Dual- Careers

This article interested me because I hope to one day be in a relationship like this. I understand the benefits of a stay at home parent and value that choice. Raising children is a full-time job! However, having an additional full-time job is sometimes not only necessary for financial reasons but also sanity.

This study concluded that relative spousal income may be unrelated to dominance in decision making and that dual-career couples tend to report high levels of marital satisfaction. However, the research has limitations such as a small sample size (9 couples), numerous factors influencing marital decision making (faith, background, children), and location (all couples from same region). These limitations may have skewed the conclusion, but it still seems logical.

When both couples are working outside the home they get time away from each other and the children, earn an income, and are able to spend time with fellow adults while giving themselves a feeling a productivity. This can result in both the husband a wife being in better moods when together. Though, it can also cause more tension. Feelings of guilt about spending time with the kids, dividing up home responsibilities, and division of earnings.

The research says that in dual career couples, female dominance with decisions about child rearing may be inaccurate. I believe this is great news. The fact that the woman can work outside the home and not have to have complete dominance about all children matters means that men are finally lending a hand to help. I grew up in a house where my mom stayed at home and did all cleaning, cooking, chauffeuring children, registration of children activities and more. It worked for my parent’s just fine. My dad was definitely not absent, but he did not know how to cook and never attended parent-teacher conferences. I love my parents but that relationship Is not what I want in my future. Men who can cook dinner occasionally and are not afraid to drop the children off at school or deal with the bedtime routine exist these days and that gives me hope. Children will always be close to their mothers, but there is no reason why the man and woman cannot share the responsibility with decision making of their children.

Dual-career couples are becoming more and more common in society. This poses some threats to society, but it also will benefit society. It results in higher marital satisfaction which may benefit the children more than having a parent stay-at-home for their childhood.