Work - Life Balance

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.

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 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.

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.

From the press release:

As we struggle with global conflict, economic uncertainty and bloated personal debt, is it really true that the American Dream – our Founding Fathers' vision for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" – is slipping away? Maybe not. A new multi-generational study of 800 women across the U.S. reveals that the dream has not gone away, but it has changed.

1. The white picket fence has vanished. Women today are more realistic and less idealistic. Visions of the classic suburban home, 2.5 kids and being financially supported by a successful husband are a thing of the past.
2. A sense of humanity prevails. The world has been spinning out of control and women are taking responsibility for making it a better place. She's re-setting the moral compass, and her need for giving back and being socially responsible has never been stronger.
3. The freedom to choose. Individuality reigns. Society no longer dictates how women should live their lives. Women of all ages feel they can have it all.

From Forbes.com

• “For men, increases in weight have positive linear effects of pay but at diminished returns at above-average levels of weight.”

• Gaining weight is more damaging to women’s earnings than to men. “For women, increases in weight have negative linear effects on pay, but the negative effects are stronger at below-average than at above-average weight levels.”

• “Whereas women are punished for any weight gain, very thin women receive the most severe punishment for their first few pounds of weight gain. This finding is consistent with research showing that the media’s depiction of an unrealistically think female ideal leads people to see this ideal as normative, expected, and central to female attractiveness.”

• “Very thin” women earned approximately $22,000 more than their average weight counterparts.

• “Thin” women earned a little over $7,000 more than their average weight counterparts.

• “Heavy” and “Very Heavy” women lost over $9,000 and almost $19,000, respectively, than their average weight counterparts.

When it comes to pay, do the thin win? The effect of weight on pay for men and women.

Judge, Timothy A.; Cable, Daniel M.

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 96(1), Jan 2011, 95-112. doi: 10.1037/a0020860 [fee] 

Also available as a preprint

Abstract

Cultivation theory suggests that society holds very different body standards for men versus women, and research indicates that the consequences of defying these social norms may not be linear. To test these notions in the employment context, we examined the relationship between weight and income and the degree to which the relationship varies by gender. For women, we theorized a negative weight–income relationship that is steepest at the thin end of the distribution. For men, we predicted a positive weight–income relationship until obesity, where it becomes negative. To test these hypotheses, we utilized 2 longitudinal studies, 1 German and 1 American. In Study 1, weight was measured over 2 time periods, and earnings were averaged over the subsequent 5 years. Study 2 was a multilevel study in which weight and earnings were within-individual variables observed over time, and gender was a between-individual variable. Results from the 2 studies generally support the hypotheses, even when examining within-individual changes in weight over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

The report finds that single workers need $30,012 a year – nearly twice the federal minimum wage – to cover basic expenses. Single-parents require nearly twice the income ($57,756) to support two children, while dual-income households with children require $67,920.The largest expense for most BEST families is rent and utilities. Other large expenses include transportation, child care and taxes.

Abstract:

Objective: We investigated the effect of maternity leave length and time of first return to work on breastfeeding.

Methods: Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort. Restricting our sample to singletons whose biological mothers were the respondents at the 9-month interview and worked in the 12 months before delivery (N = 6150), we classified the length of total maternity leave (weeks) as 1 to 6, 7 to 12, ≥13, and did not take; paid maternity leave (weeks) as 0, 1 to 6, ≥7, and did not take; and time of return to work postpartum (weeks) as 1 to 6, 7 to 12, ≥13, and not yet returned. Analyses included χ2 tests and multiple logistic regressions.

Results: In our study population, 69.4% initiated breastfeeding with positive variation by both total and paid maternity leave length, and time of return to work. In adjusted analyses, neither total nor paid maternity leave length had any impact on breastfeeding initiation or duration. Compared with those returning to work within 1 to 6 weeks, women who had not yet returned to work had a greater odds of initiating breastfeeding (odds ratio [OR]: 1.46 [1.08–1.97]; risk ratios [RR]: 1.13 [1.03–1.22]), continuing any breastfeeding beyond 6 months (OR: 1.41 [0.87–2.27]; RR: 1.25 [0.91–1.61]), and predominant breastfeeding beyond 3 months (OR: 2.01 [1.06–3.80]; RR: 1.70 [1.05–2.53]). Women who returned to work at or after 13 weeks postpartum had higher odds of predominantly breastfeeding beyond 3 months (OR: 2.54 [1.51–4.27]; RR: 1.99 [1.38–2.69]).

Conclusion: If new mothers delay their time of return to work, then duration of breastfeeding among US mothers may lengthen.

From the press release:

Ranked on a scale from "AlphaWELL" (those who are extremely proactive and meticulous about their health) to "OhWELL" (those who do little to nothing about maintaining their health), participants were evaluated on their overall wellness regimen-maintaining a healthy diet, taking supplements, getting routine exercise and other general lifestyle habits. Only one percent of women are "AlphaWELLs" and 26 percent are "WELLs," while 42 percent and 31 percent are "WannabeWELLs" and OhWELLs," respectively.

From the article:

In a survey of more than 700 working moms, 67.5 percent said they would prefer an assistant at home rather than at work. The survey Working Moms: How do they manage?, a joint venture by TODAYMoms and iVillage, found that 17.5 percent said they’d prefer help at work. (And a curious 19.5 percent answered “none of the above.” We want to know: who are these wonder women?)

• 66 percent of full-time working moms are responsible for 75 percent of the household chores. Meanwhile, an unlucky 11 percent say they’re responsible for ALL of the household chores.
• What’s a working mom to do when she gets sick?  Soldier on, is the response of 24 percent, who said “I am not allowed to get sick.”
• More than 75 percent say that juggling work and family makes it hard to live a healthy lifestyle.
• Asked how they feel about being a working mom, “proud” beat out “guilty” – barely. While 87 percent feel proud, 82 percent felt guilty. (They were allowed to pick more than one choice.)
• Nearly 60 percent are satisfied with the time they spend with their kids.

In 2010, the women's education level made less of a difference in their total number of children than it did in 2000. Women 35 to 44 (corresponding with the 25 to 34 age group in 2000) with at least a bachelor's degree had 1.7 births, while women who had less than a high school education had 2.5 births. Eighty-eight percent of women 35 to 44 with less than a high school education had a birth compared with 76 percent of women with at least a bachelor's degree

Other highlights from the press release:

• Foreign-born women were more likely to have ever had a baby than were native-born women by the age of 40 to 44, at 87 percent compared with 80 percent.
• More than half (55 percent) of women who had a child in the last year were in the labor force. Of those women, about one third (34 percent) were working full time, 14 percent were working part time, and 7 percent were unemployed.
• Almost one-quarter (23 percent) of women with a birth in the last year reported living in households with family incomes of at least $75,000. At the other end of the income scale, about one in five (21 percent) were living in families with incomes under $20,000.
• By age 40 to 44, white non-Hispanic women (20.6 percent) were more likely to be childless than Hispanic women (12.4 percent), black women (17.2 percent) and Asian women (15.9 percent). Black women were also more likely to be childless than Hispanic women. Asian women did not differ from black or Hispanic women.
• Differences in childlessness by race and origin are more substantial for women who have never married. Among these women age 40 to 44, white non-Hispanic women were more likely to be childless (69.5 percent) than black women (27.8 percent) and Hispanic women (36.4 percent). No significant difference in childlessness among those who had never married was found between black and Hispanic women, or white non-Hispanic women and Asian women (65.8 percent).

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/fertility/cb11-83.html

From the press release: In Penn Mutual's third annual Worth for Women Survey, women and men were asked to place a dollar value on the work they do away from their jobs. Both groups put the dollar estimate at around $25,000 per year. Respondents were then asked to list the hours they spent doing a variety of work or services, such as laundry, meal preparation or child care. When Penn Mutual calculated the value of the actual hours reported doing household jobs, they found that men overestimate the value of what they do by almost 13 percent. In contrast, women across the country were found to underestimate the worth of all they do for their homes and families. When the actual median value of services was computed, a woman's contribution to the home was $34,256 versus $19,322 for men. Men were 9 percent more likely to overestimate their contribution by $30,000 or more. The person most likely to underestimate her worth is the mother of a minor child—her computed worth is $44,913 while her perceived worth is $29,000. Over half (52 percent) of these women underestimate their worth by at least $10,000; 36 percent do so by at least $30,000.