BECKER- Wharton

In the Introduction of Treatise on the Family, Becker states "the model developed in Chapter 2 shows that even if a husband and wife are intrinsically identical, they gain from a division of labor between market and household activities, with one of them specializing more in market activities and the other specializing more in household activities," (3). This quote made me wonder if in a successful traditional family, does one spouse always prioritize work while the other prioritizes family? It seems as if this distribution of labor would inevitably create a poor dynamic between husband and wife, or spouse-who-prioritizes-work and children. It also seems that this balance would rely on both husband and wife being productive individuals, and competent within their own allocations of labor, for such a division to work. Becker discusses higher divorce rates within present western cultures, and I think that this rationale for a division of labor between market and household activities may be part of the problem. By dividing labor, spouses become disconnected from each other, as well as disconnected from an entire compenent/side of household life, be it the economic sector or the familial sector.

I think what made marriages work and kept households together was the necessity of all members of the household to contribute to the productivity of the family. What can be said of the dynamic of the household today? Parents work hard to support their children, to pay for their food and education, while children are expected to do very little in terms of economic productivity, besides perhaps succeed in school so as to secure a successful and economically beneficial job in the future. How has the dynamic between the family, with every individual expected to perform an individualized role that does not necessarily benefit the other members, changed from the past, and impacted the successful dynamic of the family presently? What factors inspire people to have children, if the children do not add anything in terms of productivity, and instead only add steep economic stresses on the parents? This may sound morbid, but I am merely curious as to the factors that inspire individuals to reproduce today, as the motives seem very different from what they were historically.

PS sorry this is late; the past week has been very crazy for me.