Vast majority of mothers want to be at home not work says new poll

 

More than two-thirds of mothers (69pc) with children under the age of 18 would prefer to stay at home with their children rather than go out to work if they could afford it, according to a new Amarach Research opinion poll commissioned by The Iona Institute.

In addition, 76pc of mothers said that women who work in the home are undervalued by society compared with women who work outside the home.

Over 70pc of mothers do not feel valued by society for their work as mothers.

The questions in the poll were identical to those used in a widely publicised survey commissioned by Sudocream in 2017, and the findings of this latest survey are extremely similar to the ones in that poll and other polls on the same issue.

Commenting on the survey on behalf of The Iona Institute, Professor Patricia Casey said: “The findings are extremely relevant to the upcoming referendum on carers. Currently, the Constitution acknowledges the importance of mothers, and it says they should not be forced out of the home by economic necessity. We see from this survey and others like it that the vast majority of mothers would prefer to stay at home with their children if they could afford it. This is exactly what the Constitution aims at, even if the State has failed to live up to the promise of the Constitution.”

She continued: “I have been a working mother for most of my adult life. This is what I wanted and Article 41.2 of the Constitution held me back in no way, shape or form. Children’s Minister, Roderic O’Gorman, says ‘a woman’s place is wherever she wants it to be’, and that is exactly correct. The trouble is that the policy of this and past Governments has made it almost impossible for most mothers to stay at home with their children if that is what they want.”

Professor Casey concluded: “If the Government was really on the side of mothers, it would make it easier for them to stay at home with their children if that is their wish, and it is the wish of the vast majority of them, as the Amarach poll tells us. But the Government seems to be on the side of the economy, not mothers. It wants to delete the one reference to mothers from the Constitution, the one reference to the home in the context of mothers, and the one reference to try and protect mothers from being forced out of the home. This is not right.”

The following were the findings of the Amarach survey:

If you had the option (and money was no issue) would you prefer to be a stay-at-home mother?

Yes: 69pc

No: 22pc

Don’t know: 10pc

Which does society value more: women who work inside the home or women who work outside the home?

Women who work in the home: 3pc

Women who work outside the home: 76pc

Both equally: 12pc

Don’t know: 9pc

Do you feel valued for the work you do as a mother by society?

Somewhat or very much so: 29pc

Not really or not at all: 71pc

Don’t know: 1pc

ENDS

The evidence mounts; there are REAL differences between the sexes

If there is no real basis for thinking there are natural differences between the sexes, then it should be the case that in more equal societies the apparent differences disappear. We should expect that men and women will come to do much the same kind of work, and develop the same kinds of traits. Actually, the opposite is the case. It is becoming more and more evident that differences between men and women become more obvious in more richer, more egalitarian societies.

A major study published by Science recently considered six fundamental traits: risk-taking, patience, altruism, trust and, positive and negative reciprocity (reward for kind actions and punishment for unkind actions). Surveying 80,000 men and women in 76 countries researchers found that high levels of economic and gender equality are associated with stronger gender differentiation.

Compared to men, women tend to be less risk-taking, less patient, more altruistic, more prosocial and less negatively reciprocal, and they trust more, the study found. These traits are more pronounced in developed countries. Contrary to what ‘gender-is-a-social-construct’ theorists say, differences among sexes increase as wealth increases. Wealth gives people more opportunity to follow their natural interests and desires. If differences among genders are stronger in richer societies, it can only mean that those differences are not socially constructed but, rather, socially constrained by lack of opportunity.

Another recent study looked at physical aggression and violence among adolescents. It discovered not only that males are twice as likely to engage in frequent fighting than females, which is quite predictable, but also that also that sex differences in violent behaviour decrease as societal gender inequality increase. This is to say that in more egalitarian societies there is more difference in the behaviour of men and women with regard to fighting.

We also find that countries with the highest percentage of female graduates in so-called STEM (science, technologies, engineering, mathematics) disciplines are also some of the less gender-equal. The explanation is quite simple: where there is less social security and equality, women choose professions that offer them more financial stability, while in more egalitarian places they pursue careers that fit better with their interests, as they are less conditioned by economic factors. Again, women will be more different from men, even in terms of areas of studies, when they are less restricted in their economic choices.

These findings go a very long way towards seeing ‘gender is a social construct’ to flight.