Study reveals trends for working moms

According to a study by IU assistant sociology professor Youngjoo Cha, mothers working long hours are more likely to leave their jobs than other overworked employees. This trend was only found in male-dominated occupations, not in balanced or female-dominated occupations.

“Mothers were 52-percent more likely than other women to leave their jobs if they were working a 50-hour week or more, but only in occupations dominated by men,” Cha said in a press release. “Many of these are lucrative fields, such as law, medicine, finance and engineering.”

Cha found that long hours contributed to gender segregation in the workplace, in part because mothers who leave these jobs are unable to find suitable part-time positions in their chosen field. Instead they decide to leave the job market entirely.

Cha based her analysis on data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation. An occupation was categorized as “male-dominated” if men made up 70 percent or more of the workforce.

Cha found female employees without children, or male employees in general, were not more likely to leave their jobs in overworking fields. Her findings showed that mothers in male-dominated occupations were more discouraged than overworked women in non-male-dominated occupations. Some women left for balanced or female-dominated professions, while others left the workforce completely.

Based on her findings, Cha recommended labor policies that would reduce work-family conflicts and minimize the expectation of overworked employees. These could include a cap on the maximum allowable work hours, allowing employees to work part-time hours without reducing their benefits, and prohibiting compulsory overtime.

Two-income households are not uncommon. In almost 80 percent of American couples, both partners work outside the home, but men may still have more flexibility in their working hours than women.

Earlier research conducted by Cha showed when husbands are overworked, it restricts their wives’ ability to work outside the home. However, when wives are overworked, it rarely affects the number of hours their husbands spend working.

Cha’s findings have been published in the gender studies journal Gender & Society.

—Tori Fater