Recent Surveys and Opinion Polls Regarding Work/Family Balance

Certainly, affordable and accessible child care are important issues for today's parents.  However, an equally, if not more, compelling issue of our day is that mothers and fathers want more time with their children.  In addition, most people believe that the best care for a child is the care given by a parent.  Consider just a few of the many opinion polls that support this conclusion:

A December, 1997 poll by Wirthlin Worldwide for the Family Research Council asked 1,004 adults to rate the form of day care they believed was most desirable for preschool children.  Out of nine options, an overwhelming majority of Americans still believe that "care by a child's own mother" is the single most desirable form of child care.  Those findings are consistent regardless of race, age, partisanship or income level.  The second preferred choice was "care by a child's grandmother, aunt, or other family member."  Rated least desirable was "care by a government day care center" and second to last was "care by a commercial day care center."

A May, 1997 survey of 1101 American women by the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press found that 41% of women surveyed "thought that a family in which the father worked and the mother stayed at home was best for raising children."  Only 17 percent of women surveyed said it was beneficial for children and society to have mothers work outside the home.  Among women who work full time, only 41% said they were confident that their situation was good for their children.  44% of respondents with children under 18 "would choose to work part time rather than full time;" and 25% said they would "prefer to stay at home."

A February, 1996 survey conducted for the Independent Women's Forum by The Polling Company found that more than half (55%) of adults are willing to trade some seniority or pay at work in exchange for more personal time.  One-third (33%) of all respondents would choose to have one parent at home full time with their children if their economic situation would allow.

The September, 1996 "Poll of Parents with Children at Home" by the polling firm Penn & Schoen for the National Parenting Association found that 94% of parents surveyed endorsed "tax incentives to encourage family-friendly policies by employers, such as benefits for part-time workers and flexible working hours."

Parents Magazine/Women & Work Poll/Reader Survey results published May, 1996:

• 43% of 18,000 mothers surveyed said they would like to stay home, nearly twice as many mothers who felt that way in 1989;
• 68% of working mothers did not feel they had enough time with their family;
• If moms could choose to do whatever they wished: only 4% would choose full-time employment, 61% would work part-time, 29% would not choose any paid employment;
• and 56% of women felt "it is better for the child if the mother does not work."

A 1996 National Study of Women's Awareness, Attitudes, and Opinions conducted for Concerned Women for America by Wirthlin Worldwide (1015 participants) found that 8 out of 10 American women agree with the statement, "If I could afford it, I would like to stay home and be a full-time mother."

A May, 1995 Louis Harris and Associates poll, conducted with the Whirlpool Foundation and the Families and Work Institute found interesting responses to the question of work preference if "you had enough money to live as comfortably as you'd like." Only 15% of the women and 33% of the men would work full-time; 33% of women and 28% of men would work part-time; and  20% of women and 17% of men would choose volunteer work.

A  December, 1994 USA Today Weekend reader write-in found 96% of 1,278 respondents would take a pay cut for more family time.

A 1994 National Commission on Children survey asked parents to assess the amount of time spent with their families.  Fifty-nine percent responded that they needed more time with their families:  30% thought they "needed a lot more," while 29% indicated they "needed a little more."  (Washington Post Health, July 19, 1994)

A May, 1994 Child Magazine survey of 800 mothers with children below age 13 showed that 48% of mothers who work full-time would prefer cutting back their hours, 30% would stay home, and only 20% would continue with a full-time career.

A 1993 study by the Families and Work Institute, "The Changing Workforce," (a nationally representative study of 2958 waged and salaried workers) reported that 61% of the employees interviewed would switch jobs for flexible time and leave programs.  More specifically, 79% of employees with children under 13 would be willing to change employers for more flexible work arrangements, and 81% of employees with children under 13 would be willing to sacrifice advancement for more flexible work arrangements.  Seventy-six percent of young workers 18 through 24 years of age revealed that they were more willing to "make sacrifices in their education, careers, and jobs than in their personal and family lives."

In 1993, Yankelovich's Monitor reported that 56% of women would leave work to be with their families if they could afford to do so, in contrast to 38% responding similarly in 1989.

A 1991 Washington Post poll found that 55% of Americans believed a child is likely to suffer if his mother works outside the home, up from 48%  in 1989.  A 1990 Gallup poll for the Los Angeles Times showed 73% of the public believed children fare best when they have a mother at home.  A 1990 Times Mirror poll found that 73% of respondents believed too many children are being raised in day care, up from 68% in 1987; and a 1990 Time Magazine poll of 18- to 29-year olds found that 63% hope to spend more time with their own children than their parents spent with them.

Data compiled by Mothers at Home