Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Moms happier, survey shows Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 17:26:45 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Moms happier, survey shows \BY Joyce Price \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The woman who gives up marriage and children to further her career is making a big mistake, a new study suggests. A mailed survey answered by more than 1,100 professional women - all of whom were lawyers, physicians, accountants or engineers - showed that "single childless women are significantly more depressed and report lower self-esteem and lower life satisfaction than married women with children," according to Ethel Roskies, a psychology professor at the University of Montreal who conducted the research. Forms sent with the questionnaires included standard tests to measure psychological well-being, personal and professional satisfaction and self-esteem. There was also a question on income. Ms. Roskies said she and her research partner, Sylvie Carrier, "found that single childless women fared the worst [in all psychological measures]; that married women with children fared the best, and that married women without children were in the middle." The three categories of women reported equal levels of job satisfaction, she said. Ms. Roskies presented her findings yesterday at a conference on workplace stress at the Hyatt Regency-Capitol Hill. The conference was sponsored by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. She said the survey was sent to female doctors, lawyers, engineers and accountants, since medicine, law, engineering and accounting are "traditionally male" professions that have seen sharp increases in the number of women in their ranks during the past 15 years. They are also professions where "women have been given the message that if they want to succeed in their careers, they must give up marriage and children," Ms. Roskies said. In contrast, she said, "no one's ever told a waitress that if she wants to be a waitress she can't have a husband or children." If "any group could compensate [for lack of family life] through job satisfaction, it would be professionals like this," she said. But the poll showed that is not happening. The women surveyed were identified through professional corporation membership rosters in Quebec and were between the ages of 35 and 40. Two-thirds of the women who responded were married with children, Ms. Roskies said. Nineteen percent were married without children, and 14 percent were single and childless. "So a third of the sample had given up at least one of the [domestic] roles," she said. The survey found that marriage was not a factor in how much time a professional woman was on the job but that children were. "We found that childless women work significantly longer hours per week and say they are much more involved in their work, but our survey showed they don't earn any more money," Ms. Roskies said. Unmarried, childless doctors were the only exception to that finding, she said. "In Quebec, doctors are paid per medical act," Ms. Roskies said, so the more work a physician does, the more she'll be paid. Overall, however, the poll showed it's not true that women's family responsibilities are a primary reason they are often limited professionally or financially. "There are structural barriers to women's earnings, but marriage and children are rationalizations for this, not reasons," Ms. Roskies said. The bottom line, she said, is that single professional women "derive no career benefits from their lifestyle but pay a high personal price for it. Married childless women fare somewhat better, but even they are less satisfied with their lives than married women with children." Ms. Roskies acknowledged there were "a lot of complaints about time" among married women with children who responded to the questionnaire. Many of these women also said they did not have opportunities for recreational activities. "But when all was said and done, they were still the happiest." Jack Wiggins, president of the American Psychological Association, said Ms. Roskies' findings support other research that has revealed better psychological health among working women with families than among those without families. "A lot of data say family satisfaction mediates work stress," Mr. Wiggins said yesterday. Karen Nussbaum, president of 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women, had no arguments with Ms. Roskies' results. But she said that not all working women are professionals, and that economic realities sometimes force women to choose between motherhood and careers. "These choices become so dreadful and Draconian, since there's very little help to allow women to do both," Ms. Nussbaum said in a telephone interview. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM