Family & Society

Gender roles are formed and reinforced from earliest childhood through family relations, social and cultural strictures and norms. Today, family structures are shifting as nuclear and extended families undergo transformations due to economic and societal changes. The traditional archetype of one father and one mother plus children reflects only 25 percent of families in the U.S. Parental roles are also evolving as single-parent, same-sex couples and adoptive parents become increasingly common. Laws and employment policies are gradually reflecting these changes but more effort needs to be focused on providing family-friendly support from affordable, accessible, quality child and elder care to flexible work arrangements.

Women & Time: What Makes Her Tick - Executive Summary 2012

Submitted by asklar on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 11:04pm

The results of a new groundbreaking national survey,Women and Time: Setting a New Agenda, commissioned by Real Simple and designed by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute reveal that much of the time pressure experienced by women is self-imposed, due to trouble delegating and letting go of control. However, the survey also discovered that women who set aside regular free time are ultimately more satisfied with their lives(50% report being very satisfied, versus 41% of those who regularly postpone their free time).

"There is a startling connection between scheduling free time and happiness—and an equally startling connection between the ability to delegate and happiness," said Kristin van Ogtrop, Managing Editor, Real Simple.

URL:

http://img4.realsimple.com/static/rsr/images/EVE105_WT_ExecSummary_LR.pdf

Volunteering in the United States, 2011

Submitted by asklar on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 10:49pm

The volunteer rate rose by 0.5 percentage point to 26.8 percent for the year ending in September 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 64.3 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2010 and September 2011. The increase in the volunteer rate in 2011 followed a decline of equal size in 2010.

These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS). The supplement was sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses)
through or for an organization. For more information about the volunteer supplement, see the Technical Note.

Volunteering Among Demographic Groups

URL:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm

Women across generations: expectations and aspirations

Submitted by asklar on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 10:39pm

Almost every week there is a new headline about women’s position in society: on unemployment, parenting, women having or not having ‘it all’, the gender pay gap, and women’s representation in politics and on company boards.

And while there has certainly been progress for many women in the UK – as shown by more women entering the workforce and gaining educational qualifications – persistent challenges such as the pay gap and under-representation in many areas of society remain. This, alongside dynamic social and demographic trends, highlights the diversity of families in today’s society.

URL:

http://ippr.org/research-project/44/8462/women-across-generations-expectations-and-aspirations

Women as Primary Breadwinner? Black Women Know All About It

Teaser:

As we consider the quickly approaching future in which women are predicted to be the primary breadwinners in most households, African-American women have something unique to add to discussion as well—they’ve been living that “future” for a long time already.

Editorial:

From Slate:

Though obvious on its face, the point bears occasional repetition: When we speak of “women” in the feminist blogscape, we are often talking about a specific demographic profile; usually white, straight, middle-class and somewhat liberal. But in reality, of course, women are a far more diverse bunch, with a diversity of experience and perspective to match. As Amanda Marcotte and Libby Copeland have discussed here recently (in response to comments made by S.C. Governor Nikki Haley), conservative women see the contraception debate and the “War on Women” in general from a very different point of view than we might expect. And, as we consider the quickly approaching future in whichwomen are predicted to be the primary breadwinners in most households, African-American women have something unique to add to discussion as well—they’ve been living that “future” for a long time already.

According to a post by Zerlina Maxwell that’s making the rounds, Black women are already the “lifeblood” of their families in a community hard hit by the recession and in which men face added, often racist, obstacles to employment. The American Prospect had a piece back in 2008 exploring the issue, and the findings support Maxwell’s point:

Because of the limited economic prospects for black men, black women are likely to be both primary caregivers and primary breadwinners in our families. In nearly 44 percent of black families with children, a woman is the primary breadwinner. This includes both families headed by working single mothers and married-couple families in which the wife works and the husband does not. These female breadwinner families account for over 32 percent of aggregate black family income.

Source:

Slate

URL:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/04/05/women_as_breadwinner_black_women_already_fill_role_in_family.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/04/05/women_as_breadwinner_black_women_already_fill_role_in_family.html

Date:

April 6, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Nannies Making Six-figures? What Childcare Workers Really Take Home

Teaser:

Bryce Covert examines disparities in reported child care salaries.

Editorial:

From Forbes:

The rich are different than you and me, and here’s one more bit of evidence that Adam Davidsonrecently dug up in the New York Times Magazine: the 1% is shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for childcare. He spoke with an elite nanny agency, plus some of these high-end nannies themselves, and discovered at least one making $180,000 a year plus an apartment and bonuses. Yet nannies making six figures are quite an exception to the low pay that is the norm for childcare workers.

Some memes have to be popped after they’ve already taken on steam, but sometimes we can get out in front of them. For one might be led to think that New Yorkers are paying top dollar to compensate their live-in childcare workers lavishly. It made Derek Thompson wonder, “How in the world can Manhattan nannies be worth $200,000 a year?” His answer is that there is a “Nanny Effect” to locally delivered services such as childcare. Because “most of the jobs in a service economy have a local clientele,” he says, “in cities where incomes are high, average price levels for these services are typically high.” Anyone who’s walked into a hair salon on the Upper West Side for a cheap cut will understand this phenomenon.

But the tale of the $200,000 nanny is an incredibly niche story. For the 99% of nannies, pay is actually quite low given the important work they do. In a2011 survey of 528 nannies across the country, the most common answer to an inquiry about how much they bring in pre-tax per week was $600. The second most common? A mere $300 or less per week. And things don’t get much better even in high-priced New York City. Live-in nannies, like the aforementioned $200,000 one, make an average of $713 a week, which comes to $37,076 a year. Even in posh Park Slope, home of high-priced strollers and children’s clothes that cost more than my nicest suit, on the books nannies earn $16.41 an hour. For those working 50 hours a week, that comes to just $42,666 a year.

[...]

Source:

Forbes

URL:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brycecovert/2012/04/02/nannies-making-six-figures-what-childcare-workers-really-take-home/

Date:

April 3, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Two-Thirds of Young Arab Women Remain Out of Workforce

Teaser:

About one in three young Arab women between the ages of 23 and 29 participate in their country's labor force versus about eight in 10 young Arab men. This gender gap is generally consistent across the 22 Arab countries and territories Gallup surveyed in 2011, but young women's labor force participation is slightly higher in low-income countries than in higher income countries.

Editorial:

From Gallup:

These findings are based on a new Silatech Index report, "Workforce Participation Linked to Wellbeing Differences Among Young Arab Women," which examines how young women's workforce participation is related to their life evaluations, emotional state, and economic optimism.

In many Arab countries, chronic job shortages combined with cultural factors, such as pressure on employers to give young men jobs that enable them to marry and start families, may limit employment opportunities for young women. The World Bank recently reported that the Middle East and North Africa region continues to have the lowest female workforce participation rate of any global region.

These broad gender gaps persist despite impressive strides in many Arab countries toward gender equity in education. In high-income countries, women aged 23 to 29 are just as highly educated as their male counterparts and are more likely than young men to have a tertiary education (22% vs. 16%, respectively). In middle-income and low-income countries, young women are less likely than young men to have more than a primary education.

[...]

Source:

Gallup

URL:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/153659/Two-Thirds-Young-Arab-Women-Remain-Workforce.aspx

Date:

April 2, 2012

Affiliate:

How Do Women Spend Their Time?

Teaser:

In a survey conducted by Real Simple and the Families and Work Institute, a leading nonprofit research organization, 3,230 American women ages 25 to 54 were asked about the who, what, when, and why concerning their free time.*

Source:

Real Simple

URL:

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/time-management/spend-time-00100000077167/

Date:

March 28, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

First Marriages in the United States: Data From the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth

Submitted by asklar on Fri, 03/23/2012 - 10:38am

Objectives—This report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows trends and group differences in current marital status, with a focus on first marriages among women and men aged 15–44 years in the United States. Trends and group differences in the timing and duration of first marriages are also discussed. These data are based on the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). National estimates of probabilities of first marriage by age and probabilities of separation and divorce for women and men’s first marriages are presented by a variety of demographic characteristics. Data are compared with similar measures for 1982, 1995, and 2002.

URL:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr049.pdf

Exclusive breast-feeding may just be too hard, study says

Teaser:

Exclusively breast-feeding for at least the first six months of a baby’s life, as recommended by the World Health Organization and many governments, might be more of an idealistic goal than a realistic one, according to a small Scottish study out Wednesday.

Editorial:

From MSNBC:

As evidence of breast-feeding’s health benefits continues to grow, the rate of 6-month-old babies who’ve been exclusively breast-fed -- no other fluids or solids, not even water -- has increased in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2011 rate was 14.8 percent, up 4 percentage points from the 2007 rate, the year the CDC issued its first breast-feeding “report card.” That’s still well below the 25.5 percent target in the government’s “Healthy People 2020” report.

Reaching that target may be more difficult than expected, however, because of both the expectations and reality surrounding nursing, according to the CDC’s 2011 report card -- and the research published in the journal BMJ Open.

“A woman’s ability to reach her breast-feeding goals is affected by a host of factors including support from her family, community, employer and health system,” according to the CDC.

[...]

Source:

MSNBC

URL:

http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/14/10689609-exclusive-breast-feeding-may-just-be-too-hard-study-says

Date:

March 17, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Allstate - National Journal Heartland Monitor XII: Gender

Submitted by asklar on Sat, 03/17/2012 - 5:40pm

The twelfth installment of the Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor polling series focused specifically on the different experiences and economic expectations of men and women in the changing economy. This survey catalogues experiences of men and women in their home, family, and professional life, and gathers perspectives on the idea of opportunity in society and the workplace in the present day and how opportunity has and will change across generations. The survey also measures Americans' opinions about the changing gender profile of the country's workforce and what factors contribute to the continuing wage gap.

March 2012

URL:

http://www.allstate.com/heartland-monitor/gender-h12.aspx

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