22. Mothers\' and fathers\' aspirations The New York Times combined survey data

Question

22. Mothers' and fathers' aspirations The New York Times combined survey data (economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/ 07/10/working-parents-wanting-fewer-hours/) with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (www.bls.gov/news release/archives/famee_04262013.htm) comparing how moth- ers and fathers would like to allocate their time compared with what they actually do. They asked a sample of parents with children 18 or under: "If money were no object, and you were free to do what- ever you wanted, would you stay at home, would you work full time, or would you work part time?" Percent of respondents to this question choosing each alternative are reported in the "Desire" columns of the table. Data in the "Actual" column are from the BLS. (Note: "Unemployed"unemployed and actively seeking work.) The table reports column percents (which may not add to 100% due to rounding). Fathers Mothers Desire Actual Desire Actual Work full-time Work part-time Stay @ home Unemployed 52 30 16 27 49 48 16 30 84 a) In which of the categories is the difference between fathers b) What proportion of mothers work full-time? What propor- c) What proportion of fathers stay at home? How does this and mothers greatest? tion would like to work full-time? compare with the proportion of mothers staying at home?

Explanation / Answer

a) The difference is greatest among fathers and mothers who actually work full time.

Difference = 84% - 48% = 36%

b) Proportion of mothers work full time = 0.48

Proportion that would like to work full time = 0.27

c) Proportion of fathers stay at home = 0.07

Proportion of mothers stay at home = 0.30

Hence, proportion of fathers who stay at home is significantly less as compared to proportion of mothers.

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