One In Six Still Feels A Woman's Place Is At Home

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12-9-2003 | Sarah Womack

[blam]

One in six still feels a woman's place is at home

By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent
(Filed: 09/12/2003)

One in six people still believes a woman's place is in the home, according to an authoritative survey of social attitudes funded by the Government.

The figure represents a dramatic fall since 1983, when 25 per cent thought women should be full-time mothers, but it represents a "sizeable minority", says the National Centre for Social Research.

Most of those who held traditional views were grandparents struggling to look after grandchildren while their daughters went out to work.

The survey's findings come hot on the heels of books such as The Surrendered Wife by Laura Doyle, and The Smart Woman's Guide to Staying at Home by Melissa Hill, which challenge the wisdom that it is disastrous to a woman's psychological health to stay at home.

The British Social Attitudes Survey, based on 2,000 in-depth interviews and conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, looks at how attitudes have changed towards a range of issues from the welfare state to transport.

It found that while attitudes towards working mothers had become "more positive", there was still a sizeable minority of people who perceived a woman's role as raising children at home.

Broken down by gender, the survey found that a fifth of men thought women should be at home compared to one in seven women. The older the person polled, the more likely they were to see a woman's role as the traditional home-based one.

Katarina Thomson, a co-director of the BSA, said many of those who felt women should be at home were over the age of 55 and probably grandparents.

She added: "Previous research shows that looking after grandchildren tends to be particularly stressful for younger grandparents."

"Their own parents may still be alive and sometimes these grandparents even have a job of their own."

The number of people who disapprove of working mothers increases considerably when the working mother in question has children under the age of five.

More than half the men polled said women should stay at home in these circumstances. Almost half of women (46 per cent) said the same.

Reality tells a different story, however. Six in 10 women with children under the age of five go out to work, encouraged by various Government initiatives.

[TheSpottedOwl]

If you can do it, either parent should stay home until the kid starts school.

[LibertarianInExile]

I would love to see the actual questions and methodology of this survey.

That said, I'm against anyone out of the home except me.

[Diddle E. Squat]

So if I agree, would that make it 2 in 7 thinkin' that?

:^)

[glock rocks]

if the tax burden was what it was in the 50's, we'd all be living the life of ozzie and harriet.

nope, now, even grampa has to work beyond what he'd thought. oh, and gramma.

oh, and mom.

some of us are fortunate to have stay at home mommies for their kids. sadly, not enough of us are that fortunate, and especially sadly, the urban homes that need parental guidance the most are burdened, even with "progressive" taxes.

socialism at work.

we all lose.

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

I don't know if I'd say "place". After all, it's difficult to "afford" children and taxes without both parents working. But, it's best if one parent can stay home, and I'm going to be old fashioned and say that most women have an unexplainable knack to do a better job, day in and day out, raising their children one-on-one.

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

socialism at work. we all lose.

Correction: The majority lose. The elite win. And they win BIG TIME!

[volchef]

I love.....yes.....LOVE staying home with my children. They drive me crazy. I have more grey hair than I ever thought imaginable at age 29, but I would not even consider going back to work at this time. They are both beautiful, amazing girls whose brains and amount of affection they have for me and their daddy never cease to amaze me. For the life of me I can't imagine why some people want to work. I understand having to work, but I don't understand wanting to miss your children grow.

[ladyinred]

It would be great if Mom could stay home with the kids, but that isn't reality in most cases now. Sad, but true.

[dinok]

A woman's place is where a man's is: supporting her children and family.

What a concept...I guess it goes against the current "I want to find myself" mode of most women.

[Bosco]

My wife did not fare well in the corporate world, but she has hit full stride staying at home with our two daughters.

[glock rocks]

Correction: The majority lose. The elite win. And they win BIG TIME!

I'll go half way with ya on that one. the majority lose. the elite have a hornet's nest in their underware.

in 50 years, when all us rednecks have been culled, you might be right.

[Capt. Canuck]

HA! Just wait till career mom is 55 and her 17 year old daughter pops a kid out (seeing as mom was never around to instill a sense of morals in the little slut) and winds up getting that kid dumped on her. Perhaps THEN it will dawn on her that staying home to raise your own kids is the better path to take. I wouldn't bet money on it though.

[Coroner]

Looks like they reached out to the ROP!!

[Contra]

A wife belongs in the home, specifically, the kitchen and bedroom and my wife totally agrees. By the way, we're very happily married (needless to say).

[LibertarianInExile]

Damn, you beat me! And you're dead on about having a parent stay home. Less than that dedication, whether people want to pretend it is 'necessary' or not, is not parenting but fundraising. Your kids deserve both your time and your money. You don't have to be wealthy to provide children with everything they need, though you might not be able to provide them with all they want...which is always way more than they need, anyway.

Still, I'm still looking forward to meeting a family in which the man stays home and is a full-time housekeeper. Women I've met uniformly insist that regardless of their income, they should stay home, not from any logical reason but from a reflexively selfish 'if anyone stays home with the kids it'll be ME' attitude.

Makes me think of that great song of Tom T. Hall's:

He said, "Women think about they-selves, when menfolk ain’t around.
And friends are hard to find, when they discover that you’re down.
I tried it all when I was young and in my natural prime;
Now it’s old dogs, and children, and watermelon wine."

[blam]

"I guess it goes against the current "I want to find myself" mode of most women."

I had one of those. Our son and I made our way without her since he was four years old. He has a PhD in physics and an excellent job now.

[lizma]

Women need to calculate the cost of working. By the time they pay taxes (possibly at a high rate), babysitter, gas, wear and tear on the car, extra clothes, lunches and other expenses they would find they really bring home doodly squat

I once had a high power 6 figure career but driving between offices I would listen to Dr. Laura and her "mom's should home" rant. Well, she got to me, I quit, and we are having so much more fun in our lives. The money didn't make us a better family, the time together did.

The feminist kept telling my generation it was all about my wants. They were so wrong. Happiness in life is a do unto others thing.

[Zipporah]

Six in 10 women with children under the age of five go out to work, encouraged by various Government initiatives.

Isn't that the way government operates? Encouraging the very behavior that isn't best for the society as a whole.. such as rewarding those that have more and more children out of wedlock etc.

[Joe Hadenuf]

It's not really a choice anymore.

Most moms and dads have to work just to pay for everything, and the endless taxes just compound the problem.

Many people are paying $1,000 to $2500 a month nowadays just for a monthly mortgage payment. This alone is crippling.

Add one or two car payments, taxes, food, kids, insurance, credit cards, and wammo, everyone is working around the clock...It's a tag team.

Kinda sad, and very stressful.

We've personally got out of all debt and plan on staying out of debt at all cost.