Poll finds wide support for women in workplace

Allison Linn Senior writer • Profile • E-mail

Men and women are accepting — and even embracing — the increasing role of women in the workplace, but many are still struggling with the repercussions  on family life.

Those are some of the findings of a nationwide survey released Thursday in conjunction with a major report on the status of women by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress.

"The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything" takes an in-depth look at what has happened, and what still needs to happen, now that women make up virtually half the work force, up from about one-third of the work force 40 years ago.

The survey found that around three-quarters of men and women believe that the growing presence of women in the workplace has been very or somewhat positive for American society and the economy.

Both men and women generally said they believe women can be equal partners in work, regardless of family responsibilities. For example, nearly 45 percent of men and 56 percent of women surveyed strongly disagreed with the notion that mothers cannot be as productive at work as people without children.

On a personal level, men and women are dealing with the increase in dual-earning households by negotiating family schedules, duties and responsibilities — in fact, 40 percent of those surveyed said they coordinate such tasks daily.

But such negotiations do not necessarily appear to be breeding acrimony. Both genders overwhelmingly said they do not feel the increase of women in the work force means men have "lost the battle of the sexes."

"It’s not one gender trying to win out over the other," said John Halpin, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning think tank.

The nationwide telephone survey of 3,413 adults, conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with Time magazine and the Center for American Progress, had a margin of error of two percentage points.

Concerns about family life
As more women enter the work force, the survey shows continuing concern for how the trend  is affecting their children and home life. Sixty-five percent of men and women surveyed felt that the decrease in children growing up with a stay-at-home parent has been somewhat or very negative for American society.

“Both men and women are concerned about what’s happening to families when everybody’s at work,” said Heather Boushey, senior economist with the Center for American Progress and a lead researcher on the A Woman’s Nation project.

The survey clearly showed that men and women would like more help with these challenges, particularly when it comes to taking care of children and elderly parents.

Forty-two percent of women, and 36 percent of men, said there had been a time when they wanted to take time off from work to care for a child but were unable to do so.

More than 50 percent of men and women strongly agreed that businesses should be required to pay for family and medical leave, and nearly half strongly agreed that businesses should provide more childcare benefits.

More than half of people surveyed also strongly agreed that businesses that fail to adapt to the needs of modern families risk losing good workers.

Boushey said such findings are evidence that institutions largely have not caught up with the realities faced by many of their workers.

“We live in a world that is designed for one kind of family that no longer really exists,” Boushey said.

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