Is Leaning Out a Triumph a Wealth and Prosperity?

~ Laura

From Christine Hoff Summers:

In a 2013 national poll on modern parenthood, the Pew Research Center asked mothers and fathers to identify their "ideal" working arrangement. Fifty percent of mothers said they would prefer to work part-time and 11 percent said they would prefer not to work at all. Fathers answered differently: 75 percent preferred full-time work. And the higher the socio-economic status of women, the more likely they were to reject full-time employment. Among women with annual family incomes of $50,000 or higher, only 25 percent identified full-time work as their ideal. Sandberg regards such attitudes as evidence of women's fear of success, double standards, gender bias, sexual harassment, and glass ceilings. But what if they are the triumph of prosperity and opportunity?

Published by Laura

3 thoughts on “Is Leaning Out a Triumph a Wealth and Prosperity?”

  1. How many of the ‘wealthy’ sample make that salary from dad’s time consuming job? Gender bias, social norms, double standards, yes yes and yes

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  2. My issue is that I think there’s too much individual choice and unintended effects to feel comfortable setting public policy on these reported preferences. Even if it were true that many women want to work part time, and that there are gender differences, and, even, that these differences are not the result of current social structures/workplace dynamics, setting policy based on these preferences prioritizes some choices over others in ways that can reinforce stereotypes and reduce opportunity for those who don’t fit the stereotype.
    I’m willing to think about how our current policies skew the landscape in other directions. My strongest example is benefits costs, especially healthcare. The tie of healthcare to employment definitely skews in favor of single/full (and more than full time) work.

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