Institutional example
Public Education:
Here in the United States, basic education is public and available to children across the country. However, for people like Cristobal who do not live in the U.S. and who never finished their education the opposite is true. In āthird worldā countries, education is not a right but a privilege. Children who want to learn must travel to attend school and a majority of the time their parents pay high amounts of money for enrollment, uniforms, supplies, and books. In places like Mexico, kids are taken out of school at a young age to help their families with work. Ultimately, money becomes their primary focus and school becomes the last item on their list. These kids that grown up, both girls and boys, might have difficulty obtaining jobs which can lead them to being unemployed. Once starting a family, this individual will face the decision to find any job or be a stay at home parent. As a society, this should be of high concern. Many say, to leave poverty, education is the key. But when, education is not available to people, then that key is lost. Living here in a privileged place makes us ignorant to our own privilege. Men or women who have an education in this country who choose to be stay at home parent, most of the time choose to do it. In a country like Mexico, in small towns where education is not a right, the title of a stay at home parent is sometimes forced. Ā Ā
Work force:
The workforce, is another institution that greatly affects the stereotyping and devaluing of the stay at home parent. Sheryl Sandbergās book Lean In is cited by Torabi saying āwomenās average annual earnings decrease by 20 percent if they are out of the workforce for just one yearā. Compared to men who she says āOne study found that dads who left work for even a short period of time to cater to domestic matters earned lower evaluations and more negative performance ratings at work than women who opted outā. Ā These notion brought up by Torobi are rare. Here in the United States, the workforce along with its employers are notorious for Ā treating women differently than men. Wage gaps and discrimination are all too common topics. However, for the stay at home father and mother to earn less money and evaluations as soon as they return to the workforce is an issue that should be addressed. What if a stay at home parent wants to work during or after, does this mean he or she should be treated any different than any other worker?Ā
