Running Head: POSITION PAPER

Rebecca Browne
The University of North Texas
DFST 2033
Position Paper

POSITION PAPER

My position on parenting is more old school than most of the ways and thoughts of today.
Both parents working can be great for some families, but I also believe it can be very harmful for
children. The stand I am taking on this position paper is that against both parents working while
trying to parent their children. Children are a lot of work, but throwing work in there complicates
it more. Parenting is not something to take lightly; it is something to give all your efforts
towards.
There are about 35 million women in America with children under the age of 18.
Statistics tell us that about 2/3 of those women have either full or part time jobs while trying to
parent. (Tong, Shinohara, Sugisawa, Tanaka, Maruyama, Sawada, Anme, 2009) Being a working
mother can be fine if there is a father that stays home with the children. If both parents work day
jobs and leave the children in daycare or in the hands of someone else, there will be no parental
interaction throughout the day. A child needs parental interaction in order to develop correctly.
There have been significant positive socioemotional and cognitive differences between working
and stay at home mothers (Tong, Shinohara, Sugisawa, Tanaka, Maruyama, Sawada, Anme,
2009). Children with stay at home mothers develop better cognitively. They are given the
confidence and comfort to grow.
Some studies showed that working mothers and their children actually had a conflicting
relationship than those of stay at home mothers and their children. Japan is said to have become
one of the countries with a rapid growth in working mothers. This then leads to more and more
child-care facilities around the country. Studies show that the growth in childcare centers will
increase the work and support in the early development programs in Japan (Tong, Shinohara,
Sugisawa, Tanaka, Maruyama, Sawada, Anme, 2009). Although I am against working parents,
this look at things makes me hopeful. I think more work put in to early child developmental

POSITION PAPER

programs for children helps with the growing population in Japan. This will help the children
grow more intellectually than they would have before.
Work-life balance is not something that is easy to balance. It is thought to be two things
that compliment each other and work well together, but in fact they are like opposite sides of a
magnet constantly pushing the other away. It is extremely hard to find the balance between work
and life when you are trying to be your best self in the field and as a parent. The two are
competing against each other to see who will control your life. Because work-life balance has
been something more common these days, more women have left their homes and gone to work
to be an employee and a mother. This results in less time spent with their children and less time
for things at home. It is inevitable to bring work home with you after a long day. We dont mean
to do it, but somehow it ends up happening more often than we would like. You may think you
found the perfect work-life balance but then work starts to take over in the home and you start to
neglect your child (Daipuria, Kakar, 2013).
When it comes to working parents, some think of work as worship or a compulsion. This
being said, many working parents probably need their work life in order to function properly in
theyre at home lives. The need for fulfillment comes from their work and if they are happy and
get what they need out of work then they are able to function better as parents when they are
home. If they stay home all day with their children some could get aggravated easier and take
their need for self-fulfillment out on their children because they arent getting it (Diapuria,
Kakar, 2013).
Parenting styles can be altered when parents are not meeting their full potential. If they
are the type of parent that needs that self-fulfillment and doesnt get it because they are staying
home with their children all day then they will probably resort to neglect or another type of

POSITION PAPER

parenting style. If the parent is loving raising their children and that is what they live for then
they will probably be more of an authoritative parent. I think parenting styles can be affected by
the behavior of the parent and where they are mentally and emotionally.
Children are not animals; they cant be left alone all day with food and water to fend for
themselves. Children are little humans who depend solely on their parents. I am an intern at the
Ronald McDonald House of Dallas right now and the security these little children have with their
parents is something no one else could give them. I have seen children who come all day with a
nurse because their parents are not able to be with them. They have little confidence and do not
ever want to do any of the activities because they dont feel comfortable around all the strangers.
I have then seen families who have both parents with them at all times and these children have so
much confidence. The bond children have with their parents is incredible and having at least one
of them at home while the child is growing up is so important for their confidence and support.
I believe that a child needs at least one parent who stays home to raise them as they grow.
If they are neglected and pushed of for someone else to raise him or her they will not grow to
their full potential. The affect a parent has on a childs confidence and stability is something that
does not change. A child needs the love and support from its parents not only at the beginning
and end of the day, but throughout the entire day. Working and parenting can be tough when
done together so I recommend one parent take on the full responsibility of raising the children
while the other parent works.

POSITION PAPER

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Works Cited

Daipuria, P., & Kakar, D. (2013). Work-life balance for working parents: Perspectives and
strategies. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 2(1), 45-52. Retrieved
from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1478029323?accountid=7113
Tong, L., Shinohara, R., Sugisawa, Y., Tanaka, E., Maruyama, A., Sawada, Y., & ... Anme, T.
(2009). Relationship of working mothers parenting style and consistency to early
childhood development: a longitudinal investigation. Journal Of Advanced Nursing,
65(10), 2067-2076. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05058.x