Women Who Desire Both a Career and a Family
Women More Often Choose Family Over Piece of work
Pew Enquiry Heart information show men are less probable to make career changes for family
For working parents in the U.Due south., the challenge of juggling careers and family life continues to be a front-burner consequence – one that is beingness recognized by a growing number of employers who have adopted family-friendly policies such as paid leave. But while few Americans want to see a return to traditional roles of women at dwelling house and men in the workplace, i reality persists: Women most oftentimes are the ones who accommodate their schedules and brand compromises when the needs of children and other family unit members collide with piece of work, Pew Research Centre data testify.
In a 2013 survey, we found that mothers were much more likely than fathers to report experiencing significant career interruptions in order to attend to their families' needs. Part of this is due to the fact that gender roles are lagging backside labor force trends. While women correspond virtually one-half of the U.S. workforce, they still devote more fourth dimension than men on average to housework and child care and fewer hours to paid work, although the gap has narrowed significantly over time. Among working parents of children younger than 18, mothers in 2013 spent an average of fourteen.2 hours per calendar week on housework, compared with fathers' 8.6 hours. And mothers spent 10.7 hours per calendar week actively engaged in kid care, compared with fathers' 7.2 hours.
Another cistron is the way that society views the bail between mothers and their children. In a 2012 Pew Enquiry survey, the vast majority of Americans (79%) rejected the notion that women should return to their traditional role in society. Nonetheless when they were asked what is best for young children, very few adults (sixteen%) said that having a female parent who works full fourth dimension is the "ideal situation." Some 42% said that having a female parent who works function fourth dimension is platonic and 33% said what'southward best for young children is to take a mother who doesn't piece of work at all. Fifty-fifty amongst full-fourth dimension working moms, only virtually one-in-5 (22%) said that having a total-fourth dimension working mother is ideal for young children.
When asked what's best for women themselves, the public expressed a similar sentiment. Only 12% of adults said the ideal state of affairs for women with young children is to work full time. About half (47%) said working function time is ideal for these women, while 33% said non working at all would be the best situation.
The public applies a much different standard to fathers. When we asked about the ideal situation for men with young children, fully seven-in-10 adults said working full time would be ideal for these fathers. One-in-v adults said function-time work would be ideal and only 4% said information technology would be best for these dads non to work at all.
In reality, the "ideal" state of affairs is non ever the most practical, nor is it always attainable. In fact, according to U.Southward. authorities information, 64% of mothers with children younger than half-dozen are in the labor force, and among working mothers, 72% work full fourth dimension.
One result is that while 42% of mothers with some work experience reported in 2013 that they had reduced their work hours in order to intendance for a child or other family member at some point in their career, merely 28% of fathers said the same. Similarly, 39% of mothers said they had taken a significant amount of time off from work in order to care for a family member (compared with 24% of men). And mothers were about three times every bit likely as men to report that at some betoken they quit a job so that they could care for a family member (27% of women vs. ten% of men).
Information technology'southward important to note that when we asked people whether they regretted taking these steps, the resounding answer was "No." However, information technology's too important to note that women who had experienced these interruptions were much more than probable than men to say that this had a negative impact on their career. For example, women who took time off at some point in their work life to care for a child or other family member were twice as likely every bit men who did the same to say that this hurt their career overall (35% vs. 17%). Similarly, among those who took a significant amount of time off from piece of work to await after a family member, 32% of women compared with 18% of men said doing this hurt them professionally.
According to many economists, family-related career interruptions can undermine women's economic prospects in a variety of means, by contributing to the gender wage gap and past narrowing the pipeline that feeds top-level jobs. Of course, for lots of women these interruptions may serve as the goad to a more balanced life which may in plow outweigh whatever lost financial benefits.
In her new book "Unfinished Business organisation: Women, Men, Work, Family unit," Anne-Marie Slaughter raises many of these problems, and in a recent New York Times article, Slaughter said that what is needed in club to change individual workplaces is a "culture alter: fundamental shifts in the way we think, talk and confer prestige." Our information propose that a generational shift, if non a civilisation change, may be coming. When we asked immature adults (ages 18 to 32) who don't yet have children whether they conceptualize that condign a parent will make it harder or easier for them to advance in their chore or career, young men were just as likely as immature women to say that children will likely deadening down their career advocacy (roughly 60% in each grouping). This suggests that Millennial men may be entering their careers with a different set of expectations nigh what balancing family life and piece of work will entail.
At the same time, though, among immature adults with children, women are much more than likely than men to say being a working parent makes it harder for them to become alee at work (58% of Millennial moms say this, versus 19% of Millennial dads).
These issues enhance anew debates over government and workplace policies designed to back up parents and families. While the national chat continues, working parents across America will proceed to juggle their many responsibilities – making time for caregiving along the way.
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/women-more-often-choose-family-over-work/433029/
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