A couple of weeks ago, we received the latest issue of "Time" magazine (thanks to Mr. Pudding's parents....if it was up to me, we'd just be getting Martha and maybe some US Weekly). Anyway, Time has conducted a survey on "The State of the American Women", which was summarized in an article by Nancy Gibbs. The results were overwhelmingly positive. According to the author, "it's expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history the majority of workers in the U.S. will be women". Furthermore, "more and more women are the primary breadwinner in their household (almost 40%)". Gibbs also notes that the notion that "women's rise comes at men's expense" is all but forgotten.
As a person who is extremely interested in the issues of equality, I started reading this article with a smile on my face, proud of how much the women of my generation have contributed to the movement. As I kept reading, however, my smile began to diminish. By the end of the article, Gibbs concludes that "as women have gained more freedom, more education and more economic power, they have become less happy". She attributes this to several different issues, one of which is that women are "working longer hours while playing quarterback at home".
When I closely studied the survey, I became even more concerned. Even though 76% of the people polled said that the fact that women now compose nearly half of the workforce is positive for society, 65% of these same peeps thought that our society has been negatively impacted by the decrease in the amount of children who grow up with a stay at home parent (only 30%). Is it just me, or do these statistics seem contradictory? The reason that most children do not grow up with a stay at home parent is precisely the fact that women now work. Even though a father is just as capable of taking care of children as a mother, the reality is that it is mostly women who choose to stay home. Indeed, if our family had the option of a stay at home parent, I would certainly want it to be me!
As I prepare to create a family of my own, I can't help but think about the fact that I am exactly the type of woman that will struggle with these decisions. I love my career: I find it meaningful and fulfilling. But I also want to have a family, and want to do what's best for my kiddies. I wonder if there is some kind of magical equation for balancing home and career as far as women are concerned.
Have you ever thought about how your role at home and your professional career will merge, and what effect this might have on you, your partner, and/or your future children?
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SO we all know Jeremy and I are never having kids. However, in an alternate universe where I possessed a spark of maternal instinct.... I would DEFINITLEY stay home with the kid, even if only for the first few years. I always remember when I was in primary school, my mother looked after our neighbors baby while the mother worked... and after only a few weeks, the kid was calling my mother "mommy" and asking her is "she was his real mommy". My mother always said it was the saddest thing ever...... I would never EVER want that to happen.
ReplyDeleteMy PERSONAL opinion is that people should wait to have children until they are in a financial situation where they are able to support their family on only one income, so that one parent may stay at home, at least until the kid starts school.