Gender & Work

Women now make up almost half of the U.S. labor force, up from 38% in 1970. The public approves of this trend, but the change has come with a cost for many women -- particularly working mothers of young children, who feel the tug of family responsibility much more acutely than do working fathers.

A new survey finds that in 43% of all couples it’s the woman who makes decisions in more areas than the man. By contrast, men make more of the decisions in only about a quarter of all couples.

There are 30.1 million Hispanic adults in the United States and 14.4 million of them--or 48%--are women, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

In the span of the past decade, full-time work outside the home has lost some of its appeal to mothers. This trend holds for both those who have such jobs and those who don't.

Overall, about a quarter of all adults in this country say they always feel rushed, while a majority of Americans sometimes feel rushed and about a quarter almost never feel rushed.