Working moms: Looking for more than a paycheck

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
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Contact: Karen Christopher
k.christopher@louisville.edu
Sociologists for Women in Society

A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to

Louisville, AZWorking mothers may be busy, but they like it that way. A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to, but they're also looking for new ways to negotiate the demands of mothering and the pressures to be an "ideal" employee.

Unlike earlier research, the study published today in the February issue of Gender & Society finds that many employed mothers emphasize the benefits they, and their children, receive from their paid work. Both married and single mothers said they found more fulfillment (and gained self confidence) in paid work than in parenting and this is an essential reason why they do not stay at home with their children. Most women regardless of their class, race/ethnicity, or marital status, said they would work (at least part time) even if they didn't have to. The study was conducted by Karen Christopher, an associate professor of Women's/Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Over the past several decades, mothers' employment rates have risen sharply. By 2010, approximately two-thirds of North American mothers with young children worked outside of the home. Unlike many previous studies on working mothers, the new research looks at a more diverse, young group of mothers, including women from both Canada and the U.S., as well as women with different racial/ethnic backgrounds, class and marital status. Most women in the study were born between 1970 and 1985. Prof. Christopher interviewed 40 working mothers, each with at least one child under the age of 5; over half the women had two children.

Although the women enjoy their careers, they also place limits on how much they work so that they can remain connected to their children. Many women sought out jobs (even high-powered professionals, such as lawyers) with employers who would not demand that they work overtime or nights on a regular basis. Several women stressed that they only work "reasonable" hours. For example, Jana, an African American nurse with one child, said that she was unwilling to trade in her 8-hour shifts for 10-hour shifts and receive overtime pay. At the same time, whether they were married or single, African-American or white, lower, middle income, or higher income almost all of the mothers interviewed by Prof. Christopher said they wanted to work. Prof. Christopher argues that while these moms are not spending intensive amounts of time with their kids, they see themselves as involved parents who are "in charge" of their children's lives.

For these women, a new emphasis on their own needs as people helped supersede any feelings of guilt or ambivalence over working for pay. "About one-third of the 40 employed mothers expressed some ambivalence or guilt over their employment, but most employed mothers justified their paid work by saying it made them more fulfilled people, in addition to better mothers," Prof. Christopher says. "So, these mothers are not only reframing what good mothering entails, they also frame employment in ways different than do earlier studies of mothers."

Some Things Haven't Changed

The paper cites research showing that mothers with male partners still perform about twice as much child care and housework as their partners. In addition, Prof. Christopher suggests that inflexible workplaces and inadequate public policies are constraining North American mothers' (and fathers') ability to combine employment with involved parenting.

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[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Karen Christopher
k.christopher@louisville.edu
Sociologists for Women in Society

A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to

Louisville, AZWorking mothers may be busy, but they like it that way. A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to, but they're also looking for new ways to negotiate the demands of mothering and the pressures to be an "ideal" employee.

Unlike earlier research, the study published today in the February issue of Gender & Society finds that many employed mothers emphasize the benefits they, and their children, receive from their paid work. Both married and single mothers said they found more fulfillment (and gained self confidence) in paid work than in parenting and this is an essential reason why they do not stay at home with their children. Most women regardless of their class, race/ethnicity, or marital status, said they would work (at least part time) even if they didn't have to. The study was conducted by Karen Christopher, an associate professor of Women's/Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Over the past several decades, mothers' employment rates have risen sharply. By 2010, approximately two-thirds of North American mothers with young children worked outside of the home. Unlike many previous studies on working mothers, the new research looks at a more diverse, young group of mothers, including women from both Canada and the U.S., as well as women with different racial/ethnic backgrounds, class and marital status. Most women in the study were born between 1970 and 1985. Prof. Christopher interviewed 40 working mothers, each with at least one child under the age of 5; over half the women had two children.

Although the women enjoy their careers, they also place limits on how much they work so that they can remain connected to their children. Many women sought out jobs (even high-powered professionals, such as lawyers) with employers who would not demand that they work overtime or nights on a regular basis. Several women stressed that they only work "reasonable" hours. For example, Jana, an African American nurse with one child, said that she was unwilling to trade in her 8-hour shifts for 10-hour shifts and receive overtime pay. At the same time, whether they were married or single, African-American or white, lower, middle income, or higher income almost all of the mothers interviewed by Prof. Christopher said they wanted to work. Prof. Christopher argues that while these moms are not spending intensive amounts of time with their kids, they see themselves as involved parents who are "in charge" of their children's lives.

For these women, a new emphasis on their own needs as people helped supersede any feelings of guilt or ambivalence over working for pay. "About one-third of the 40 employed mothers expressed some ambivalence or guilt over their employment, but most employed mothers justified their paid work by saying it made them more fulfilled people, in addition to better mothers," Prof. Christopher says. "So, these mothers are not only reframing what good mothering entails, they also frame employment in ways different than do earlier studies of mothers."

Some Things Haven't Changed

The paper cites research showing that mothers with male partners still perform about twice as much child care and housework as their partners. In addition, Prof. Christopher suggests that inflexible workplaces and inadequate public policies are constraining North American mothers' (and fathers') ability to combine employment with involved parenting.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/sfwi-wml012312.php

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Iowa's celebrity hunting program criticized

(AP) ? Some question whether Iowa needs to continue giving celebrities easy access to deer hunting in the state, but it appears unlikely that the promotional program will be scrapped.

The state program gives 75 celebrities, such as rocker Ted Nugent and former professional athlete Bo Jackson, an opportunity to buy a special out-of-state deer hunting permit each year. Other non-residents might wait years to buy a similar permit.

The celebrity program began in 1998 to help promote the state as a top hunting destination.

Iowa Bowhunters Association President Randy Taylor tells the Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/wCWfLU ) that he's not sure the state really needs the promotion now because deer hunters nationwide already consider Iowa a top spot to bag a trophy deer.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-22-Hollywood%20Hunters-Iowa/id-9d8169f61aa04c2c98217300260f2f98

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Senate GOP's next move awaited in nominations spat

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2012 file photo, Richard Cordray waits for President Barack Obama to deplane at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Cordray, the first director for the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau talks with The Associated Press about what consumers can expect on payday loans, student loans and other financial products. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2012 file photo, Richard Cordray waits for President Barack Obama to deplane at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Cordray, the first director for the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau talks with The Associated Press about what consumers can expect on payday loans, student loans and other financial products. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

Director Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, left, and Deputy Director Raj Date listen during a field hearing on payday lending in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/ The Birmingham News, Mark Almond)

(AP) ? President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during the Senate's year-end break ensures that GOP senators will return to work Monday in an angry and fighting mood.

Less clear is what those furious Republicans will do to retaliate against Obama's "bring it on" end run around the Senate's role in confirming nominees to major jobs.

While Republicans contemplate their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board, with three temporary members, is now at full strength with a Democratic majority.

Obama left more than70 other nominees in limbo, well aware that Republicans could use Senate rules to block some or all of them.

The White House justified the appointments on grounds that Republicans were holding up the nominations to paralyze the two agencies. The consumer protection agency was established under the 2010 Wall Street reform law, which requires the bureau to have a director in order to begin policing financial products such as mortgages, checking accounts, credit cards and payday loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the five-member NLRB must have a three-member quorum to issue regulations or decide major cases in union-employer disputes.

Several agencies contacted by The Associated Press, including banking regulators, said they were conducting their normal business despite vacancies at the top. In some cases, nominees are serving in acting capacities.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., at full strength, has five board members. The regulation of failed banks "is unaffected," said spokesman Andrew Gray. "The three-member board has been able to make decisions without a problem." Cordray's appointment gives it a fourth member.

The Comptroller of the Currency, run by an acting chief, has kept up its regular examinations of banks. The Federal Trade Commission, operating with four board members instead of five, has had no difficulties. "This agency is not a partisan combat agency," said spokesman Peter Kaplan. "Almost all the votes are unanimous and consensus driven."

Republicans have pledged retaliation for Obama's recess appointments, but haven't indicated what it might be.

"The Senate will need to take action to check and balance President Obama's blatant attempt to circumvent the Senate and the Constitution, a claim of presidential power that the Bush Administration refused to make," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party's top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley wouldn't go further, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hasn't tipped his hand after charging that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people." Before the Senate left for its break in December, McConnell blocked Senate approval of more than 60 pending nominees because Obama wouldn't commit to making no recess appointments.

Republicans have to consider whether their actions, especially any decision to block all nominees, might play into Obama's hands.

Obama has adopted an election-year theme of "we can't wait" for Republicans to act on nominations and major proposals like his latest jobs plan. Republicans have to consider how their argument that the president is violating Constitutional checks and balances plays against Obama's stump speeches characterizing them as obstructionists.

Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the minority party has retaliated in the past for recess appointments by holding up specific nominees. "I'm not aware of any situations where no nominations were accepted," he said. The normal practice is for the two party leaders to negotiate which nominations get votes.

During the break, Republicans forced the Senate to convene for usually less than a minute once every few days to argue that there was no recess and that Obama therefore couldn't bypass the Senate's authority to confirm top officials. The administration said this was a sham, and has released a Justice Department opinion backing up the legality of the appointments.

Obama considers the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have been vehemently opposed to the bureau's setup. They argued the agency needed a bipartisan board instead of a director and should have to justify its budget to Congress instead of drawing its funding from the independent Federal Reserve.

Cordray is expected to get several sharp questions from Republicans when he testifies Tuesday before a House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

The NLRB has been a target of Republicans and business groups. Last year, the agency accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against union workers who had struck its plants in Washington state by opening a new production line at its non-union plant in South Carolina. Boeing denied the charge and the case has since been settled, but Republican anger over it and a string of union-friendly decisions from the board last year hasn't abated.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-22-US-Nominations-Spat/id-d803ccdb33da4f958a70978b6d7e30b0

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Facing long odds and steep climb, Santorum digs in (AP)

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich has the momentum. Mitt Romney has the money.

Rick Santorum? He has neither at the moment.

Not that he's going to let details like that stop him from pressing ahead in his White House quest. Or, for that matter, hurdles like scant cash in an expensive state and a rapidly disappearing opportunity to emerge as the consensus candidate of conservative voters now that Gingrich has emerged as the leading anti-Romney candidate.

"Our feeling is that this is a three-person race," Santorum insisted on CNN's "State of the Union." He added that he felt "absolutely no pressure at all" to abandon his bid given Gingrich's rise.

Still, Santorum acknowledged a hard road ahead in what he called "a tough state for everybody."

"It's very, very expensive. It's a very short time frame," he said.

The former Pennsylvania senator placed third in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

Gingrich scored his first win, entering the Florida campaign with the political winds pushing the former House speaker from behind. Romney, who has raised mounds of cash, came in second and was ready to regroup with sophisticated political machines in the upcoming states, Florida included.

Underscoring Santorum's challenges, he was taking a few days away from the campaign trail in Florida this week to restock his thin campaign bank accounts. He plans fundraisers in other states, leaving Gingrich and Romney with free rein in Florida, while he stops in states such as Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Money is a necessity in a state like Florida with numerous expensive media markets and where campaigns are usually won on TV.

That's not a natural fit for Santorum, who has run his campaign on a shoestring and won the Iowa caucuses ? albeit narrowly ? by spending more than a year making house calls to voters and traveling the state in a pickup truck.

To make up ground and perhaps earn some free media, Santorum is going on the attack.

Standing in a strip mall's parking lot here Sunday before heading to fundraising events, Santorum cast Romney as an inconsistent figure who would not be an effective foil to President Barack Obama's re-election bid and argued that Gingrich was too "high risk" to be the Republican standard-bearer.

"Trust is a big issue in this election," Santorum told several hundred people. "Who are you going to trust when the pressure is on, when we're in that debate? It's great to be glib, but it's better to be principled."

He also met privately Sunday with pastors and delivered a sermon at Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, where he emphasized his conservatism. Santorum, who sprinkles his campaign speeches with his Catholic faith, is banking on evangelicals to coalesce around him over the thrice-married Gingrich or Romney, a Mormon.

"Can he win? Only God knows," said David Babbin, a voter here who works at the nearby children's hospital and likes Santorum. "But I believe in miracles."

Still, he noted one of the candidate's challenges: "Rick Santorum is one of us. And that's his biggest flaw ... We live in a society that is `American Idol' and Rick Santorum is not like that."

Santorum has other hurdles beyond what even admirers call his lack of charisma.

His tough talk on Social Security and Medicare ? ending benefits for wealthier retirees, cutting payments to those who don't need them ? is going to dog him here in a state of 3.3 million seniors, or 17 percent of the population. AARP estimates that more than a third of those seniors would have incomes below the poverty line without Social Security and one in three seniors rely on Social Security as their sole source of income.

Santorum didn't mention those proposals at his first public campaign event since the primary in South Carolina.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum

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Kickstarter: eye3, An Affordable Aerial Photography Drone

eye3A couple years back, I got to take part in the production of a music video being shot locally on a RED and filmed partially on board a custom helicopter build. It was interesting watching the operator and director work using the rig, but I was struck by how very specialized the copter was. Built from scratch by AerialPan Imaging, it was far from a personalized or affordable solution. A new Kickstarter project called eye3 intends to make just that: an affordable aerial platform that can be automated and controlled from afar, yet is robust and customizable enough to meet the demands of serious photographers.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-vifHPo5U2o/

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Thousands protest at immunity for Yemen's Saleh (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) ? Thousands of Yemenis protested on Sunday against an immunity law protecting outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh from prosecution and demanded he be put on trial for offences they say he committed during his 33-year rule.

Saleh's immunity deal, part of measures to persuade him to resign after a year of protests against his rule, has angered demonstrators who accuse the security forces controlled by the president and his aides of killing hundreds of their number.

Saleh has agreed to quit the presidency under the U.S.-backed deal, and will leave Yemen shortly for medical treatment, but many in Yemen fear some of his followers will cling to power.

At the capital's airport, dozens of members of Yemen's airforce held a sit-in on the runway to demand the resignation of their commander, Saleh's half-brother, accusing him of corruption.

Air traffic was halted, and riot police with water cannon surrounded the protesters, witnesses said.

Reports from a pro-revolution website run by Saleh's arch-enemy, General Ali Mohsen, said about 600 members of the airforce were participating in the sit-in.

A number of military units have expressed support for the anti-Saleh demonstrators, most notably those under the general.

Opposition groups not involved in the power transition deal brought thousands of their supporters to Sanaa's streets and questioned parliament's authority to approve the immunity law.

"We will continue protesting until all of the revolution's goals are achieved," said Mani al-Matari, a leader of a committee set up by youths who led the protests against Saleh.

"The parliament has no legitimacy and (instead) we are holding on to international law."

The immunity law, passed on Saturday by a parliamentary majority, does not give full protection to Saleh's aides, leaving them vulnerable to prosecution for crimes considered "terrorist acts."

The law does, however, give them immunity for "politically motivated" crimes committed while carrying out official duties.

AL QAEDA

A United Nations envoy welcomed the amendment to the law limiting the immunity of Saleh's aides on Saturday, but said it was too broad by offering an amnesty for some crimes against humanity. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay also said it may violate international law.

Human rights groups said it may let those guilty of killing get off free.

Protesters were also angered by remarks on Friday by a Middle East diplomat involved in discussions on Saleh's fate, who said Saleh planned to visit the United States for medical treatment but would not leave Yemen permanently.

Neighboring top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and the United States had backed Saleh for much of his rule, but endorsed the transition deal, fearing that continued unrest would be exploited by al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing, seen by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch.

Violence in Yemen's south between the military and al Qaeda has increased in recent months, prompting Saleh's opponents to accuse him of ceding territory to Islamists to bolster his assertion that only he can prevent al Qaeda from growing.

On Sunday, four militants, including a local al Qaeda leader, and one soldier were killed in fighting in the town of Radda, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Sanaa, a tribal official said. Radda was taken over by an al Qaeda-linked group a week ago.

The clashes took place after talks between tribal leaders and militants broke down over the Islamists' demands that 16 al Qaeda militants be freed and Islamic law be enforced in the town.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Nour Merza; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/wl_nm/us_yemen

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New year, new investment: CIC makes a head start | Global Investing

China?s sovereign wealth fund?s move last week to invest in London water supplier Thames Water puts focus on potential overseas investment in the year of Dragon from China?s central bank PBOC, which plans to create a $300 billion vehicle to invest in Europe and the United States.

After Reuters reported on the plan in December, the PBOC and State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which manages reserves, have been mum. A tiny?drop in the country?s reserves, still standing at $3.18 trillion, brings only a small comfort to the world?s largest reserve holder as it struggles with low returns on its sovereign debt portfolios in U.S. Treasuries?(earning almost nothing) and euro zone sovereign debt (under growing risk of further ratings downgrades).

China, which regularly intervenes in the FX market to keep a lid on the yuan exchange rate to keep its exports competitive, is suffering??negative carry? ? the difference between the cost of intervention and its overseas investment.

This is how the negative carry arises: The People?s Bank of China buys U.S. dollars in the FX market. When it intervenes, it pumps yuan into the domestic banking system. This extra liquidity, if left, can cause inflation. The PBOC therefore needs to mop this up by issuing ?sterilisation bonds?.

The sterilisation is not cheap.?As ?foreign reserves keep accumulating, the PBC has to issue more debt for sterilisation purposes, which may drive up the interest rates on the PBOC bills.

So far, Chenying Zhang of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that?the PBOC?s income from foreign reserves investment has exceeded its sterilization cost consistently from 2003 to 2010.

Zhang, in her paper, estimated the PBOC?s cost of sterilization and compared it with its income from the foreign reserves investment from the period 2003 to2010. She finds that?China?s FX reserves have to drop around 36% (or to put it in another way, the RMB has to appreciate by more than 50% against the US dollar) before it fails to cover the sterilization cost of the PBOC.

But the yield on U.S. and euro zone government bonds are falling further.?Given the yield on one-year U.S. Treasuries stands at a?paltry?0.1025 percent, the cost of carry right now could be as much as 200 basis points. The pressure to find higher-yielding assets must be great.

?If foreign interest rates keep dropping, China will suffer a more drastic decrease in its income from foreign reserves, especially if its investment is of a shorter term than that was estimated,? Zhang writes.

Also worth remembering is the point that Beijing?is using this implicit tournament between the CIC and State Administration of Foreign Exchange as a carrot and stick mechanism with which to discipline sovereign wealth managers. So SAFE must be feeling peer pressure from CIC which seems to have made a head start in 2012.

Source: http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting/2012/01/23/new-year-new-investment-cic-makes-a-head-start/

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2 Live Crew, 90s Rap Group, To Reunite

PARK CITY, Utah ? The rap group that created controversy in the early 1990s with songs like "Me So Horny" is reuniting and hitting the road.

Luther Campbell said Saturday that 2 Live Crew is back together and will tour this summer.

The rapper and producer made the announcement at the Sundance Film Festival, where he is promoting his appearance in the short film "The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke."

The 51-year-old entertainer describes the offbeat film as "an art piece" that he did to help young filmmakers who were inspired by his hip-hop work. But his mind was on getting back with the old crew.

"I just can't wait to just start practicing," he said. "That's going to be a blast."

So will they be "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" (the title of the group's 1989 album that a judge deemed obscene, a ruling later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals)?

Not really, Campbell said.

"We're going to perform the songs and everybody's going to be excited," he said. "Some of the older people of our generation will be able to tell their kids, `You're staying home tonight, we're going to see 2 Live Crew and shake our booty!'"

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: . www.twitter.com/APSandy

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org/festival/

Listen to 2 Live Crew's "Me So Horny" if you dare: "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/22/2-live-crew-90s-rap-group_n_1222071.html

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Video: Democrats looking forward to general election debates

Cruise ship captain: I was told to perform fatal maneuver

The operators of the Costa Concordia faced questions over their share of the blame for the shipwreck, as divers recovered another body from the stricken liner Sunday, bringing the known death toll to 13.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46087799#46087799

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