Questionnaire and National Toplines.
This study was conducted by Chilton Research Services, who randomly called 804 adults between November 17-23, 1997.
Gender Roles
69 percent of
men said there has been a great deal or quite a lot of change between men
and women in their roles in families, the workplace, and society.
70 percent of
women said there has been a great deal or quite a lot of change between
men and women in their roles in families, the workplace, and society.
26 percent of
men and women agreed that there has been only some change.
Gender Relations
37 percent of
men and 36 percent of women said relationships between men and women have
become worse due to the changes.
35 percent of
men and 26 percent of women said there are no differences while 27 percent
of men and 34 percent believe relationships have improved.
Personally, 56
percent of men and 50 percent of women said the changes in relationships
have made no difference while 27 percent of men and 33 percent of women
said their lives have been improved. But 15 percent of women and
16 percent of men said relationships have been made worse by the changes.
Changes in raising children
80 percent of
men and women agreed that these changes among men and women have made it
harder to raise children.
14 percent of
women and 12 percent of men said the changes have made child-raising easier.
Changes in marriage
72 percent of
women and 70 percent of men said the changes have made it harder for marriages
to be successful.
15 percent of
women and 12 percent of men said marriages are now easier to be successful
due the changes.
At the same time,
11 percent of women and 13 percent of men said there has no difference.
Leading satisfying lives
50 percent of
women and 44 percent of men said the changes have made it harder for women
to lead satisfying lives while 34 percent of women and 42 percent of men
said it is now easier for women to lead satisfying lives.
53 percent of
men and 44 percent of women said the changes have made it harder for men
to lead satisfying lives while 22 percent of men and 30 percent of women
said it is now easier for men to lead satisfying lives.
Respect for full-time mothers and working mothers
Men (47 percent)
and women (51 percent) said they have more respect for mothers who stay
at home with their elementary school-aged children.
26 percent of
women and 23 percent men said they have more respect for those mothers
who work full-time.
17 percent of
women and 24 percent of men said they have equal respect for stay-at-home
mothers and full-time working mothers.
Men (42 percent)
and women (46 percent) said they had more respect for mothers who stay
at home with their high school-aged children than full-time working mothers.
33 percent of
men and 27 percent of women said they had more respect for the mothers
who worked full-time while 17 percent of men and women said they equally
respect both types of mothers.
Respect towards mothers
56 percent of
stay-at-home mothers with children under age six said they feel they receive
the same respect as working mothers with children under age six and 26
percent of the women said they feel they receive more respect.
71 percent of
working mothers with children under age six said they feel they receive
the same respect as stay-at-home mothers with children under age six and
21 percent of the women said they feel they receive more respect.
Having it all
49 percent of
women and 40 percent of men strongly agreed there is too much pressure
to have it all-- marriage, family, a successful career. 22 percent
of men and women somewhat agreed to the statement. 22 percent of
men and 16 percent of women strongly disagreed with the statement.
Differences among the sexes
55 percent of
women and 44 percent of men said differences among the sexes are caused
by how children are raised while 43 percent of men and 31 percent of women
said the changes are caused by biology.
11 percent of
men and 12 percent women said child-raising and biology equally cause the
differences between the sexes.
View on the role of women
69 percent of
men and 68 percent of women strongly and somewhat agreed with the statement
"...it would be better if mothers could stay home and just take care of
the home and children."
17 percent of
men and 15 percent of women somewhat disagreed with the statement while
12 percent of men and 16 percent of women strongly disagreed with the statement.
Back to the Public Opinion Polls
Book Reviews * Legislation * Library * Media * Statistics