Unique contributions to society
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| Thu, 10-19-2006 - 4:12pm |
In another thread, the "unique" contributions of SAHM's were alluded to but it wasn't stated what they are. Let's play a game and find out what they are. First, pretend that as of tomorrow, all moms SAH and detail what will be missing from society then pretend that all moms go to work and detail what will be missing from society. I'm really curious as to what people think a world without SAHM's orWOHM's would look like.
If all the moms who SAH went to work then the library would move story hour to the evening and summer vacation bible school would be held in the evenings so that all kids can attend and not just the kids of SAHM's. Banks would likely shift their hours to later in the day and you'd see more 24 hour stores. I think there would be more home cooking style restaurants too. I think day care centers would improve because of increased demand.
If all moms who WOH suddenly SAH, you'd see fewer service industries around because moms could do things themselves instead of paying for them. The nursing shortage would be more of a shortage. We'd probably have a shortage of teachers too. There'd be fewer government services because there'd be less tax dollars to pay for them. I can't think of anything else right now.

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However, economic theory does not bear out your position. In economics there is a concept called the "tied mover". This is the person who will give up a less economically advantageous job to move with the partner for a greater economically advantageous job. The theory states that in the end, since we are self maximizers (keynes theory) we will typically do what is economically advantageous for us. So the one with the greater earning power will have the greater ability to make decisions because it is better for the unit economically. By definition, that is power. That does not mean power in a negative sense, but in the sense of greater ability to influence decisions.
So for a real life example, Wife receives a job offer that will increase pay by 50% (now greater than 25% of Husband pay) and job offer is in city with lower COL. Even though Husband loves current community and has a developed social network, the decision will most likely be to move. Her earning potential influenced the decision beyond the Husband's social desires resulting in her having the Power.
This concept that economics never results in power is just not reality. However, it may not be as negative as it is coming across.
You have a good point.
So far my husband and I have not yet encountered the need to decide to move for one of our jobs, so I have not had any personal experience with that kind of decision. I would hope that if we did, we would sit down and decide if it was worth moving for a higher paid job for one of us. There would be more factors in the decision besides money... cost of living being one... schools, activities available etc.
We did have friends who moved because the husband was offered a job that paid more than he was making. However, the town they moved from was only an hour and a half drive away, so they were still able to visit with their family often... I think that made their decision easier.
Since my husband's father is offering him a position with his company when he's ready to work again, we most likely wont try to find work outside of our area. I like the place I work for, and can see myself staying there as long as I can.
Clients will drop you for all sorts of reasons. If my DH has to close his office because he is out with a sick child, patient most likely will walk on down the hall to LensCrafters ans we may lose that patient, along with all the referrals and repeat visits (however, I think he kicks enough butt as a doc that even if the do go down the hall they'll be coming back next year).
If I don't show up to close a deal on a closing date and I am the one with all the documents and knowledge I could potentially cost a client millions of dollars. If that occurs, trust me, they'll walk (one of the reasons I got out of M & A work . . . it really has very little flexibility).
To that client or patient, you showing up is not just "work" its money or time they took off work, its their life not your work they are concerned with.
There is a lot of potential to lose clients/patients by not being there . . . and when you own your own business you are not going to take that risk.
You're right; I don't get it. I don't get why you see the trash collector as contributing some good to society but not the woman who stays at home to take care of her kids. Why does a paycheck mean so much to you?
I don't think most people are making some special contribution to the world just by working and getting paid for it.
Really, you don't get the contribution of the trash collector to society? Trust me that anyone who lived through the sanitation strike in NY does. It is not the paycheck that matters to me . . . it is the action that allows our society to function effectively that matters. And if all the SAHM stopped SAH and utilized other care I'm not sure what in our society would be missing (notice, I did note that those children would still require care). However, it has been noted that with the increase of working mothers the local volunteer activites have decreased (garden clubs, room volunteers, meals on wheels) and that is a negative impact on society. However, that occurs beyond just SAH - that involves a form of work that is performed because of SAH but SAH is not a requirement for such activity.
My only point is that jobs (no matter how lowly based on society's estimation) do impact society, however SAH has no specific impact that is not done by parents who also work.
I am not looking at this solely in one is better/worse manner, I am looking at purely from an impact position.
She didn't say that trash collectors aren't making a contribution to society. She said she doesn't see why getting paid makes the difference between who is contributing and who is not.
SAHMs contribute to society by caring for children. It doesn't matter that those children are their own. A SAHP who is caring for children makes the same contribution to society that a paid caregiver makes.
>>however SAH has no specific impact that is not done by parents who also work.<<
So?
I still have to ask why it *has* to for people to see value in someone else's choice.
I see the value because I saw the value in my own choice. It was personally rewarding. I wasn't going for the nobel peace prize... I was going for personal satisfaction. I do not *have* to contribute to society during the short time of my life that was spent at home with my children to make it worth while to someone else. (I'm talking relatively here - lets say I work for 35+ years - from age 18 or 20 on to retirement - and 2 or 3 years of that was spent at home after my children were born - that is a small part of my entire life)
I'm not aiming to please my neighbor in order to make staying home worth it. I'm aiming to please me and my family.
Big whoop if someone else can't see the value.
I didn't say I didn't get the impact of the trash collector. I said I didn't get why you see the value of the trash collector but not of the sahm.
A sahm *does* do something a working parent doesn't--she takes care of her kids during the day. Just like your dcp takes care of yours. Bet you see *her* value to society.
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