Work or Family? A hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative analysis exploring the shared meaning and value of employment from the perspective of low-income women.

The purpose of this study was to explore low-income women’s perspectives of the shared meaning of work and value of employment as communicated through their family across generations from an intersectional feminist perspective (n=14). Analyses were conducted using a hermeneutic phenomenology coding process (van Manen, 1990) to understand the meaning-making process. Four categories of themes emerged from the data; Purpose, Work, Motherhood, and Loss and Resilience. Consistent with the Family Career Identity Development framework (FCID) (Burcher, 2016), the importance of family in relation to their work world was clear. Implications for policy and programs are discussed.

Objectives

1. To explore low-income women’s perspectives of the shared meaning of work and value of employment as communicated through their family across generations. 2. To confirm or disconfirm the tenets of Family Career Identity Development framework, which posits that the nature and meaning of career identity is developed within the family context. 3. To examine the experiences of a previously understudied population by understanding that individuals have overlapping social identities related to systems of oppression.

Iranian Working Mothers’ Job-Family Balance: A Collectivistic Perspective

The present study examined the impact of work family balance on job satisfaction of Iranian working mothers who were married and had at least one child under 18 years old. The data for the study come from self-report survey which was answered by 130 Iranian working mothers. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed the number of working hours, and number of children negatively impact working mothers` job satisfaction. Also, working mothers’ level of parental satisfaction positively contributed to their job satisfaction. The results are interpreted based on cultural dynamics of the participants.

Objectives

1) To theoretically examine the effect work-family satisfaction model. (2) To analyze the Iranian working mother`s job satisfaction from a family system perspective. (3) To evaluate the collectivistic cultural dynamic and its impact on working mothers experiences.

The Emotion Work of Rural, Low-Income Mothers to Create Christmas

This qualitative study examines the emotion work that rural, low-income women performed to create the Christmas holiday. Gift giving was very important to women, but often they were unable to provide gifts for all family members. Women used a variety of strategies to procure presents including shopping at the Dollar Store, shopping year round, making gifts, and asking friends and families for assistance in purchasing gifts for children. While some women enjoyed Christmas, others disliked it. Many experienced it as stressful because of their limited resources.

Objectives

1. Describe the work low-income rural women perform to make Christmas for their families. 2. Describe how low-income rural women experience the Christmas holiday. 3. Consider the implications for social service agencies of this knowledge.

Feminism and Financial Processes Within Marriage

Feminism is rarely used as a theoretical framework for marital finance research. The purposes of this paper are 1) to discuss marital finance research in the context of feminism in hopes that feminism will be explicitly used more frequently in marital finance research, 2) to present a gender and marital finances model, and 3) to test the model with longitudinal couple data. Results suggest that four marital financial processes (earners of money, access to money, management of money, and financial conflict) predict marital quality and stability, and that power mediates these relationships. Gender differences and partner effects are discussed.

Objectives

1) To discuss marital finance research in the context of feminism in hopes that feminism will be explicitly used more frequently in marital finance research 2) To present a gender and marital finances model 3) To test the gender and marital finances model with longitudinal couple data