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 The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything The Battle of the Sexes is over. Now it’s Negotiations Between the Sexes – about work, family, household responsibilities, childcare, and eldercare. Groundbreaking report finds that America’s leading institutions – government, businesses, education, faith, and media – have not kept up with the changing nature of the American worker and the American family. The Battles of the Sexes is over. But the realization arises; the rest of our societal ties must catch up. Gender inclusive language was a cinch but now it is time for the big issue, how will our leading institutions adapt with the shifting roles of family and the workforce. Here are some key points to the report: This multifaceted report – including a comprehensive national poll conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with TIME Magazine – looks at the changing face and attitudes of the American worker. Economists, sociologists, and other academic experts examine this seismic shift in the workforce and how it is impacting our institutions – business, government, education, faith, and media – as the overwhelming majority of families no longer conform to the traditional paradigm, where men worked outside the home and women were stay-at-home homemakers. The Shriver Report findings include: A Seismic Workforce Shift · The advent of women becoming half of US workers is the greatest transformative force of our time. This is a permanent change in our culture – unlike temporary spikes in female employment in the past when, for instance, men left the workforce and went off to war. ·Three-quarters of Americans view the rising proportion of women in the workplace as a positive development for society, with fully 70% percent of men saying they are comfortable having women work outside the home. But both fathers and mothers are concerned about the negative effect on their children when there is no longer a stay-at-home parent. ·This seismic shift is impacting every institution in American life. But many of them – government, business, faith, education, and media – haven’t kept up with the shifting nature of American families. For example, basic labor standards and the social insurance system are based on supporting “traditional” families, where the husband works and the wife stays home to care for children. ·More than 80% of men and women agree that businesses failing to adapt to the needs of modern families risk losing good workers. And the fact is, businesses that support and retain women do have healthier bottom lines. ·The current recession has accelerated the workforce shift towards women, because most of the jobs lost have been men’s jobs. But the increase in women’s proportion of the workforce will continue, because future job growth is predicted to be most robust in industries, such as education and health, where women dominate. Family Issues · The battle of the sexes is over. Now it’s negotiations between the sexes – about work, family, household responsibilities, childcare, and eldercare. ·A record 40% of children born in 2007 – more than 1.5 million of them – had unmarried mothers. ·What used to be called “women’s issues” are now “family issues.” Men now agree with women that government and business need to provide flexible work schedules, better child care, and paid family and medical leave. ·Men and women generally agree on what they want in life and how they view roles in marriage, as partners, parents, and in their jobs with 63% of men less interested in playing the “macho” role than they were in years past. ·75% of Americans report experiencing stress in their daily lives. ·Some researchers report a wife feels more sexually attracted to a husband who pitches in around the house, and one of the biggest predictors of a husband’s marital satisfaction is how often he has sex. ·Most Americans say having religious faith is important to them, but many faith-based institutions have not kept up with the needs of the modern family. A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything ·Women are more likely than men to graduate from college. Women get half of graduate degrees. Women are running more than 10 million businesses with combined annual sales of $1.1 trillion. Women are responsible for making 80% of consumer buying decisions. Women have more power than ever before. ·But women still earn only 77 cents for every $1 dollar men earn, and women are less likely to be in leadership positions in corporate America . As of July 2008, only 15 companies on the Fortune 500 list were run by female chief executives. ·Women still overwhelmingly think they have primary responsibility for their children and their sick or elderly parents. Nearly 86% of women agree that women today still bear the primary responsibility for caring for their sick and elderly parents. 85% of women believe that where both partners have jobs, it is the woman who takes on more responsibility for the home and family. Take a moment and think about the Family Issues. When thought about it becomes wearing. The issues are not only pertaining to the rights that women have gained over the years or the agreement from both men and women that the equality in the workforce can only become better and more accepting. But instead, the issue is family. The thing that people hold most dear to their hearts. How are the institutions that we live by affecting our family, our heartstrings? For instance, most American’s agree that faith-bases institutions are important, but more people are straying away from them because they do not fit the needs of the “modern family.” More and more the family has shifted into more spiritual outlets rather than “institutional” outlets because it is a more tangible means of fulfilling purpose. The full report* says that this will become a problem because women and families need the institutions and the community they provide. But the family also needs more tangible and more supportive roles from these institutions such as, childcare and flexibility with time. After it’s all said and done and juggling all the hats that society has been given —parent, breadwinner, supporter; the family is still the important aspect in all of life. It still outweighs any policy or career. The Shriver Report has created awareness and is launching a new mindset. It is 2009, men and women have more rights than ever before, society is no longer locked by gender-roles. As outlined in the report, this is a permanent change and it’s time for negotiations to be made. Now the challenge is how to incorporate what has already happened to the old way of viewing things. There will be trial and error, but positively, change is evolving. “The Shriver Report presents an accurate and detailed portrait of American women and families at this transformational moment in our history,” Maria Shriver said, “It’s been almost fifty years since my uncle, President John F. Kennedy, asked Eleanor Roosevelt to do the same by chairing the very first Commission on the Status of the American Woman. We’ve come a long way since then. Now I’m hoping policymakers, armed with our surveys and analysis, can develop updated policies and practices that address and support the needs of today’s American women, men, and families.” * The full Shriver Report is available at www.awomansnation.com. |
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