Attitudes toward Employment and Employment Status of Mothers in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Considerable research has focused on the relations between employment of mothers and structural-functional changes within the family system. In addition, researchers have focused on the motivations of mothers to work. (Damodaran, 1958; Lafollette, 1934; Ramdev, 1960; U. S. Department of Labor, 1946; U. S. Department of Labor, 1951; Zweig, 1952). In this connection the present research effort constitutes an attempt to shed light on the relation between the employment status of mothers and selected attitudinal variables. The data presented below were selected from a larger project designed to study role conflict of employed mothers in Hyderabad, India. In all, 40 pairs of sisters (one employed as a teacher and the other performing exclusively the role of wife-mother) matched on the following variables were investigated: (1) age (difference did not exceed 5 years); (2) residence (all lived in Hyderabad); and (3) structurally intact family. Specific attitudes examined were (1) satisfaction with husband's level of income, (2) desire for material comfort, (3) educational aspirations for children, (4) desire for social contact, and (5) image of the working mother as perceived by the mother. A basic assumption of this report is that attitudes conducive to outside employment exist prior to seeking employment and are not consequences of employment.