The Second Shift Summary

In the article, The Second Shift, Arlie Hochschild explains that the household responsibilities that a wife and mother takes care of, aside from working her paid job, roughly adds up to fifteen hours longer each week than men( Hochschild, 259). The article asserts that even though both parents have careers, it's usually the mom who also works the second shift at home. The second shift included household chores in addition of working outside the home (Hochschild, 260). One reason why women feel the need to juggle between working and caregiving is because they feet more responsible for home and their children (Hochschild, 261). Women more than men are trying to control their profession work life and also maintain their home. I believe this unequal distribution of unpaid labor is largely connected to traditional gender roles.
Gender roles divides social and behavioral norms
Work has always been tied to paid employment, which is why housework has been unrecognized as work. Many working mothers choose to leave work and become a stay at home because of the frustration they face at work, managing work and family, and the amount of gender inequality they face at work (Anderson, 152). I don't think it's necessary for a women to decide that she has to leave work to take care of the family. I believe one way to reduce the disproportionate impact of the second shift on women is to divide housework and care work between both spouses. Men should also engage in housework just as much as his wife. For instance, the spouses should divide the household chores weekly to maintain a happy relationship and also work outside the house. Another way to reduce the second shift would be to have full-time and also have flexible hours. Having flexible houses is very crucial because that means working mothers can leave any time of the day to take care of household chores and not feel drained by the end of the