Women, Work and Motherhood
Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comment this week about Ann Romney’s lack of work experience has put the “mommy wars” back in the news. Here is a summary of surveys in recent years that explore public attitudes about issues related to women, work and motherhood.
The Demographics of the Jobs Recovery
Hispanics and Asians are gaining jobs at a faster rate in the economic recovery than are blacks and whites, and immigrants are outpacing the native born. The disparities reflect the rapidly changing demographics of the U.S. workforce.
Labor Force Growth Slows, Hispanic Share Grows
Hispanics will account for three-quarters of the growth in the nation’s labor force from 2010 to 2020, according to new projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Young, Underemployed and Optimistic
A plurality of the American public believes that young adults are having the toughest time of any age group in today’s economy — and a lopsided majority says it’s more difficult for today’s young adults than it was for their parents’ generation to pay for college, find a job, buy a home or save for the future. But long-term economic optimism among young adults remains unscarred.
Hispanics Say They Have the Worst of a Bad Economy
A majority of Latinos (54%) believe that the economic downturn that began in 2007 has been harder on them than on any other ethnic group in America.
Adding Context to the Census Bureau’s Report on the Rise in Poverty Rate
Recent Pew Research Center reports provide extra context for Tuesday’s announcement by the Census Bureau the nation’s poverty rate grew to 15.1% in 2010.
Jobs vs. Deficit — Where the Public Stands
When President Obama goes before a joint session of Congress on Thursday to lay out a plan for spurring jobs creation, one of the political and policy dynamics at work will be the tension that animated the debate in Washington all this year: the push to reduce federal spending and the government’s deficit competing against whether some kind of stimulus is needed to deal with a faltering recovery and the stubbornly-high unemployment rate.
Most Plan to Watch Obama Jobs Speech
Nearly six-in-ten Americans (58%) say they plan to watch President Obama’s speech Thursday night to a joint session of Congress about his plans to spur job growth and help the struggling national economy.
In Two Years of Economic Recovery, Women Lost Jobs, Men Found Them
During the sluggish two-year recovery from the Great Recession, men have gained 768,000 jobs while women have lost 218,000 jobs. This new gender gap in employment trends represents a sharp turnabout from the recession itself, when men lost more than twice as many jobs as women. The current recovery is the first since 1970 in which women have lost jobs while men have gained them.
Is College Worth It?
College costs are rising, student debt is mounting, and the public is skeptical about the value of a college degree, according to two new Pew Research Center surveys. Meantime, only 19% of college presidents say the U.S. system is the best in the world. But more than eight-in-ten college graduates say college was a good investment for them personally.
