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Sociology Commons

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Family, Life Course, and Society

Fordham University

2006

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Full-Text Articles in Sociology

Adolescents’ Expectations About Mothers’ Employment: Life Course Patterns And Parental Influence, Matthew Weinshenker Jan 2006

Adolescents’ Expectations About Mothers’ Employment: Life Course Patterns And Parental Influence, Matthew Weinshenker

Sociology Faculty Publications

Because of social constraint and personal preference, cutting back and dropping out of the workforce remain common responses to the problem of balancing work and motherhood. To understand whether this phenomenon will continue, adolescents from middle-class, dual-earner families (N = 194) were asked how much they expected that they (for girls) or their future partners (for boys) would work while raising children. Nearly all expected new mothers to quit their jobs or reduce their hours temporarily, which signifies either acceptance of, or ignorance of, the penalties of career interruption among girls with high occupational aspirations. Adolescents’ expectations were associated with …