Stepping into the fray...

Well. Better late than never, I suppose.

This morning there was an article in the New York Times that just made me want to start writing a blog. Eduardo Porter writes about the slowing entry of women into the workforce. He concludes that this change is because women are realizing the limitations of combining work and family. Mr. Porter implies that this trend is related to a kind of "equality reality check" for women. First a couple of brief quotes from the two non-academic-researcher real women that were apparently interviewed for this front page article:

• Cathie Watson-Short "...has not figured out how to mesh work with caring for her three daughters." "...(W)e were kind of duped," she continues, "None of us realized how hard it is" (to balance work and family).
• "(Her) stay-at-home-mom friends, like her, felt blindsided by the demands of motherhood."
• Catherine Stallings, 34, found it difficult and stressful to deal with her job and her 5-month-old daughter. "Usually, (my husband and I) are so tired we pass out around 10 or so." [Editor's note: Have you ever known anyone with an infant that wasn't pretty exhausted by 10:00pm?]

Let's look at the big picture here (there's a reason why economists disagree with Mr. Porter's POV). These kinds of statements reflect major societal changes in expectations and perception, not a physical or mental limitation on the capacity of mothers. The current trends are indicative of a period of transition more than "hitting the wall."

In fact a stabilization trend is shown when one combines U.S. Census Report data with the findings of Suzanne Bianchi, a University of Maryland sociologist cited in the article. Census data shows that the period of rapid workforce growth from the 60's-90's resulted in an increase in paid working time among mothers; growing from an average of 9 hours to an average of 26 hours per week. During that same period Bianchi's study shows the average time spent by mothers on weekly housework dropped from 32 to 19 hours a week. Conversely, from 1995-2003 mothers worked outside of the home about 4 fewer hours per week, but spent about the same time on weekly household chores. So, Prof. Bianchi's work indicates that women are reallocating their time. Anyone with middle-class female friends could have told her that! Having a housekeeper seems to have become de rigeur, even among the not-too-privileged-classes. Another academic quoted in the article, Cornell University Economist Francine Blau, opines, "one can question how much further increases in women's participation can be had without more reallocation of household work." No kidding.

Is it just me, or is this not being able to see the forest for the trees? Were these guys asleep when all of the "80's Superwoman" backlash started coming out? Woman are just getting further down the cultural/societal evolutionary road as each year passes. They are redefining their roles to match their expectations. It's economic utility, baby, not hitting the wall. Women that can afford to focus on motherhood over their careers are choosing that focus...for fun and personal satisfaction. It makes them happy. Coincidentally, Mr. Porter's article notes one "big exception to the trend," that the percentage of single working mothers in the workforce has continued to grow, increasing by 19% since 2000. Perhaps single mothers get more fun and personal satisfaction out of feeding, clothing and sheltering their kids? I'm just guessing here.

I'm not alone in feeling frustrated by the onslaught in media bias regarding this topic. Check out this post referring to another NYTimes article (which rubbed me the wrong way too) discussing the Ivy League educated stay at home moms, and this one which questions current perceptions of women's working/mothering choices.

I respect the New York Times. I'm sure Mr. Porter thinks he's reporting responsibly...but isn't this just the same old 50's-style societal expectations crap all over again? It took a really long time for women to be able to make these kinds of decisions for themselves, without the threat of cultural damnation for lack of conformance. Besides the fact that media repetition of this "documented trend" risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy, these reports hurt the mothers who do work.