Attitudes differ between women working inside and outside the home, writes Carl O'Brien.
A majority of women feel those working outside the home have a higher standing in society than homemakers, according to the findings of an Irish Times/Behaviour & Attitudes social poll on women today.
A total of 49 per cent of women agree that women in paid employment have a higher standing in society. More women also agree that those working in paid employment have higher self-esteem (50 per cent) than homemakers.
However, further analysis of the figures show that women's attitudes across a number of areas can vary depending on whether women themselves are in paid employment or homemakers.
For example, 55 per cent of working women agree that women in paid employment have higher self-esteem. This figure falls to 40 per cent when homemakers answered the question.
Another area which attracted differences of opinion between home-makers and those in paid employment is the issue of raising children.
Just over half of women (53 per cent) overall believe children fare better if they are brought up by a mother who is a full-time homemaker. A further 30 per cent believe it does not make any difference. Only a small minority (7 per cent) believe their children fare better when their mother works outside the home.
However, there are significant differences of opinion on this issue among home-makers and those in paid employment.
For example, 71 per cent of homemakers believe children fare better when raised by a stay-at-home mother. This drops to 41 per cent among women in full-time employment.
There was less division between women working outside the home and homemakers on the issue of who has the better quality of life.
A total of 43 per cent of women overall feel women working outside the home have a better quality of life. There was little discrepancy in answers given by working women and homemakers on this issue.
When women were asked to rank 19 issues in terms of importance, the majority put financial independence at the top of the list (65 per cent said it was very important).
This is followed by personal care, such as skin or hair (57 per cent) and female friends (54 per cent).
The least important item is politics with just 9 per cent of women ranking it as very important.
The numbers who rank politics as very important fall to their smallest among younger women (2 per cent among 18-24 year olds) and rise to their highest among older women (18 per cent).
Feminism, too, ranks towards the bottom with 19 per cent ranking it as very important. Younger women were just as likely to have the same opinion on the issue as middle-aged women.
Equality of the sexes, however, rank much higher with 44 per cent deeming it as very important. These rates are highest among young women (57 per cent of 18-34-year-olds) but fall to their lowest among older women (22 per cent among over 65s).
In the area of disposable income, sharp differences are visible between younger and older women.
Overall, the average monthly personal disposable income available to Irish women on average is reported to be just over €60 a week.
Younger women tend to spend the most on themselves, while the cost of rent, mortgage, family expenses place additional financial burdens on those aged 35 years and older.
Overall, a majority of women (57 per cent) say they find it easy or fairly easy to make ends meet. However, a significant proportion (18 per cent) say they cope with either some difficulty or great difficulty.
However, those most likely to experience financial difficulties are younger women, despite having the most personal disposable income.
Of further concern is that young women are most likely not to have a pension. While less than half of women have a pension (49 per cent), this falls to 27 per cent among 18-34 year olds.
The opinion poll figures also show that most women are choosing to work in paid employment, regardless of their social standing.
Just over half of all women say they are working in paid employment by choice (53 per cent), while a large proportion say they are working by necessity (42 per cent).
Surprisingly, there is no major difference between the better-off and the less well-off on this issue. For instance, among the better-off ABC1 category 55 per cent say they work by choice. This falls slightly to 51 per cent among the less well-off C2DE category.
A total of 35 per cent of women are full-time homemakers. Most of them are older women (66 per cent are over 65 years), while this falls dramatically among younger women (15 per cent among 18-34 year olds are homemakers).
In the area of household chores, it appears men are not providing as much help as they could. Just 33 per cent of women say their husband or partner very regularly shares domestic chores such as cooking or cleaning in the home.
Younger women are more likely to say their husband or partner participates in domestic chores. For example, 37 per cent of 18-34 year olds say their husband or partner takes part in such chores compared to 30 per cent of 45-64 year olds.
When women are asked to list the one individual who they consider to be the best role model for women in Ireland today, President Mary McAleese is cited by 29 per cent of women. Those most likely to mention her are older women (37 per cent of over-65s cited her name), while younger women (18 per cent) are less likely to mention her.