Working Women Essay, Research Paper
Working Women
Jasleen Singh
May 24, 2001
Professor Kenneth JandaProblem
Even as far back as the United States independence, women did not possess any civil rights. According to Janda, this view is also known as protectionism, the notion that women mush be sheltered from life’s harsh realities. Protectionism carried on throughout the general populations view for many decades until the 1920’s when the women’s movement started. Women finally received the right to vote in the Nineteenth Amendment. The traditional views of protectionism, however, remained in people’s minds until the 1970’s (Janda et al, 2000: 538-539).
Around this time, women started to take on other roles outside the typical traditional role of housewife. Women were going to college, obtaining their degrees, and starting their careers. This step forward in women’s independence came with much scrutiny. What was happening to working women, to their households, their family roles, and their children? Many people from many different nations have different views based on women’s rights with regards to career choice. Nations have different beliefs on women’s independence by working, a working mother’s relationship with her children, and the affect on the child whose mother works. These beliefs, especially of a preschool child suffering if his/her mother works, are based upon an individual’s religiosity and age.
These issues are imperative to politics. Many countries are giving more civil rights to women to treat them as equals to men. Women, therefore, have more power and say in the government. Yet, how much power should the government allot to women while still protecting family values. Many citizens feel that family values are core to moral beings, and allowing women to have careers will affect the future generations. On the other hand, women are humans and citizens equal to men and must therefore have the same equality of opportunity. To see what other factors play a role in individual’s beliefs is important for a political figure to take in consideration when proposing bills or campaigning for office in order to respond and appeal to their voters.
Method and Theory
The method of research used to fully understand a society’s views on working mothers is simply designed. An analysis of the 1990-91 World Values Survey is possible through the SPSS program. In Citizen Politics, “the World Values Surveys are a series of representative national surveys designed to provide an empirical base for the study of social and cultural change among the publics of societies throughout the world (Dalton, 1996: 289).” The nations surveyed are the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and East Germany.
In order to examine the dilemma of these beliefs, specific variables are chosen and run through the program using the results of the surveys. First, variables referring to women job independence and women and their children were analyzed across nation to understand what nations views on women workers. Then a cross tabulation of the variable KID.JOB (referring to the statement if a preschool child is affected by a working mother) across nation is analyzed. Then other cross tabulations of KID.JOB to religiosity (PIOUS) and age (AGE) across nation were run through SPSS to prove that these are factors in individuals beliefs toward this issue. These variables used together are essential to understanding society’s views on women’s career goals and how they affect the family.
Theoretically, career oriented women has shaped the family and government. The general population within the nations agrees that working women are more independent and that they can still have relationships with their children. However, they also believe that preschool children suffer when their mothers work. Religiosity and age are both factors in this belief. A religious person would agree that the child suffers since the person is more concerned with traditional family values. Also, an older person would agree that a child suffers since they grew up in a decade in which families practiced the traditional gender roles.
Data Analysis
The United States, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and East Germany all differ in their views of women?s civil rights. For example, the nations hold dissimilar ideas referring to women?s independence. Most nations agree that having a job makes a woman independent according to Table 1 (Cross-tabulation of OWN.JOB across nation). Since the largest percentages for each nation agree that a working female is independent, these results show that the countries are moving more toward gender equality and further from protectionism.
Does working women harm family life? Looking at Table 2, which is a cross tabulation of MOM.JOB across nation, most countries except West Germany agree that a mother can still have a ?just as warm and secure a relationship with her children as a mother who does not work (Dalton, 1996: 301).? Yet, at the same time, these nations differ when asked if a preschool child suffers with a working mother. According to Table 3, a cross tabulation of KID.JOB across nation, the United States is the only nation where most of the population disagrees that a child suffers from having a working mother compared to a non-working mother.
Table 3
NATION Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |United S Great Br West Ger France East Ger
|tates itain many many Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total
KID.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 168 | 156 | 650 | 212 | 368 | 1554
Strongly agree | 9.4 | 10.9 | 32.7 | 22.1 | 28.2 | 20.8
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 748 | 629 | 1026 | 416 | 658 | 3477
Agree | 42.0 | 43.7 | 51.6 | 43.3 | 50.4 | 46.5
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 783 | 577 | 282 | 269 | 258 | 2169
Disagree | 44.0 | 40.1 | 14.2 | 28.0 | 19.8 | 29.0
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 80 | 76 | 28 | 64 | 21 | 269
Strongly disagre | 4.5 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 3.6
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
Column 1779 1437 1986 961 1305 7468
Total 23.8 19.2 26.6 12.9 17.5 100.0
Great Britain is somewhat similar to the United States, but the other countries are not. Why does the United States, an overall rightist nation (Dalton, 1996: 136), feel differently from the other nations? Religiosity and age of these citizens have a strong influence in these beliefs in the United States.
Religion is the basis of moral values for most people. According to Janda in Challenge of Democracy, individuals accept what they learn first, whish is also known as the primacy principle. Then the structuring principle takes place, and influences the later learning of what is learned first. Most parents are concerned about religion and teach it to their children. This socialization process sustains religious values along with family values (Janda et al, 2000: 138).
Theoretically, an individual?s religiosity would affect their belief that a child suffers from having a working mother. According to Table 4, a cross tabulation of KID.JOB and PIOUS for the United States, a larger percentage of the non-religious and atheistic persons believe that a child does not suffer, which shows that one?s religiosity affects this belief. The same cross tabulation for the other four countries does not have as drastic results as the United States. This large difference in Table 4, nonetheless, proves that in the United States religion is a factor on a citizen?s belief of working mothers and their children. In Table 5 in the appendix, religion in Germany is not as much of a factor as the United States. A majority of each populatio
Table 4
NATION v01 NATION Value = 1 United States
PIOUS Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |A religi Not reli An athei
|ous pers gious st Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total
KID.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 139 | 26 | 0 | 165
Strongly agree | 9.5 | 10.1 | 2.5 | 9.6
+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 627 | 101 | 2 | 730
Agree | 42.9 | 40.1 | 12.4 | 42.2
+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 630 | 116 | 14 | 760
Disagree | 43.2 | 46.1 | 80.2 | 44.0
+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 64 | 9 | 1 | 74
Strongly disagre | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 4.3
+——–+——–+——–+
Column 1460 252 17 1729
Total 84.4 14.6 1.0 100.0
In the United States, the age of the citizen also proposes another reason to why most American citizens disagree with a working mother harming their preschool children. Most younger citizens both male and female have the equality of opportunity to earn college degrees and have more professional careers. Females in the younger generations have careers in higher professions such as medicine, law, and business. Thus they are in favor of working mothers and disagree that a working mother harms a child. Also younger citizens are more liberal in their beliefs than older citizens. Younger citizens grew up in a time where family values are changing whereas an individual that is 45 years or older grew up in an era with core traditional values and gender roles.
Age can affect a citizen?s view of working women. A cross tabulation of KID.JOB and AGE in Table 6 exemplifies this statement. Table 6 shows that a majority of the individuals from age 44 and under disagree that a preschool child suffers, whereas the individuals 45 and older agree. However, age in Germany is not a factor according to Table 7 in the appendix. All ages believe that a working mother is harmful for her children.
Table 6
NATION v01 NATION Value = 1 United States
age
Count |
Col Pct |Under ag 30-44 45-59 60 or ov
|e 30 er Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total
KID.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 23 | 45 | 42 | 49 | 158
Strongly agree | 7.3 | 8.0 | 10.3 | 10.3 | 9.0
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 107 | 193 | 194 | 241 | 735
Agree | 34.6 | 34.6 | 47.5 | 50.6 | 42.0
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 160 | 287 | 160 | 172 | 779
Disagree | 51.9 | 51.5 | 39.0 | 36.1 | 44.4
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 19 | 33 | 14 | 14 | 80
Strongly disagre | 6.2 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 4.6
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
Column 308 558 410 477 1752
Total 17.6 31.8 23.4 27.2 100.0
Summary and Conclusion
The population in each country has different views on the women’s movement and its affect on family values and roles. Overall, the nations are shifting towards a more leftist view on this issue and more women are seeking high paid careers. Yet, some nations are divided on this issue. Understanding the reasons that cause this division is critical in the political realm since lawmakers can use their control to protect some of these traditional protectionism values if needed.
The United States holds a different view than most other nations and the data proves that religiosity and age factor into these views. The analysis of the data supports the reasons for the United States, whereas they do not have as large an impact on other nations such as Germany. Perhaps other factors such as party identification play a larger role in these other countries.
Appendix
Table 1
NATION Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |United S Great Br West Ger France East Ger
|tates itain many many Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total
OWN.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 202 | 159 | 393 | 354 | 251 | 1359
Strongly agree | 11.6 | 11.3 | 21.0 | 36.7 | 20.0 | 18.7
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 839 | 798 | 1012 | 405 | 686 | 3740
Agree | 48.0 | 56.4 | 54.1 | 42.0 | 54.7 | 51.6
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 648 | 426 | 424 | 175 | 287 | 1959
Disagree | 37.1 | 30.1 | 22.7 | 18.2 | 22.9 | 27.0
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 58 | 33 | 42 | 30 | 30 | 193
Strongly disagre | 3.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.7
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
Column 1747 1416 1870 964 1254 7251
Total 24.1 19.5 25.8 13.3 17.3 100.0
Table 2
NATION Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |United S Great Br West Ger France East Ger
|tates itain many many Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total
MOM.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 470 | 299 | 176 | 396 | 174 | 1515
Strongly agree | 26.2 | 20.7 | 9.0 | 40.0 | 13.3 | 20.2
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 819 | 712 | 634 | 328 | 570 | 3063
Agree | 45.7 | 49.2 | 32.4 | 33.2 | 43.4 | 40.8
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 455 | 383 | 983 | 222 | 511 | 2554
Disagree | 25.4 | 26.5 | 50.1 | 22.4 | 38.9 | 34.0
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 48 | 54 | 167 | 43 | 58 | 370
Strongly disagre | 2.7 | 3.7 | 8.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.9
+——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
Column 1791 1448 1960 989 1313 7501
Total 23.9 19.3 26.1 13.2 17.5 100.0
Table 5
NATION v01 NATION Value = 3 West Germany
PIOUS Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |A religi Not reli An athei
|ous pers gious st Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total
KID.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 409 | 135 | 9 | 553
Strongly agree | 37.3 | 26.0 | 20.8 | 33.3
+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 548 | 289 | 19 | 856
Agree | 49.9 | 55.9 | 42.6 | 51.6
+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 127 | 84 | 14 | 225
Disagree | 11.6 | 16.3 | 30.1 | 13.6
+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 26
Strongly disagre | 1.2 | 1.8 | 6.5 | 1.5
+——–+——–+——–+
Column 1098 517 45 1660
Total 66.1 31.2 2.7 100.0
Table 7
NATION v01 NATION Value = 3 West Germany
AGE Page 1 of 1
Count |
Col Pct |Under ag 30-44 45-59 60 or ov
|e 30 er Row
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total
KID.JOB ——–+——–+——–+——–+——–+
1 | 125 | 140 | 152 | 232 | 650
Strongly agree | 27.2 | 27.3 | 32.2 | 43.2 | 32.7
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
2 | 238 | 268 | 259 | 261 | 1026
Agree | 51.7 | 52.1 | 54.6 | 48.5 | 51.6
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
3 | 87 | 94 | 59 | 42 | 282
Disagree | 18.9 | 18.3 | 12.4 | 7.9 | 14.2
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
4 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 28
Strongly disagre | 2.3 | 2.3 | .8 | .4 | 1.4
+——–+——–+——–+——–+
Column 461 514 474 537 1986
Total 23.2 25.9 23.8 27.1 100.0
Bibliography
References
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry, and Jerry Goldman. 2000. The Challenge of Democracy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Dalton, Russell J. 1996. Citizen Politics. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers, Inc.