Working Mothers Increasingly Prefer Part-Time To Full-Time Jobs

While most women with preschool and school-age children want to remain in the workforce, the percentage of mothers who prefer full-time work to part-time positions has declined noticeably over the past decade, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.

In spring 2007, researchers asked 2,020 adults ages 18 and older for their views on employment options for parents. Of the women surveyed who are currently employed and have children ages 17 and under, just 21% characterized working full-time as the ideal situation, compared with 32% in a similar survey conducted in 1997. Results showed that, in 2007, 60% of working mothers would prefer to be working part time, up from 48% in 1997. Meanwhile, the percentage of working mothers who would rather stay home with their children was found to be roughly the same in 1997 and 2007, at around one-fifth.

The most recent survey also revealed a similar shift in preference among at-home women with minor children: 16% of this group said they would like to be working full-time, down from 24% in 1997. While 48% of the stay-at-home mothers polled in 2007 characterized not working outside the home as their ideal situation, up from 39% in 1997, 37% said they would prefer to be working part-time, compared with 33% in 1997.

Broken down by demographic groups, views on the question of which situation is ideal for women of minor children were found to vary little by income or education level. While the survey showed that married women are somewhat more likely than unmarried women to consider staying at home or part-time employment to be the ideal arrangement, results also indicated that, compared with a decade a ago, a significantly larger percentage of both unmarried women with minor children and mothers of preschool children prefer part-time to full-time work.

There appears to be a large gap between women’s preferred work situations and the types of positions they currently hold, researchers observed: While 60% of employed mothers would like a part-time job, figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that just under one-quarter of employed mothers actually work part time.

Of all the mothers surveyed, both employed and unemployed, 20% prefer working full-time, 50% would rather work part-time, and 29% would prefer not to work at all. These priorities are not, however, shared by the fathers surveyed: When asked which situation they would consider ideal, 72% chose full-time employment; 12%, part-time employment; and 16%, staying at home with the kids.