Time magazine just came out with a very interesting Special Report on The State of the American Woman (Oct. 26, 2009). Comparing results of a new survey conducted jointly by Time and the nonprofit Rockefeller Foundation with statistics from a similar 1972 Time survey, reporter Nancy Gibbs and Time statisticians took a revealing look at changes in the role and status of American women over the past third of a century. The result made for some interesting reading. The bottom line? We’ve come a long way, baby; but there are still some bumps in the road ahead.
Here are some of the more interesting revelations:
- In 1972 with women’s lib starting to find its stride, women made up only 2% of the top echelons of civil service jobs. There were no women cabinet members, no female FBI agents, no women network news anchors, no female Supreme Court Justices. Today women regularly serve on the cabinet and the last 3 out of 4 Secretaries of State have been female. For the first time a woman President became a real possibility when Hilary Clinton ran in the Democratic primary. Two women now serve on the Supreme Court. When Diane Sawyer takes over the reins at ABC, two of the three major network news organizations will be anchored by women. Women, particularly in the corporate arena, say they still feel the pressure of the glass ceiling; but the cracks are getting bigger every year.
- In 1972 women comprised 30% of the workforce; today, it’s half and 76% of both men and women agree that’s a good thing for society. In 40% of families women are now the primary breadwinners, nearly unheard of in 1972. In fact, 89% of both sexes said they were comfortable with the woman earning more than the man. Interestingly, more women (69%) than men (49%) felt men resented the shift in power.
- In 1972, most mothers stayed home to care for their children. Today, only 30% are stay-at-home moms. The majority of both sexes (65%) felt the lack of parental supervision was bad for society. More working moms (55%) than dads (28%) still felt women contributed the lion’s share to child rearing and household responsibilities. This difference in perception was one of the more interesting revelations in the survey.
Monday: Is equality taking an unequal toll on women?