The family is considered the center and structure of our society. In any given year, at least 15 percent of the work force, or about one in every seven employees, are likely to be faced with personal problems that significantly affect their job performance. These problems could be marital or family problems, alcohol or drug abuse, job stress, financial or legal problems, or some other difficulty. Characteristics in researching and understanding the cause and effects of family problems in the work place include:.
1. An overview of the family structure.
2. Continuing and growing economic trends.
3. The overworked family.
4. Family problems in the workplace; what can be done?.
An Overview of the Family Structure.
The three major trends affecting the American family over the past 50 years, according to the national non- profit agency Families and Work institute, are; a rise in teen pregnancy, an increased divorce rate, and an emergence of the two-income family (Manning, A). The United States has by far the highest teenage pregnancy rate and the highest divorce rate of all major industrialized nations. Between 1960 and 1992, the number of births to unmarried teenage girls between 15 and 19 quadrupled, although the rate has declined somewhat in the past few years. From the '60s to the '80s, the divorce rates more than doubled before it leveled off at its current level. As life-long marital bonds become less common in America, more varied family structures are rising. Many people are members of more than one family and are linked biologically and emotionally to people who do not share their household. An important challenge for family research is to understand the effects of the varied paths people take in forming and dissolving unions and emotional ties and in establishing new households. Families shape the quality of our lives. Emotional and economic links among family members stretch across households and decades, influencing our outlooks on life, motivations, and strategies for achievement, and styles for coping with adversity.
