents lose touch and they begin to confide in themselves and their peers.

Such situations are a societal issue. How people relate with each other within society usually depends on where people are from. The way people are is accumulative of their experiences and relations that they had as they grew up. Therefore, the way people are brought up as children greatly affects how they will be as a person and how they will relate with others in society. When kids do not get to spend time with their parents because they are working, theyll find other ways of learning about life. Peers may influence them negatively or positively and this contributes towards the bigger picture of the kind of people theyll be. The kind of person that the children grow up to be in society also depends on the habits and behaviors that they might have picked up as they grew up. If the parents werent there to raise them and teach them right from wrong, then they may end up never knowing the difference or adopting a definition of their own. Spouses may also break up which leads to a lot of divorced families. Divorce has long term effects on children. These effects determine the kind of adults they will be and in joining society as adults, it becomes societys problem also.

There are solutions for such situations. Efforts made may not be 100 efficient, but, they can make a big difference. Parents can set aside time regularly to spend quality time with their children.

Activities that the family do together should be given priority and time properly allocated for such activities and events. Parents should ensure that they regularly talk with their children no matter how busy they are (Longo, 2001). That little time spent talking to them may have a big impact on their lives and in determining the kind of people they will be. Maternity leaves are also important. Taking time off before the baby is due so that quality time can be spent with the child after birth is crucial (Nelsen, 2009). There has also been an incorporation of technology into child care. Parents use webcams set up at home and in the office to constantly talk and interact with their children (Neal, 2002). There is the bedtime routine, a concept that doctors have always pushed for. It involves ensuring that every night during bedtime, parents are there to put their kids to bed (McClure, n.d.). There are also policies that allow working parents to have flexible working hours. These allow parents to have a working pattern that lets them to spend time with their children.

The family as a unit is important in society. The way children are brought up has a lot to do with the kind of people they end up becoming in society. Working parents should work at raising their children properly and this will more likely than not have a positive impact on the society.