Women would prefer working outside the home at the highest rate in over three decades, but men are still more likely to want outside jobs than to be homemakers, according to poll results from Gallup.
A record-high 66% of U.S. adults would prefer to work, with 56% of women and 75% of men prefer jobs to homemaking.
“The most notable demographic difference on this question continues to be between men and women,” Gallup stated. Men’s preference for working outside of the home has varied by 10 percentage points since 1992 (68% to 78%), while women’s views have shown slightly more variation, shifting between 42% and the current 56% high.
Among women, those views vary depending on their status as parents and employees as well as education level. The same is not true of men, who, regardless of their demographics, broadly prefer to work outside the home, Gallup says.
By 50% to 34%, mothers of children under 18 years of age are less likely to want to work outside the home than those with no children under 18. Many of these women are currently fulfilling this role in their households, which may account for their preferences. Women who have graduated from college and those who are currently employed are much more likely to prefer to work at a job outside the home.
“While women made up 47% of the workforce in 2018, and cultural advances over the past 50 years have led to a change in social norms, women remain far less likely than men to say they would prefer to work,” Gallup said. “In particular, mothers of children under age 18 are more likely than those without younger children to prefer to stay home.”
