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Back to Subjects - Sociology

Babies at Work

Babies at Work As we move into the new millennium more and more employers are allowing, some are even encouraging, their employees to bring their newborn babies to work with them. This is probably one of the greatest changes in child care norms that this country has seen in the past 30 years. Once upon a time, when a woman had a baby she almost always quit her job to raise her child, depending on her husband to support her and her child. Then along came the idea of maternity leave. This is when a woman takes a certain amount of time off to be with newborn. Once this time period was up, the woman still had a job to go back to. This meant that women no longer had to rely on their husbands for support. Unfortunately it also meant that more and more children were being raised by perfect strangers. So along came another idea that has changed the way the working world views working mothers. In many offices around the country, women, and some men, are now allowed to bring their newborns to the office with them. This enables women to cut short their maternity leave, thus saving their employers money, and letting them raise their own child instead of handing that responsibility off to strangers. The idea of letting women bring their baby to work is a radically new one. Its existence shows how far people are willing to go to have it all. Because women can now work and raise their child at the same time, they are better able to perform the intricate balancing act of mother and worker without a husband. It also shows how far along we, as a country, have come in our thoughts on women and child care. Many women who are now bringing their children to work with them had mothers that quit working to raise their children. In one generation our country has gone from mothers being almost totally dependent on their husbands for support, to being able to do it all themselves. The change in policy that allows women and men to bring their newborn children to work with them is, in a sense, just one more change in our country norms and values. At one point leaving your child with a baby sitter or at a daycare center all day was considered being a bad parent, meaning it was the norm to stay home and take care of your child yourself. Then, as divorce rates went up and more women were forced to raise their children on their own, that changed and it became the norm for women to go back to work after a set time for maternity leave. This also made sending you child to a daycare center or leaving them with a babysitter the norm since you couldn’t be there to take care of your child. With women being allowed to bring their babies into work with them, that is again changing the norms of society, specifically those having to do with the care of children. Women used to be given a hard time when they brought their children into work with them, even if it was only for a matter of minutes. Now many of them are allowed to bring their children in for a whole day, every day. This is enabling women to care for their own children and raise them in their own way with their own values, instead of entrusting those important responsibilities to someone else. Mothers are also forming a closer bond with their children in an important time in a child’s development. This will lead to a stronger bond later in life, which will help the child more than any daycare ever could. Children in the workplace are also helping to change some people’s views on children. Instead of considering them a burden and thinking they will impede productivity, many are discovering that babies actually do the opposite. Children in the workplace inspire a sense of loyalty and camaraderie among the employees, which in turn increases their output. In some businesses babies actually seem to attract customers. For example, at San Jose National Bank in California, employees babies play on blankets and in cribs on the floor near the customers standing in line. President Jim Kenny has said that the babies attract new customers, people who thought babies lightened up the banking business. Kathleen Sebelius, the Kansas insurance commissioner, stated “People are nicer to each other if there is a baby around. There’s a sort of shared sensation that it’s a department baby,” which contributes to company loyalty. Many women are now even actively looking for jobs that allow them to bring their baby to work with them. Some companies were worried about the cost to them, with allowing women to take a maternity leave and then bring their child to work with them, a possible distraction. Their solution is to ask women to take a shorter maternity leave. By doing this the company does not have to retain a temporary worker and pay the mother maternity leave. Mr. Kenny stated that a shorter maternity leave was an even trade for bringing a baby into work. With this new policy, companies have found a way to keep up with the changing times at almost no cost to themselves. This is an example of the material world having to catch up with the non-material world and thus prevent a cultural lag in this country. The material world being women having to work so they can make a decent living while the non-material world is women wanting to raise their own children. By combining the workplace with a childcare center, the non-material world has finally caught up with the material world. If the non-material world had never caught up to the material world, we would probably have more and more couples, that do make enough to support a family, remaining childless because they did not want to entrust others with the care of their children. Also because both parents can work and still raise their child they will have a greater family income which will result in a better education for the child and less of a chance of that child growing up to live in poverty. In conclusion, by allowing new parents to bring their babies into work with them, companies are saving themselves money, assuring that the country will not fall into a cultural lag and contributing to the changing norms in our society. With a shortened maternity leave companies are getting more work out of new mothers than ever before. It has also been proven that children in the workplace do not impede production so once women are back on the job, employers will still get the same amount of work from them as they did before the woman went on maternity leave. Allowing babies in the workplace is also helping to end the slight cultural lag that existed in our country. More than ever people want “the good life” and are willing to work for it, but they also wanted to raise their own children. Before they were forced to choose between being a parent and being a worker, now they can have the best of both worlds. Finally, businesses are keeping up with the changing times. It is now becoming the norm to bring your child to work with you, which is changing the old view that children do not belong in the workplace. Babies are actually a welcome addition to many offices because they increase the feeling of friendship among employees, which, in turn, increases employee output. In some cases, newborns in the workplace even attract new clients. Allowing babies on the job is fast becoming accepted in our society because employers are finally realizing that the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1355