New styles of work
blur the line between family and job.
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| The modern-day sweatshop. |
My granddaughter, age 2, sits at the table while her mother, an engineer, works. If Julia stops focusing on her screen, my
granddaughter taps her hand and says, “work, Mommy!”
This holiday I drove to be with my kids. My husband was in
the passenger seat, tethered to a hotspot, working. He’d also worked on Sunday.
My son was in the back seat working (albeit on his own project). When we
arrived, my son-in-law was in his office working. The next day, he and my
daughter got up at 4 AM so they could finish their workday before the remainder
of their company arrived. My husband chose instead to work during his usual
daylight hours.
On Thanksgiving, I was the only one who had to work: I got an alert that one of my current workshop ads
had a date wrong.
This morning I awoke at 5 AM to a flickering light outside.
My son-in-law was outside replacing the thermostat on his tractor. Once again,
my daughter is sitting at the kitchen table telecommuting.
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| US Labor Participation Rate, US Department of Labor. |
Above is a chart of the labor-force participation rate in
the United States. In the past few years, it has stabilized at 63%, which was, coincidentally, about what it was in 1950. However, in 1950, the non-participating part of the labor
force—women—were providing support services for the other part. That is no
longer how the population is divided.
In 1950, more than 80% of men were working, and just 33.9%
of women. That steadily equalized until the end of the century. Since 2000, women’s
participation in the workforce has started to decline along with men's.
The participation rate of women is projected to be 59.4% in 2020 and 55.1% in
2050. Meanwhile, the participation rate for men continues to drop.
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| Change in men's and women's labor force participation, US Department of Labor. |
Those who do work, work a heckuva lot. A Gallup report from
2014 estimated that the average full-time worker in the United States works 47
hours a week, one of the highest figures in the world. Salaried workers averaged
49 hours a week. Nearly four in 10 said they work at least 50 hours. And the
highest numbers were recorded by the self-employed.
One question I wasn't able to answer is, what are the nearly 40% of the population who aren't working doing instead? I'd expected retirement numbers to be rising as Boomers age, but the percentage of older workers staying in the workforce is rising. They simply don't have the money to retire.
One of the great jokes of modern times has been the
statement that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Until the Industrial
Revolution, that was the economic center of the family; both partners worked at
what we now call home-based businesses.
I like telecommuting. It has returned the American worker to
his or her home. But sometimes I think the lines are too blurred. For some of
us, all there is, is work.
