The concurrent society compels individuals to engage in productive activities to provide for their needs and those of their families. In fact, close to 65 percent of the United States population engages in full and part time works to secure a living (Kossek, Pichler, Meece & Barrat, 2008). In addition to meeting financial essentials, there is a need to sustain one’s social responsibilities regarding their families. Precisely, parents have a responsibility to care for their children, spend time with them while monitoring their growth. In cases where the children are infants, the level of responsibility is heightened and the parents, especially the mother, have to offer essential caregiving practices. As much as one is justified to claim that they are obligated to spend most of their time caring for their infants, it is worth appreciating that they also have workplace responsibilities and they need to manage their time and attention accordingly. This paper evaluates the impact childcare has on parentage on the work environment and parental welfare.
The Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology argues that, caring for an infant is stressful for a working parent. According to Payne, Cook and Diaz (2012), most parents would rather hire third party organizations to take care of their children in their early stages so that they can keep up with other responsibilities. This is largely accredited to the fact that mothers have to worry about the welfare of their child at all times while finding time to complete what is required of them in the work environment. As a result, the division of attention and tension caused by the requirements from both parties lead them into developing constant stress (Payne, Cook and Diaz, 2012). In some cases, heightened stress levels result in depression thus affecting their productivity and their caregiving skills for infants. As such, there is a negative impact on their health development since there is very little time to care for personal health.
In case parents have more than one developing child, the development of depression caused by failing to beat deadlines and meet the responsibilities of parenthood occurs. Poms, Bostford, Kaplan, Buffardi and O’Brien (2009) argue that nearly 65 percent of parents working in a corporate organization find it challenging to balance work and family affairs. In most cases, work responsibilities always seem to overpower employees working parents. As a result, they spare minimal time to complete their parental responsibilities while monitoring their children’s development (Poms, Bostford, Kaplan, Buffardi and O’Brien, 2009). Development of depression takes place among the parents as it becomes difficult to do what the organization they work in expects of them and the welfare their children’s welfare. Anderson and Paludi(1986) maintain that withdrawal relationships are most imminent as the children feel distant to the parents. Similarly, the parents perceive themselves as failures since they cannot effectively handle family and work affairs. As a result, childcare negatively impacts a parent’s wellbeing.
The Academy of Management Journal maintains that parentage among working individuals negatively affects their psychology and results in low self-esteem in case of failure (Kossek, Colquitt & Noe, 2001). Contrastingly, children are a source for happiness and they enhance their parent’s happiness. Sure enough they do. However, the case is different when other responsibilities are in question. Precisely, the management expects its employees to make the most of their time to enhance the performance of the company. As a result, parents working in such organizations have to dedicate their time to enhance their productivity by developing a positive impact to the endeavors of the organizations they work for (Kossek, Colquitt & Noe, 2001). However, there is a similar responsibility accorded with parentage. Precisely, the parent has to spend time in developing a warm relationship with their child. These conflicting interests reduce the productivity of the parents. As such, is difficult to sustain their responsibilities and this compromises their psychological welfare. In most cases, they develop lower self-esteem in case of failure.
Proper health is essential in the work environment. Lack thereof leads to the development of complex health related problems since the corporate environment engages one’s body activities (Baron & Kenny, 1986). In response to the caregiving responsibilities of a working parent, it is worth acknowledging the fact that childcare related stress affects the wellbeing of the parent as it heightens their vulnerabilities to disease attacks. According to the Journal of Occupational Health and Psychology, higher stress levels enhance the chance of one suffering from depression related illnesses if they do not dedicate time to oversee their psychological wellbeing (Allen, Herst, Bruck and Sutton, 2000). Owing to the fact that the parent finds it difficult to balance work related and childcare responsibilities, it is difficult to spare some time to visit a psychologist to offer insight on the importance of utilizing stress management techniques. Absenteeism due to childcare has negative effects to the welfare of a parent. Similarly, not dedicating enough time to monitor the development of their child is equally unforgiving.
In contrast to the abovementioned negative effects, it is essential to note that there are some health benefits achievable through proper time management. Baron and Kenny (1986) argue that the motivation of being a parent drives one into doing their best while in the work environment. As a result, it enhances their productivity in the work environment. When this happens, there is a positive impact on their health and they are more likely to extend the compassion to their children. As a result, it enhances the relationship between the parent and the child and equally acts as a motivation to achieving better results while in the work environment. Additionally, parents tend to dedicate the little time they have with their children in enhancing their relationship. As a result, the child grows fonder of his or her parent through constructive interaction for the limited time they have. This relationship is essential in the overall development of the infant. Consequently, the impact of the work environment on parentage can be positive depending on the nature of the job the parent engages in and the effort to relate with their children.
Conclusively, it is essential for parents to balance their work responsibilities with that of parenthood. Lack thereof jeopardizes an effective development for the child and reduces the parent’s efficiency in their corporate fields. Primarily, improper time and responsibilities management leads to the development of stress. This results in depression among the parents thereby compromising their parental care skills and their productivity at their work environments. Additionally, heightened stress levels enhance the parent’s vulnerability to disease attack since they dedicate lesser time to their physical and psychological welfare. As a result, it is essential to strike an effective balance between work and parentage as lack thereof has detrimental effects on the development of the child, the health of the parent and the stability of the organization these individuals work for. However, if an effective balance is met, the abovementioned problems can be easily handled. As a result, the impact of childcare management on the health of a parent is largely dependent on how they respond to their responsibilities.
References
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