Caregiving

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.

From the press release:

The latest research, gauging the perceptions and attitudes of working women on their role and experience at their work environment, was recently carried out by the Middle East’s number one job site, Bayt.com, and research specialists, YouGov.

The interesting accumulated results derived from ‘The Women in the Middle East Workplace - 2011’ survey reveal various elements of women’s role in the workplace, focusing on numerous aspects including their opinions, approaches, capabilities and contentment.

The survey also gave researchers a thought-provoking insight into women’s views in regard to their treatment in comparison to their male counterparts.

To start off with, despite working the same amount of hours as men, a third (31%) of women feel they receive less pay than their male colleagues rising to almost half among GCC nationals and Asian expats.

Also, more than half (52%) of married working women reveal they earn less than their spouse, with just one in five (19%) who claim to earn more. The comprehensive survey also shows that besides earning less pay than men, about a third (31%) of working women think they have less chance of being promoted than their male counterparts, again rising to about a half among GCC nationals.

However, after disclosing that information, interestingly 25% of those same working women did state that they would prefer a male boss than a female boss. This is probably due to the fact that most career women are used to working under male management, with three quarters (76%) of working women currently reporting to a male boss.

Having said that only 7% of working women feel that they work less hours than their male colleagues, and 17% claim they work longer hours while a majority of 63% feel they work almost an equal number of hours as their male colleagues.

Additionally, while 7% of the women, within the Middle East and North Africa, stated they worked in a ‘women only’ work setting; 84 % said they worked with a mix of both genders, 9% said that although their work place has a mix of both men and women, they are segregated from their male colleagues – according to the research.

Even though there are perceptions of lower pay, two thirds (68%) of women feel they are treated equally to men at work and less than one in seven (15%) think they are treated unfairly compared to their male colleagues; while nearly three in five (57%) who feel that the system of appreciating, recognising or rewarding employees is based on performance alone and not on gender.

Almost 23% (three in five) feel that prospects for women have substantially improved in their country of residence, but one in five (19%) do not think there have been sufficient improvements.

Top benefits offered to working women are paid maternity leave according to 42% of working women in the region, family health insurance at 32% and training at 26% coming to the conclusion that women in government/semi government roles or internationally owned companies are better off with less chance that none of these benefits are offered.

When it comes to maternity leave, over a quarter (27%) of working women are not satisfied with the maternity leave and benefits available to them, with 25% stating they get a maternity leave period of three months or less.

The main barriers facing women in the region seem to be family ties and priorities at 24% and traditional society stereotypes and taboos at 14%. This is supported by the fact that half (17%) of single working women think their future marriage plans will affect their career choices to a large extent.

Interestingly, having children is seen as less disruptive than marriage with only a quarter (27%) of working women with children who think their kids have negatively impacted on their career.

The top reasons given by women for wanting to work are to become financially independent (52%) and to be able to support themselves or their household financially (48%). The importance of salary is also highlighted by the fact that a higher salary would be enough to influence over two thirds (69%) of women to change their job.

However, women are clearly working for more than just money with almost two thirds (63%) who would continue to work even after achieving all their financial goals, and only15% saying they wouldn’t.

Data for the ‘The Women in the Middle East Workplace - 2011’ survey series was collected online between 26th April and 23rd May, 2011, with a total of 2347 women participating from across the MENA region – UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, North Africa: Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. A mix of local, Arab expat, western and Asian nationalities – all 18 years and above – were included in the survey.

• 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.

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.

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: 

20 JUNE 2011 | GENEVA - The first State of the World's Midwifery report confirms the critical role midwives play in improving maternal and newborn health and survival. It highlights the shortage of skilled midwives in many low-income countries, stressing the need to train and deploy more midwives in all parts of a country - especially remote and rural areas.

The report, commissioned and coordinated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), was launched at the Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives in Durban, South Africa today.

Every year 358 000 women and 3.6 million newborn babies die due to largely preventable complications during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. In addition, every year, nearly 3 million babies are stillborn. Most of these deaths occur in low-income countries and happen because women – often poor and marginalized – have no access to functioning health facilities or to qualified health professionals, notably midwives and others with midwifery skills.

The report surveyed 58 countries, which together represent just under 60% of all births worldwide, but 91% of all maternal deaths. Among the 38 countries most desperately in need of midwives, 22 need to double the workforce by 2015; seven need to triple or quadruple it; and nine countries - Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan - need to dramatically scale up midwifery by a factor of between 6 and 15. The report estimates that countries require a minimum of six skilled birth attendants per 1000 births if they are to achieve the aim of 95% coverage.

Increasing women’s access to quality midwifery has become a focus of global efforts to realize the right of every woman to the best possible health care during pregnancy and childbirth. It is also at the heart of three health-related Millennium Development Goals – reduce child death (MDG 4), improve maternal health (MDG 5) and fight AIDS, malaria and other diseases (MDG 6).

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.

From the press release:

Researchers found that women who had their first child outside of marriage described their health as poorer at age 40 than did other moms.

...

About 40 percent of all births in the United States now occur to unmarried women, compared to less than 10 percent in 1960, Williams said. That suggests there will soon be a population boom in the United States of single mothers suffering middle-aged health problems.

...

Moreover, the study suggests that later marriage does not generally help reverse the negative health consequences of having a first birth outside of marriage. This calls into question the value of government efforts to promote marriage, among low-income, single mothers, at least in terms of their consequences for these women’s health.

...

In one analysis, Williams and her co-authors used a subset of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on 3,391 women and a second analysis involved data on 1,150 women. By 2008, they had data on marriages and other unions for a 29-year period, and measures of health and well-being taken when the women were 40.

In general, the results showed that unwed mothers reported poorer health at age 40 than did other mothers. But there were several notable differences between racial and ethnic groups.

Most notably, Hispanic women who had a first child outside marriage did not have the same negative health consequences at age 40 that white and black women did. The researchers suspect that it has to do with the fact that when Hispanic women have a child out of wedlock, it is more likely to occur in a long-term cohabiting relationship that resembles marriage.

Hispanic single mothers may also be a part of larger and more close-knit family networks than single moms from other racial and ethnic groups, which can provide support that protects their health and helps them cope.

It was beyond the scope of this study to determine why unwed mothers in general had poorer health than others. But other research suggests it may be related to the high levels of stress and the poor economic conditions faced by single moms.

Nonmarital Childbearing, Union History, and Women’s Health at Midlife [fee]

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.