NYT on Why Gender Equity Stalled
Dear friends of women in science,
I heard from Sonia Pressman Fuentes and several others about an article recently in The New York Times on the reasons why gender equity in pay, etc. has stalled instead of continuing to progress rapidly. Written by Melinda Beck (by Stephanie Coontz) on February 16, 2013, this article talked about an ironic truth: men can take up the slack when long hours at work are expected by employers. But then, they have little in reserve to help at home, so women's two jobs plus, work, childcare, housework trio, gets out of hand.
The article highlighted the 50th anniversary of Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique, a book that argued women needed to transform their consciousness from housework emphasis to self-development. It says, "As late as 1977, two-thirds of Americans believed that it was "much better for everyone involved if the man is the achiever outside the home and the woman takes care of the home and family." By 1994, two-thirds of Americans rejected this notion." But by 2004, the percentage believing women preferred working in the home rose from 34 to 40% and by 2007, women who preferred and expected to work part time so they could emphasize the home was 60%. According to the article, "By 2004, a smaller percentage of married women with children under 3 were in the labor force than in 1993."
The culprit is, at least in part, the increasing word demands and the slow pace of adoption of family-friendly practices by employers. Today, working 50 hours or more per week is common; about 40% of men report such work hours. For low income persons who work two jobs, the total hours per week can easily reach 80-100. How are employers addressing family issues? Not well. "Out of nearly 200 countries studied by Jody Heymann, dean of the school of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her team of researchers for their new book, "Children's Chances," 180 now offer guaranteed paid leave to new mothers, and 81 offer paid leave to fathers. They found that 175 mandate paid annual leave for workers, and 162 limit the maximum length of the workweek. The United States offers none of these protections."
In Europe, by law employers must pay reasonable salaries to part time employees and offer benefits including retirement programs. The US offers no such protections.
So the article argues that families have been forced into this catch-22 situation where men work longer hours and women work more in the home. So, instead of complaining, the families now tend to rationalize it and see it as more of their choice. When choice is forced by circumstances, however, it is not really reflective of what one might choose in different circumstances that supported families more appropriately.
Have you seen evidence of these trends?
cheers,
Laura
Hi Helen and Marian,
I am interested that your progressive husbands still assume that if there's extra "homework" that the woman will pick it up. Or maybe they assume no one will do it. My husband also is very progressive and sometimes he catches me assuming HE will pick it up without any discussion! But sometimes it has been the other way around too. We just make assumptions about each other but they aren't always right, even after many years of experience. I guess that's what makes marriage interesting!
cheers,
Laura
Laura,
I have a similar story as Marian. It's an ongoing negotiation as my very progressive husband still just takes for granted that I will pick up the slack. After 10+ years of marriage, he now realizes he needs to discuss extra childcare arrangements and household work BEFORE taking more on at work.
What encourages me is that the younger generation has very progressive young men (at least they talk a good talk), so I'm excited to see how they fare with balancing work with their lives.
It's sad to see women delaying childbearing so long for their careers, and I say that as a woman who made that choice and had to battle infertility. Who can say if delaying was the main cause? I wish women didn't have to make such choices, but it's clear that they are and do.
Helen
Laura
One of the worst arguments I ever had with my husband was over this subject. I called a family meeting one Sunday morning to talk about priorities.
Bottom line, his priority was 'balancing' family and work, whereas mine was family. We are still married, 15 years later, but it was a very rough point in our relationship.
Since my husband is far more androgynous than the standard American male, I have to see this being a huge problem for women, in general. And, I don't see anything helping it anytime soon.
Marian
HI FBP,
I don't like this kind of pressure, but on the other hand, I'm appalled to hear from some of my junior female colleagues at Pomona College that they won't even try to have kids until after tenure (7 years after being hired, mid to late 30's approximately) and have laid down the law to their significant others that only research will happen until then. But I have to admit it's protective. My dept has a woman and two men with small kids and we try not to have night meetings, etc, but I've heard some horror stories from other departments.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
Yes, yes, yes. The women are assertive enough to say no to long hours when they have small children, but the men don't think they can. I see a lot of this, and it's eroding everyones' lives. Well, everyone with children's lives, anyway, which includes a lot of the postdocs and junior faculty members.
FBP
