Gender equity in career outcomes may be frustrated by unequal child care responsibilities at home. This study evaluates the association of gender with work-life balance as reported in a national survey conducted by the Pew Research Foundation in October 2020.
Using a subset of survey responses consisting of two-parent households with children under 18 in which both parents held a full-time job, chi-squared analyses were conducted to assess the association between gender and factors related to work-life balance.
Mothers were more likely to report struggling with work, experiencing negative work-related outcomes, and carrying a disproportionate share of the domestic responsibilities. Among all respondents in two-parent households with children under 18, mothers were less likely to be employed full-time and less likely to prefer working full-time.
When both partners work full-time, the mother is more likely to bear an disproportionate share of child care. The burden degrades her career experience. There is some evidence that women contribute to the inequity, often reporting that they prefer working less than full-time.
Organizations pursuing gender equity in leadership roles are often challenged by a lack of candidates. A 2019 study by McKinsey and LeanIn.org hypothesized the “broken rung” effect: “The biggest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership is at the first step up to manager.”1. While companies will surely benefit by striving to develop and promote leaders equally, there may be social influences that create a headwind. One such influence is the tendency for women to exit the workforce in order to focus on family. A recent study by the Pew Research Foundation polled American households about their work experiences during the Covid pandemic. The Pew data set is publicly available and is the basis for this study. The gender and family identifiers in the data offer a glimpse into how women and men balance family with career.
The Pew Research Center conducted a survey Oct. 13-19, 2020 to better understand the experiences of employed parents during the coronavirus. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Pew provides detailed information on the ATP, the survey questions, and survey methodology.
This analysis is based on two extracts from the survey. The first is 2,086 married or cohabiting U.S. adults with children younger than 18. This extract was used to evaluate survey two survey items. The N-size in the tables below are the weighted sizes (Table 1).
| N = 2,3161 | |
|---|---|
| Current employment status. | |
| Employed full-time | 1,344 (58%) |
| Employed part-time | 323 (14%) |
| Retired | 72 (3.1%) |
| Not employed | 576 (25%) |
| At this point in your life, which of the following would be best for you personally? | |
| Working full-time for pay | 1,358 (59%) |
| Working part-time for pay | 500 (22%) |
| Not working for pay at all | 459 (20%) |
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1
n (%)
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A second extract refines the first to 869 cases where both partners are employed full-time. It supports three sets of questions related to work-life balance (Tables 2, 3, 4).
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, have you personally experienced the following because you were balancing work and parenting responsibilities? (FAMSURV35)
| N = 8371 | |
|---|---|
| Needed to reduce your work hours | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 257 (31%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 580 (69%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.1%) |
| Felt like you couldn't give 100% at work | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 436 (52%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 400 (48%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.2%) |
| Turned down a promotion | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 40 (4.8%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 795 (95%) |
| Refused | 3 (0.3%) |
| Turned down an important assignment at work | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 108 (13%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 728 (87%) |
| Refused | 2 (0.2%) |
|
1
n (%)
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|
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, have you personally experienced the following at work because you have children? (FAMSURV36)
| N = 8371 | |
|---|---|
| Being passed over for a promotion | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 55 (6.5%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 782 (93%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.1%) |
| Being passed over for an important assignment | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 76 (9.0%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 761 (91%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.1%) |
| Being treated as if you weren't committed to your work | |
| Yes, have experienced this | 120 (14%) |
| No, have not experienced this | 717 (86%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.1%) |
|
1
n (%)
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|
For each of the following, who would you say does more? (FAMSURV38)
| N = 8371 | |
|---|---|
| Household chores and responsibilities | |
| You do more than your spouse or partner | 347 (41%) |
| Your spouse or partner does more than you | 127 (15%) |
| Both about equally | 363 (43%) |
| Refused | 0 (<0.1%) |
| Managing household finances | |
| You do more than your spouse or partner | 432 (52%) |
| Your spouse or partner does more than you | 157 (19%) |
| Both about equally | 247 (30%) |
| Refused | 1 (<0.1%) |
| Managing your child(ren)'s schedule and activities | |
| You do more than your spouse or partner | 334 (40%) |
| Your spouse or partner does more than you | 220 (26%) |
| Both about equally | 283 (34%) |
| Refused | 1 (0.1%) |
| Being an involved parent | |
| You do more than your spouse or partner | 250 (30%) |
| Your spouse or partner does more than you | 128 (15%) |
| Both about equally | 458 (55%) |
| Refused | 2 (0.2%) |
|
1
n (%)
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For each question a chi-squared analysis was conducted to measure the association between gender and the survey item.
Mothers in two-parent households with children under 18 were much less likely than fathers to be employed full-time (41% vs. 80%) and much more likely to not be employed at all (39% vs. 6%) (Table 5). Moreover, mothers’ judgments on the best employment option were also to not work full-time. In response to question “At this point in your life, which of the following would be best for you personally?”, only 42% of mothers responded ‘working full-time for pay’ compared to 80% of fathers.
A chi-square test for association was conducted between gender and employment status. All expected cell frequencies were greater than five. There was a statistically significant association between gender and employment status, \(\chi^2\)(3) = 383, p < 0.001, V = 0.407. A second chi-square test for association was conducted between gender and best employment option. Again, there was a statistically significant association between gender and employment preference, \(\chi^2\)(2) = 320, p < 0.001, V = 0.372.
| Characteristic | Overall, N = 2,3161 | Fathers, N = 1,0241 | Mothers, N = 1,2921 | p-value2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Status | <0.001 | |||
| Employed full-time | 1,344 (58%) | 814 (80%) | 530 (41%) | |
| Employed part-time | 323 (14%) | 99 (9.7%) | 224 (17%) | |
| Retired | 72 (3.1%) | 44 (4.3%) | 28 (2.2%) | |
| Not employed | 576 (25%) | 67 (6.5%) | 510 (39%) | |
| Best for you Personally | <0.001 | |||
| Working full-time for pay | 1,358 (59%) | 821 (80%) | 537 (42%) | |
| Working part-time for pay | 500 (22%) | 125 (12%) | 375 (29%) | |
| Not working for pay at all | 459 (20%) | 78 (7.6%) | 381 (29%) | |
|
1
n (%)
2
chi-squared test with Rao & Scott's second-order correction
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When both parents work full time, mothers were more likely than fathers to experience indicators of struggles at work. Women were more likely to report needing to reduce work hours (35% vs. 26%), not being able to give 100% at work (59% vs. 45%), having to turn down a promotion (8% vs. 2%), and having to turn down an important work assignment (15% vs. 11%).
A chi-square test for association was conducted between gender and employment struggles for married or cohabiting parents of a child under 18 in the household where both parents are employed full-time. All expected cell frequencies were greater than five. There was a statistically insignificant association between gender and need to reduce work hours, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 8.7, p = 0.055 and between gender and having to turn down an important work assignment, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 3.1, p = 0.290. There was a small but statistically significant association between gender and giving 100% at work, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 17.0, p = 0.005, V = 0.143, and between gender and turning down a promotion, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 15.4, p = 0.005, V = 0.136.
| Characteristic | Overall, N = 8321 | Fathers, N = 4121 | Mothers, N = 4201 | p-value2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needed to reduce work hours | 257 (31%) | 108 (26%) | 149 (35%) | 0.055 |
| Couldn't give 100% at work | 435 (52%) | 186 (45%) | 249 (59%) | 0.005 |
| Turned down a promotion | 40 (4.8%) | 8 (1.9%) | 32 (7.6%) | 0.005 |
| Turned down work assignment | 108 (13%) | 45 (11%) | 63 (15%) | 0.3 |
|
1
n (%)
2
chi-squared test with Rao & Scott's second-order correction
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When both parents work full time, mothers were more likely than fathers to report discouraging evaluations by their employer. Women were more likely to being passed over for promotion (9% vs. 4%), being passed over for an important assignment (12% vs. 6%), and being treated as not committed to work (21% vs. 8%).
A chi-square test for association was conducted between gender and employer treatment for married or cohabiting parents of a child under 18 in the household where both parents are employed full-time. All expected cell frequencies were greater than five. There was a statistically insignificant association between gender and being passed over for promotion, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 9.2, p = 0.070. There was a small but statistically significant association between gender and being passed over for an important assignment, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 12.5, p = 0.026, V = 0.122, and between gender and being treated as not committed to work, \(\chi^2\)(1) = 29.1, p < .001, V = 0.187.
| Characteristic | Overall, N = 8361 | Fathers, N = 4131 | Mothers, N = 4231 | p-value2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passed over for a promotion | 55 (6.5%) | 16 (4.0%) | 38 (9.1%) | 0.071 |
| Passed over for an assignment | 76 (9.0%) | 23 (5.5%) | 53 (12%) | 0.026 |
| Treated as not committed to work | 120 (14%) | 32 (7.8%) | 87 (21%) | <0.001 |
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1
n (%)
2
chi-squared test with Rao & Scott's second-order correction
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When both parents work full time, mothers were more likely than fathers to report carrying more responsibility than their spouse for household chores (59% vs. 23%), managing the children’s schedule (71% vs. 8%), and being an involved parent (54% vs. 6%). Mothers and fathers equally felt unequally burdened managing household finances (51% vs. 52%).
A chi-square test for association was conducted between gender and domestic support for married or cohabiting parents of a child under 18 in the household where both parents are employed full-time. All expected cell frequencies were greater than five. There was a statistically significant association between gender and performing household chores, \(\chi^2\)(2) = 134.3, p < .001, V = 0.401, managing children’s schedule and activities \(\chi^2\)(2) = 431.1, p < .001, V = 0.719, and being an involved parent \(\chi^2\)(2) = 279.8, p < .001, V = 0.579.
| Characteristic | Overall, N = 8351 | Fathers, N = 4121 | Mothers, N = 4231 | p-value2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performing household chores | <0.001 | |||
| Equal | 362 (43%) | 216 (52%) | 147 (35%) | |
| I do more | 347 (42%) | 95 (23%) | 252 (59%) | |
| Spouse does more | 126 (15%) | 101 (24%) | 25 (5.8%) | |
| Managing household finances | 0.2 | |||
| Equal | 247 (30%) | 109 (26%) | 138 (33%) | |
| I do more | 431 (52%) | 213 (52%) | 218 (51%) | |
| Spouse does more | 156 (19%) | 89 (22%) | 67 (16%) | |
| Managing children schedule | <0.001 | |||
| Equal | 282 (34%) | 169 (41%) | 113 (27%) | |
| I do more | 334 (40%) | 32 (7.8%) | 302 (71%) | |
| Spouse does more | 219 (26%) | 211 (51%) | 8 (1.9%) | |
| Being an involved parent | <0.001 | |||
| Equal | 457 (55%) | 273 (66%) | 184 (44%) | |
| I do more | 250 (30%) | 23 (5.5%) | 227 (54%) | |
| Spouse does more | 128 (15%) | 116 (28%) | 11 (2.7%) | |
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1
n (%)
2
chi-squared test with Rao & Scott's second-order correction
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Women cannot be equally represented in leadership roles if they are not working. Families often balance domestic and professional pursuits with specialization in which the father is employed full-time while the mother focuses on child care, employed part-time or not at all. The Pew survey found that while 80% of fathers in two-parent households were employed full-time, only 41% of mothers were. These results were echoed by the respondents’ expressed preferences for work.
When both the mother and father work full-time, the mother is more likely to report struggling with work-life balance. Mothers also report that the employer notices, treating them as less committed to their work. A likely explanation is that mothers carry a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities.
The target population in this study was two-parent families where both parents work full-time and the results may not extend to other family arrangements.
Women in the Workplace 2019, McKinsey and LeanIn.Org, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace#nga_section_header_main_0_universal_1↩︎