“I’m Just Glad My Three Jobs Could Be During the Day”: Women and Work in a Rural Community*

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00361.x
• Author: Whitney A. Brosi,Karla M. Damiano‐Teixeira,Barbara D. Ames
• Date: 01 January 2006
• Published date: 01 January 2006

’’I’m Just Glad My Three Jobs Could Be During

the Day’’: Women and Work in a Rural Community*

Barbara D. AmesWhitney A. BrosiKarla M. Damiano-Teixeira**

Abstract: The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experience of wage-earning women in

the context of rural economic restructuring. An ecological and life course theoretical framework was used. Nine

community leaders and 17 wage-earning women residing in a rural northern Michigan county participated in semi-

structured interviews, and the prevailing economic concern was low wages and lack of jobs with benefits. Women

workers were affected by factors such as ties to rural family business, childcare concerns, and long commutes to

work and children’s schools. Informal social support and family ties were identified as reasons for remaining in these

challenging circumstances.

Key Words: coping, female workers, rural families and communities, social support, work and family.

Economic restructuring is considered a primary

cause of stress for rural Americans (Imig, Bokemeier,

Keefe, Struthers, & Imig, 1997). Primarily, it exac-

erbates poverty, a historically persistent condition in

rural areas (Huang, 1999). In addition to affecting

rates of poverty, economic restructuring corresponds

with changing family structure (McLaughlin, Gardner,

& Lichter, 1999). Gender differences in agriculture

and service-sector dominated areas, as well as child-

care concerns of rural women, contribute to rural

work and family concerns (Albrecht, Albrecht, &

Albrecht, 2000). Females are less likely than their

male counterparts to find agricultural employment.

Further, women are more likely to be employed in

service-sector jobs with lower pay and fewer benefits

also has specifically addressed rural mothers’ social

networks and the need for adequate childcare

resources (Marks, Dewees, Ouellette, & Koralek,

1999). Research (Katras, Zuiker, & Bauer, 2004;

Voydanoff, 2004).

Families in economic and occupational transition

and those with lower socioeconomic status are more

vulnerable than those with more stability and higher

socioeconomic status (Lorenz, Elder, Bao, Wickrama,

& Conger, 2000). Outcomes of such stress can

include compromised physical and emotional

health, increasing the risk of morbidity and mortal-

ity. These factors, combined with less access to

health care, may compound the vulnerability of

rural residents. In addition, lack of technology, dis-

tance from adequate health care centers, and lower

rates of insurance coverage also create health care

barriers (Albrecht, Clarke, & Miller, 1998).

The present research aims to better understand

the experience of rural, wage-earning women in the

context of rural economic restructuring. Viewed

through the lens of this rural community context,

the specific objectives include (a) to describe the work

lives of rural wage-earning women, (b) to identify the

challenges and concerns faced by rural wage-earning

women, (c) to determine the coping strategies used

by rural wage-earning women, (d) to determine the

role and sources of formal and informal social sup-

port, and (e) to describe the aspirations rural wage-

earning women have for themselves and their

children.

This study makes a unique contribution to the

literature in three ways. First, it uses qualitative

*This research was funded by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Project MICL01897.

**Barbara D. Amesis a Professor in Family and Child Ecologyat the Michigan State University,13 Human Ecology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824 (ames@msu.edu).

Whitney A.Brosi is an Assistant Professor at the OklahomaState University. KarlaM. Damiano-Teixeira is an AssistantProfessor at the UniversidadeFederal de Vicxosa.

Family Relations, 55 (January 2006), 119–131. Blackwell Publishing.

Copyright 2006 by the National Council on Family Relations.