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| Religion, Culture, and Family Project
at University of Chicago urges a combined 60-hour work week for couples
with children
7/11/01 - posted here 7-13-01
Friends,
Of all the proposals set forth in the work of the
Religion, Culture, and Family Project, the one that has received the
most public attention is the recommendation that married couples with
children have a combined workweek of no more than 60 hours.
As mothers have joined fathers in the workplace, and as the average
number of working hours for both has increased, parents are spending
less and less time with their children, as well as spending less and
less time with each other. A major source of strain for all working
parents has been this problem of how to balance the demands of paid
employment with the needs of the family.
To address what has been called the "parenting deficit," the
Religion, Culture, and Family Project has proposed an employment model
in which a mother and father with young children together work only 60
hours each week. This means that the 60 compensated working hours for a
wife and husband could be divided between them as 30-30, 40-20, or
20-40.
The Project feels that the equivalent of a job-and-a-half is what many
families with young children both want and need. However, good jobs with
retirement and medical benefits for less than 40 hours per week are
difficult to find. If parents are to spend more time with their
families, businesses must create these 20- and 30-hour-a-week positions.
The Religion, Culture, and Family Project also believes that religious
institutions should help foster a cultural climate which supports the
move to a combined 60-hour workweek. Furthermore, they should lobby both
industry and government to bring into existence these 20- and 30-hour a
week positions, which would allow parents to better balance work and
family.
Last December, an article by Pamela Mendels appeared in BusinessWeek
Online about this idea. The last two paragraphs of this
article do a good job at summing up the Project's attitude toward the
60-hour combined workweek:
"For now, [Browning] would be satisfied with
the beginning of a national conversation on the issue involving
individuals, business people, policymakers, community activists, and,
yes, those who speak from the pulpit. "Lots of questions need to
be posed in that argument. Chief among them, perhaps, is whether
businesses and employees can possibly afford shorter working hours --
and whether the well-being of children and community can possibly
afford to do without them."
We at the Religion, Culture, and Family Project would
love to hear your opinions on this issue. Please write us at Family-Project@uchicago.edu.
In an upcoming newsletter, we will try to share your responses.
For more on the 60-Hour Workweek, see From Culture Wars to Common
Ground, pp. 327-8; The Task of Religious Institutions in
Strengthening Families, p. 11; and the American Assembly
publication Strengthening American Families: Reweaving the Social
Tapestry, pp. 11-15.
-Josh Heikkila Student Intern
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