7.1 Typical mornings and afternoons
Children were asked to describe a typical morning and typical afternoon. The focus of these questions was on how rushed the time is, what roles parents and children perform, and whether children have a sense that their parents' working adds to how busy the mornings are. Because the initial questions asked for the children to describe their typical daily routine, they were not led to blame the parents' routines for their own experience.
Most children in the sample considered that morning times tended to be busy and rushed, but they didn't talk about the impact of their parent's employment on the morning routine. Rather than there being a sense of increasing stress with increased hours of employment, or stress levels of jobs, differences seemed to reflect differences in the children themselves. Within the same family different children would describe the mornings quite differently - not in terms of what was done, but in terms of whether it was rushed. For instance, one child described the mornings as quite relaxed, where his sister described them as "really, really busy". These differences in individual personality are reflected in the impression that some children are very organized and talked about getting their siblings, or even their parents, to hurry up.
Both the children who talked about the mornings not being particularly rushed, and those who considered them to be busy recognised that there were conditions which influenced how rushed mornings were, such as one of two parents being temporarily absent, or that they are all tired, or that the alarm didn't go off, or that they like to sleep in.
Only a couple of children spontaneously talked about their parents getting ready for work in the mornings, and the impact that this has (or had) for them.
I have to get myself ready for school. Most kids have their parents help them get ready but I have to do it myself…because my parents – they have to get ready as well and they will be late for work and I look after myself to get myself from school and back.
[boy, 12]
It was hectic because Mum and Dad worked similar hours. Like mum especially. We all sort of got up, went to school, got home, all at the same time.
[boy, 20]
For some children, their mother and/or father had already left for work by the time children were waking up, so the responsibility for getting out the door and to school on time rested solely with the children. These children did not describe the mornings in a way that seemed significantly different from others, and did not respond to the question by referring to the parent's employment status.
Well, I get up and get (my brother) out of bed. Well Mum leaves and wakes us all up, and then I eventually get up and get (my brother) out of bed and get changed, and get breakfast ready, pack my bag and out the door.
[Is it rushed?] Oh, it depends. [girl, 16]
[gets nagged to brush teeth and pack bag. Who nags you?] My sister, because Mum's already left. She leaves before I get up.
[boy, 13]
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7.2 Responsibility
After the children had described their daily routine, they were asked how much responsibility they felt they had for taking care of themselves in terms of whether it is "too much, too little or about the right amount?" Whatever their response to this question, they were asked whether they thought they would have more or less responsibility if the working status of their parents was different. So, if the child had two working parents, they would be asked whether having one or two parents at home would mean that they would have more or less responsibility. If the child had one parent working part-time, they would be asked whether the parent working more or less would have an impact on their level of responsibility.
Most of the children felt that they had about the right amount of responsibility. When asked about the impact that a change in their parents' employment status might bring to their level of responsibility, most considered that if their parents worked less they would have less responsibility, and if their parents worked more they would have more responsibility.
One child (a 13-year old boy) had a fairly straight-forward view of the relationship between his personal responsibility and his mother's work.
I don't think I'd have as much responsibility [if mother wasn't working] because Mum would do everything in her spare time, because everybody else would be…all her friends would be at work, so she'd just be sitting around watching T.V., poor thing, and eating, and cleaning.
[boy, 13]
Another child considered that part of his responsibility came directly from his mother's need to get to work.
Probably about less because I have to have more responsibility because we're rushing and all that, and I have to do a bit of stuff by myself to enable mum to get to work and all that.
[boy, 8]
In the context of the comparison they were asked to make, most of the children talked about not minding if they had to do more, and, in some cases, considered that having less responsibility might come at a personal cost.
I think if they worked less I'd probably have less responsibility, because they would be there, but I wouldn't necessarily like that because I like the freedom…
[boy, 12]
They'd probably pick me up from school, but I think I like walking home rather than being picked up.
[boy, 11]
Some of the older children considered that the level of responsibility that they had might not be related to the amount of work that their parent or parents did.
[If she worked less?] Well, there'd still be the same amount of jobs to do. It's just a matter of her getting home earlier. [If she didn't work at all] Oh, if she wasn't working…no, she'd make sure I still did it. Just, like, so I wouldn't get slack.
[girl, 14]
Well, I suppose I would have less responsibility if my Mum didn't work because, like, she would be able to do all the house chores and everything and there wouldn't be anything left for us to do. But I suppose that wouldn't teach us anything, you know. I've always thought if you had nothing to do, what would you do when you were older…
[girl, 12]
One young adult looking back noted the contribution that her own personality made to her willingness to take responsibility for the family's daily chores.
I don't think that Mum's working gave me responsibility. I think I took it on myself. Like, it wouldn't have been an issue for my father to dress my brother and do his hair. Like my Dad used to braid my own hair for me, but it was more fun, that I wanted to do it myself. It was just a role that I had taken upon myself and enjoyed that role.
[boy, 15]
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7.3 Conclusions
The children showed a great degree of acceptance of their own particular circumstances. They appeared to accept whatever their regular routines and their level of personal responsibility were. Some reported that their parents' working had an impact on the morning routine and their level of responsibility, but none complained about this. Rather, many of the children appeared to be satisfied or even proud of their contribution to family life.