The media company Hulafrog recently released the results of a survey of 2,127 U.S. moms in the business world that concluded that most moms want to work part time. Small Business Labs of Emergent Research indicates that the data collected in the survey is consistent with their own independent workers’ study findings: that women (and also men) are seeking to increase their work and life balance by finding more flexible work options than the traditional 8 to 5 job. Here’s a look at the specifics of the Hulafrog survey.
Primarily, given a choice, 65 percent of the women included in the survey would work part time (right now 25 percent of the same group in the survey is working part time). Only 26 percent would like to opt out of the workforce and stay home (30 percent are actually doing so), and 9 percent of moms would choose to work full time (with 45 percent of the survey group currently working at this level). Clearly, moms are looking for a better work/life balance than they currently are able to attain.
The link between good work/life balance and the amount of hours work was also demonstrated in another area of the survey, with 60 percent of moms who work full time reporting that they have a good balance compared to 82 percent of moms working part time. In addition, 59 percent of moms surveyed said that they would take less pay for a flexible work schedule.
Interestingly, 57 percent of stay-at-home moms said that they would have continued to work if their employer had offered flexible options, such as the ability to work at home (among those surveyed, this option was only available for 14 percent of full time working moms). It’s important to note that of these stay-at-home moms, 76 percent had a college degree or higher and 58 percent had logged between 6 and 15 years of professional experience in their career.
Another question concerned what mattered most to moms. At the top of this list was a flexible schedule (with 74 percent of those surveyed citing this as a priority). For 67 percent, salary/pay was a priority, while 48 percent were concerned both with the availability of a good boss and mentors, and the work being challenging and rewarding. In the survey, 47 percent were concerned primarily with health insurance benefits.
It’s important to note that those surveyed were online members of Hulafrog and not a statistical sample of mothers across the United States. Thus, these results may not be a clear reflection on the opinions of women with children overall.
References
King, Steve. “Survey Says Moms Want to Work Part-Time.” Small Business Labs. Emergent Research. 8/22/13.
