Most Women Enjoy Their Job, Book Says

Every so often, Gloria Mullins thinks about quitting her job so she could spend more time at home with her three kids. But the thought passes as quickly as it comes.

Financially, such a move would be tough; the family would have to sell their home and find a smaller house, she says. With three boys, ages 1, 7 and 8, that’s not an appealing choice. While recovering from a recent gallbladder operation, she discovered staying home wasn’t as blissful as she imagined.

“It was so depressing,” says Mullins, 40. “I don’t know if it was because I was sick, but I didn’t like being at home. I felt edgy and lonely. I wanted to get out - I wanted to go back to work.” The bottom line is that Mullins enjoys her job as a data base administrator for the Dallas Independent School District. “I feel better at work. I feel better about myself.”

Mullins’ feelings reflect those of today’s working women, according to the authors of a book that examines the mental and physical well-being of two-income families.

Most working women enjoy their jobs, and their families are better off because they work, according to “She Works/He Works: How Two-income Families are Happier, Healthier and Better-Off” (Harper SanFrancisco, $24).

The book is based on results of a $1 million, four-year study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health conducted by the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. Rosalind C. Barnett, a psychotherapist and scholar-in-residence at Radcliffe College, headed the effort and has written more than 20 scholarly papers on the data. She teamed with Caryl Rivers, a writer and journalism faculty member at Boston University, to produce the book for the mass market.

Researchers interviewed 600 Boston-area middle class working couples three times during the study period to conclude that two-income families are generally happier and healthier than families in which only the dad works.

Despite the findings, working isn’t always best for everyone, others say.

“From our observations and research, we’ve found there is no one right answer,” says Robin Hardman, a spokeswoman for the Families and Work Institute, a New York nonprofit agency that studies work and family issues. “Working is good for many people, but for others it’s very stressful.

“The nature of the job, the kind of relationship the employee has with his or her supervisor and the work environment are the biggest predictors of how someone is going to be stressed out working.”

Furthermore, stress experienced at work is going to rub off on the children, Hardman says.

“Children of working parents are well-off if the parents have good jobs they enjoy. But if they have stressful jobs and are unhappy working, then the children won’t fare so well.”

The Barnett-Rivers study concludes that working is better for mothers.

“The research severely challenges what is commonly held to be true about two-earner couples,” Barnett says in an interview. “The media has painted a grim picture about working women - how miserable they are and how stressful their lives had become.

“None of this is based on actual evidence but rather on speculation and anecdotes,” she says. “As a result, many people were making major life decisions based on rumors.” In reality, two-income families aren’t plagued by financial worries the way single-income families are, the authors say. Usually, fathers don’t have to take second jobs, adding to their stress levels, to make ends meet.

Working women have higher self-esteem and are less prone to suffer depression than full-time homemakers. Repetitive tasks such as laundry and dishwashing are more stressful than auto assembly line work, plus they offer no paycheck as a reward, the research indicates.

Men and women are sharing household tasks in two-income families, and both partners are enjoying good, “quality” time with the kids, the authors say.

“This is not to say that families don’t face many problems; but on the whole, the news about the twocareer couple today is very good indeed,” the authors write.

The two teamed previously to write “Beyond Sugar and Spice: How Women Grow, Learn and Thrive” and “Lifeprints: New Patterns of Love and Work for Today’s Women.” They say if there’s one main message they hope the book conveys to working couples, it’s “get rid of the guilt.”

With more than 60 percent of today’s couples being dual earners, it’s time to face the fact that two-income families are the rule rather than the exception.