Work - Life Balance

From the press release:

In almost every country, women with more education have fewer children. But does education reduce childbearing, or does childbearing get in the way of education, or both? New research by Joel E. Cohen and colleagues in Norway found that, at least among a population of Norwegian women, childbearing impeded education more than education impeded childbearing. The surprising findings are reported online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cohen and his co-authors, Øystein Kravdal and Nico Keilman from the University of Oslo, followed all the women born in Norway in 1964 through the end of their childbearing, using year-by-year data on education, enrollment and reproduction.

The researchers expected to find that women around 40 years old with more education bear fewer children mainly because education reduces childbearing. However, they found the opposite: women who have children early seem not to go on to higher education, much more than higher education reduces childbearing. 

Cohen and his colleagues offer several possible policy implications based on their findings. For example, should women be discouraged from bearing children at an early age? The authors suggest that policy makers could recognize that early childbearing may be a result of decisions made by well-informed individuals. On the other hand, if society places a large value on education that is inadequately taken into account through individuals' decision making, policies could be adopted that discourage people from having children at an early age.

In addition, if women underestimate how much childbearing interferes with further education — along with potentially adverse consequences for their long-term quality of life — then a case could be made that it would be a good idea to create more awareness about the educational consequences of early childbearing.

Finally, a policy could be implemented that offset the effect of childbearing on education by, for example, lowering the cost of child care for students who are mothers. Such a policy, the authors say, could in principle make more women interested in having a child early; however, it would increase the educational levels for those who would have a child (whether wanted or not) while they are still young, with potentially beneficial effects also on others' well-being.

Childbearing impeded education more than education impeded childbearing among Norwegian women [fee]

Abstract

In most societies, women at age 39 with higher levels of education have fewer children. To understand this association, we investigated the effects of childbearing on educational attainment and the effects of education on fertility in the 1964 birth cohort of Norwegian women. Using detailed annual data from ages 17 to 39, we estimated the probabilities of an additional birth, a change in educational level, and enrollment in the coming year, conditional on fertility history, educational level, and enrollment history at the beginning of each year. A simple model reproduced a declining gradient of children ever born with increasing educational level at age 39. When a counterfactual simulation assumed no effects of childbearing on educational progression or enrollment (without changing the estimated effects of education on childbearing), the simulated number of children ever born decreased very little with increasing completed educational level, contrary to data. However, when another counterfactual simulation assumed no effects of current educational level and enrollment on childbearing (without changing the estimated effects of childbearing on education), the simulated number of children ever born decreased with increasing completed educational level nearly as much as the decrease in the data. In summary, in these Norwegian data, childbearing impeded education much more than education impeded childbearing. These results suggest that women with advanced degrees have lower completed fertility on the average principally because women who have one or more children early are more likely to leave or not enter long educational tracks and never attain a high educational level.

From the press release:

Women who return to work after giving birth are more likely to stay on the job if they have greater control over their work schedules, according to a Baylor University study. Researchers also found that job security and the ability to make use of a variety of their job skills leads to greater retention of working moms, while the impact of work-related stress on their physical and mental health causes greater turnover.

The study is published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

"Having a flexible schedule is an important element necessary to decrease working mom turnover because it can be used when work demands arise," said Dawn S. Carlson, Ph.D., study author, professor of management and H. R. Gibson Chair of Organizational Development at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, Waco.

"When confronted by one or more job demands, a flexible schedule provides working moms with alternatives for meeting those demands while caring for their newborns. When working moms are better able to control their work environment and adapt, work-related stress is less likely to become a family issue," she said.

According to 2008 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71 percent of women with children under the age of 18 were working or looking for work, and nearly 60 percent of women with young children were employed. Yet, a large number of mothers who return to work after childbirth subsequently leave the labor force. Very little is known about the factors that play a role in women's work decisions after childbirth.

The transition back to work is pivotal for a new mother, and this study offers important insight into the understanding of how a job can either contribute to or detract from the mother's decision to stay with her employer after she returns to work, said Carlson.

The researchers surveyed 179 full-time working mothers in North Carolina with an average age of 31 years. Of the group, 72 percent was white, 27 percent was black and one percent was Asian. The majority, 79 percent, was married. They worked an average of 39.7 hours per week and planned on returning to work 30 or more hours by four months postpartum. The duration of maternity leave was six weeks, but only 48.1 percent reported having paid maternity leave. Among the new mothers, 40 percent reported that the recent birth was their first child. For the study, they completed an interview survey at four months postpartum, eight months postpartum and 12 months postpartum.

Job security also plays an important role in decision-making. When job security is high, workers are not distracted by worry or exhausted by strain. Instead, they are able to engage more fully in responsibilities inside and outside the workplace.

"Job security heightens motivation and energy, particularly for mothers who are sensitive to the security of their jobs after returning from maternity leave. When working mothers believe that their tenure with an organization is not at risk, they will have more energy and other resources with which to fully engage and perform both at work and at home," added Merideth J. Ferguson, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor and a co-author of the study.

Results suggest that employers may be able to promote beneficial outcomes through systematic attempts to increase the use of a working mom's skills by cross-training her for multiple functions. Mental and physical health play an important role in retaining working mothers and deserve attention, such as through employee assistance programs, support systems, or more integrative work-life initiatives, Carlson concluded.

• 33% of women stated that their pregnancy was a crisis pregnancy
• The economic down-turn is having a clear impact on reports of crisis pregnancy as almost 50% of the women who experienced a crisis pregnancy stated that financial concerns contributed to the crisis 
• 27% of working women who experienced a crisis pregnancy stated that workplace factors such as ‘work plans’ or ‘work commitments’ or ‘concern about the reaction from employers or co-workers’ to the pregnancy had contributed to the crisis
• There is a strong link between experiences of unfair treatment at work and crisis pregnancy: Women who experienced more than one form of unfair treatment were at an increased risk of experiencing a crisis pregnancy. 

• Up to 30% reported experiencing unfair treatment even though 71%, reported that they had a supportive employer in the context of their pregnancy
• 5% of women employed during pregnancy reported that they were dismissed, made redundant or treated so badly that they had to leave their job. 
• Unfair treatment was more commonly reported by younger women, women expecting their second child, women working in the retail and wholesale sector, women working in organisations with few flexible work arrangements and in workplaces that didn’t have a formal equality policy. - Unfair treatment was less common among women working for small organizations and in workplaces that had a formal equality policy
• The most common form of unfair treatment was being assigned unsuitable work or workloads (12%).
• Unfavourable treatment was also experienced by some women returning to work after childbirth. Almost one quarter felt that their opportunities for promotion had decreased on returning to work while over one fifth of women felt that their opportunities for training had decreased.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relations between causes of death, social position, and obesity in women who had never smoked.

From the press release:

Women’s control over spending decisions coupled with their gains across the working world and politics, point to women of tomorrow being in a position to exert more influence than ever. Nielsen, a leading provider of insights into what consumers watch and buy, today released findings from a study that identified spending and media habits of women across continents. According to the study, which spanned 21 developed(1) and emerging(2) countries, while women across the globe are stressed, women in emerging markets are more stressed than those in developed countries. And, while women across countries surveyed believe they have greater opportunities than their mothers, women in developed markets believe their daughters have the same level of opportunity. The Nielsen Women of Tomorrow Study is one of the most comprehensive examinations into what women watch and buy. The survey was fielded using an online methodology in developed countries and a mixed field approach of online, central location and door-to-door interviewing in emerging countries, February - April 2011.

Empowered yet Stressed

Nearly 80 percent of women in developed economies indicated they believe the role of women will change and of those, 90 percent believe it will change for the better. While female respondents say they are pressured for time and feel stressed and overworked, women in emerging countries indicated they feel the pressure even more so than women in developed countries. Women across the world are managing multiple roles, but a contributing factor in the higher stress levels reported by women in emerging markets is that there is little spare cash remaining after the basic essentials to spend on themselves or take vacations. Among female respondents in emerging markets, women in India (87%), Mexico (74%) and Russia (69%) said they were most stressed/pressured for time; while among developed countries, women expressed feeling this pressure most in Spain (66%), France (65%) and Italy (64%). 

Extra Funds, Different Allocations

When asked how women expect to allocate additional money they earn or expect to earn over the next five years, differences emerge. More than half (56%) of women in emerging countries said they plan to allocate funds for their children’s education, contrasted to 16 percent of women in developed countries. Women in Nigeria (85%), India (76%) and Malaysia (63%) gave the most importance to saving for their children’s education.

Overall, developed market women said they plan to spend their extra money on vacations (58%), groceries (57%) and savings or paying off credit cards/debts (55% each) while emerging market women said they were looking to spend extra money on everyday essentials such as clothing (70%), groceries (68%) and health and beauty items (53%). In emerging markets, vacation ranked seventh among women, with 40 percent indicating they would spend extra money on it.

Across countries surveyed, women believe they have more opportunities than their mothers. Women in emerging markets believe their daughters will have even more opportunities then they did relative to their mothers. However, in developed countries, women surveyed believe their daughters will have the same opportunities, not more. Less than half (40%) of women in developed countries surveyed believe their daughters will have greater financial stability while 54 percent believe their daughters will have a better education. And 34 percent believe their daughters will be less likely to retire when they choose to compared to today’s standards. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of female respondents in developed countries, however, believe their daughters will have better access to technology. In emerging markets, 80 percent of women surveyed believe their daughters will have greater financial stability, 83 percent believe their daughters will have a better education and 84 percent believe their daughters will have better access to technology.

In the Know Nielsen found that the number one place women across continents prefer to get information about new products is television. In 10 of 10 emerging markets and in seven of 11 developed countries analyzed, television outranked 14 other sources of information. (In Germany and Spain word-of-mouth placed higher than television; in South Korea, Internet searches ranked highest; in Sweden, direct mail.) After television? Word-of-mouth was listed as either the second or third choice in nine of 10 emerging markets and in eight of 11 developed markets. When it comes to getting information about stores, however, women surveyed in developed countries prefer word-of-mouth while women in emerging countries indicated they rely on TV. 

Make it Social - and Relevant

Nielsen reports that women talk 28 percent more and text 14 percent more than men every month; they are also heavier users of social features of phones and visit more Internet community sites than men. And, more than half of women in both developed (average 56%) and emerging (average 71%) countries say the computer, mobile phones and smart phones have changed their lives for the better. Social networking is a fundamental part of a woman’s day-to-day digital life, with 65 - 70 percent of active, online female users age 18 plus in developed markets such as Australia, France, Italy, South Korea and Brazil visiting the leading social networking site in their market. In the U.S., 73 percent of online women visit the leading social networks while in Germany, 50 percent visit.

Other Key Findings

When Nielsen compared results of the Nielsen Women of Tomorrow Study to its Q1 Global Online Survey it also found:

• When it comes to life decisions, women respondents in developed markets want shared responsibilities on all matters from child care to major purchases. In emerging markets, some traditional roles continue, yet there is a desire for shared responsibility. Men in emerging countries are still viewed as the primary decision-making stakeholders when it comes to purchasing home electronics or cars, while women rule in the health and beauty department and all child care matters.
• Across countries surveyed, some traditional sentiments remain: 31 percent of both men and women believe that men are the best fit to hold political office, maintain workplace positions of authority (29%) and make major purchases (22%).

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Selected findings from the news release:

• On the days that they worked, employed men worked 41 minutes more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women's greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men worked longer than women--8.2 hours compared with 7.8 hours.
• On the days that they worked, 24 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home, and 83 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace. Men and women were about equally likely to do some or all of their work at home.
• On an average day, 84 percent of women and 67 percent of men spent some time doing household activities such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
• On the days that they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.1 hours.
• On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or doing laundry--compared with 49 percent of women. Forty-one percent of men did food preparation or cleanup, compared with 68 percent of women.
• On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over engaged in some sort of leisure activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising. Of those who engaged in leisure activities, men spent more time in these activities (5.8 hours) than did women (5.1 hours). 
• Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.7 hours per day), accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for those age 15 and over. Socializing, such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events, was the next most common leisure activity, accounting for nearly three-quarters of an hour per day. 
• Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day--22 percent compared with 16 percent. On the days that they participated, men also spent more time in these activities than did women--1.9 hours compared with 1.3 hours.
• On an average day, among adults living in households with children under 6, women spent 1.1 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 26 minutes providing physical care.