Strollerderby
Generation Xers Break From the Boomers in Work-Life Balance
Most of us, I think, plan to parent differently than our parents did to some degree. And sometimes that can whip itself into something that really seems generational in nature versus just simple family dynamics.
For example, the GenXers, people my age, pretty much parent differently than our own parents, the baby boomers did.
Balancing parenting with careers is one of the major ways those generational differences assert themselves, according to this blog by Tammy Erickson from the Harvard Business Review. For Boomers, successful parenting meant having successful children, that everything you did was with an eye toward giving your children a leg up in the chase for success and status.
For us, though, we
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5 Comments
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amAmy,
Great analysis of the differences between Boomers and Gen X’ers. I think the next generation (Millennials born 1982-200?) are likely to erase many of the work/life divisions that we (Boomers and GenX’ers) created. I have been writing a bunch about the differences between generations on my blog and would love to hear your feedback:
http://www.thegenxfiles.com
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI was going to say what Shannon did. I remember my parents being very laid back, as far as not having a gazillion activities planned for me and working normal hours so I could see them every day.
Also, I didn’t know anyone who went to preschool when I was that age. Now, I hear people talking about going to the right preschool, so they get into the right elementary school, etc. etc., then they can get into Harvard.
I myself did choose to take time off of work to take care of my son. One big reason is that I felt it was all or nothing – either I worked and at work so many hours that I would never see my son during the week, or I had to quit. So in this way, I have the choice to take time off and then go back to work, but I did not have the choice to work fewer hours to accommodate being a parent.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amKhrystena, I agree with you entirely. In my industry (law), you’ll often see handwringing from the older generation about how we younger lawyers have no sense of loyalty, yet the same industry has laid off my husband twice in his 8 year career, after making all the right noises about how they are committed to keeping people on even in bad economic times, etc. Career loyalty is a two way street, and the older generation stopped rewarding loyalty a long time ago, so they could enrich themselves. I’d rather spend time with my family than bust my booty for 10 years only to be passed over for partner and told I had to find somewhere else to work.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI completely agree with your statement about loyalty. The only people I will be loyal to is my family. I will go to work and work hard but I will not change my life and take all my time away from my child to work. She will be there in the end, unlike many companies.
Shannon LC Cate commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amThat’s funny. Seems to me, when I was a kid in the 70′s there was very little programming of kids’ time and a lot of slacking on the childcare end of things. My brother and I were latchkey kids from age 6 and 11.
It’s my peers (the Xers) who seem more caught up in early-early-early “educational” experiences for their kids and other things to give the kids a leg up in life.
I do fit the model of a woman who has a choice and chooses to slack career-wise to spend more quality time with my kids, but that’s because I can afford to choose this and my parents couldn’t. My dad lost not one but two small businesses in the recessions of the late 70′s and early 90′s.
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