WHITE PAPER WHITE PAPER 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 $1.00 2008 1960 2008 1960 0 5 10 15 20 $25 HOW MUCH THEY MADE FOR EVERY DOLLAR MEN MADE HOW MUCH THEY MADE (IN THOUSANDS)* $20,867 60.7¢ 77.1¢ HOW MANY WENT ON TO COLLEGE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL 0 20 40 60 80 100% 2006 1960 37.9% 66.1% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 2008 1970 21.4 2006 25.0 WHEN THEY WED WHEN THEY STARTED HAVING KIDS 1960 Years old Years old 20.3 25.9 ($8,023 in 2008 dollars) $1,261 HOW MANY WORKED 2008 1960 0 20 40 60 80 100% 37.0% 59.5% WOMEN THEN AND NOW Still targeting ‘Supermom’? For younger generations of mothers, having it all doesn’t mean doing it all By MARISSA MILEY and ANN MACK [email protected], [email protected]THE NEW FEMALE CONSUMER: THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM *Median for all women, not just those in the labor force. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics SPONSORED BY
A great white paper that describes how women work, play, shop and buy today.
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1. WHITE PAPER SPONSORED BY THE NEW FEMALE CONSUMER: WOMEN THEN
AND NOW WHEN THEY WED WHEN THEY STARTED HAVING KIDS THE RISE 30 30
Years old Years old 25.9 25.0 25 25 21.4 20.3 20 20 15 15 OF THE 10
10 5 5 0 0 1960 2008 1970 2006 REAL HOW MANY WENT ON TO COLLEGE HOW
MANY WORKED AFTER HIGH SCHOOL 100% 100% 80 80 66.1% 59.5% 60 60
37.9% 40 40 37.0% 20 20 MOM 0 0 1960 2006 1960 2008 HOW MUCH THEY
MADE HOW MUCH THEY MADE FOR EVERY (IN THOUSANDS)* DOLLAR MEN MADE
$25 $1.00 20 0.80 77.1 $20,867 60.7 15 0.60 Still targeting
Supermom? For 10 $1,261 0.40 younger generations of mothers,
($8,023 in 2008 dollars) 0.20 having it all doesnt mean doing it
all 5 By MARISSA MILEY and ANN MACK 0 0.00 [email protected],
[email protected] 1960 2008 1960 2008 *Median for all women, not
just those in the labor force. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau,
National Center for Health Statistics, National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
2. WHITE PAPER 2 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT This Advertising Age and JWT white paper explores what
multiple generations of ABSTRACT 2 American women want when it
comes to family, work and life in the 21st centu- ry, decades after
the womens liberation movement. It focuses in depth on INTRODUCTION
2 Generation X (ages 30 to 44) and millennial (ages 18 to 29)
mothers and how they differ from their older counterparts. It also
examines how marketers can and THE REAL WOMAN 4 should improve
communications that target this demographic. This paper is based on
a quantitative study of 870 men and women 18 and older conducted
July 7-14, THE REAL MOM 6 2009, using SONAR, JWTs proprietary
online research tool. (All data have been weighted to 2007 census
estimates across gender, age and household income.) It is THE NEW
PRAGMATISM 12 also the cumulative work of interviews with more than
a dozen marketers and experts, as well as qualitative research
conducted with women around the country WHAT REAL MOMS WANT 14 via
the video-based community ExpoTV. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS 14 FAMILY
COMES FIRST 15 PERMISSION TO BE IMPERFECT MORE THAN JUST A MOM 16
17 INTRODUCTION In 1968, Philip Morris introduced a new product
line to the market: Virginia Slims, HOW REAL MOMS SHOP 18 the
slender cigarette for women only. To promote the line, Philip
Morris built on the energy of second-wave feminism and cleverly
co-opted much of the move- WHAT GETS REAL MOMS ATTENTION 20 ments
language. The result: Youve come a long way, baby, a powerful and
long- lasting advertising campaign that juxtaposed photographic
images of the inhibited, APPENDIX 23 unhappy women of yesteryear
with the liberated, empowered women of the day. More than 40 years
later, American women have come an even longer way. They are highly
educated in greater numbers than ever before; they are working
profes- sionals climbing the ranks; they are the privileged product
of generations of women MEET A MOM who have fought for equality in
and outside the home. Yet as much as they have ANGELA 13 changed,
in many ways they are the same. Todays woman is still the
designated JANE 14 HEATHER 15 chief operating officer of the home.
As this Advertising Age and JWT white paper will explore in depth,
women with children still handle the bulk of the household and
child-care responsibilities, the so-called second shiftwhether they
are working full time, staying at home or something in between.
Even younger women consider marriage and parenthood more important
than men their age. Date published: The fact is, no matter how
progressive they are, women are up against some- Nov. 16, 2009
thing that just wont budge: biology. Motherhood will always
distinguish most women from men and put them at the center of home
and family life. While thats not necessarily a bad thing, many
mothers, especially working mothers, are time- crunched and
stressed, putting in long hours at work and at home. Much can be
said about the need for corporate changea move away from the
traditional 9-to-5 and toward flex time and telecommuting, an
embrace of family leave for mothers and fathersbut that is not the
business of this paper, which MORE ON ADAGE.COM focuses on how
marketers can change their strategies to more effectively commu-
nicate with these women. The New Female Consumer: This paper is
based on a quantitative study of 870 men and women conducted in The
Rise of the Real Mom is one in a series of white papers July 2009
using SONAR, JWTs proprietary online research tool. (All data have
published by Advertising Age. been weighted to 2007 census
estimates across gender, age and household income.) To see other Ad
Age white It is also based on interviews with more than a dozen
marketers and experts about papers and obtain additional the studys
results, as well as qualitative research conducted with women
around copies of this white paper, go the country via the
video-based community ExpoTV. It explores what women want to
AdAge.com/whitepapers when it comes to family, work and life in the
21st centurydecades after the
3. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 3 womens liberation
movement. And it focuses in depth on Generation X and millennial
mothers and how they differ from their older counterparts. CHARTS
Increasingly, Gen Xers (ages 30 to 44) and millennials (ages 18 to
29) are not beholden to perfection. Having seen their predecessors
exhaust CHART 1: IMPORTANCE OF CAREER 4 themselves trying to
achieve an elusive idealthe corner office, 2.5 well- groomed
children at home and Julia Childs command of the kitchen CHART 2:
PRIORITIES FOR these younger mothers realize that having it all
does not require doing WOMEN BY AGE 5 it all. CHART 3: PRIORITIES
FOR While a decade ago mothers aspired to be Supermom, todays moth-
MEN BY AGE 5 ers aim to be pragmatic, efficient and rooted in
reality. They want to be real moms. (That lowercase is intentional;
these women dont need fancy CHART 4: MILLENNIAL PRIORITIES 6
titles.) Perhaps more importantly, they want to be real women, with
inter- ests that include and extend beyond their roles as
caretakers, providers CHART 5: HOUSEHOLD AND CHILD-CARE
RESPONSIBILITIES 7 and nurturers. In this way, real moms look to
subvert the so-called mommy trap, CHART 6: HOUSEHOLD where a mother
has to choose whether to forfeit a career to care for the
RESPONSIBILITIES 8 kids or plow ahead at work and hand over the
stroller reins to the nanny. Real moms understand that tradeoffs
are implicit in motherhood; they CHART 7: CHILD-CARE just dont see
things as black and white. RESPONSIBILITIES 9 Real moms still have
unmet needsas women and mothers. Boston CHART 8: STRESS LEVELS 10
Consulting Group estimates that women control $4.3 trillion of the
$5.9 trillion in U.S. consumer spending, or 73% of household
spending. To CHART 9: PURCHASING INFLUENCES 16 reach this
demographic, marketers need not just to communicate that the goods
and services they offer are practical and convenient; they also
need CHART 10: CLOTHING PURCHASES 17 to make real moms feel
confident and in charge. Marketers should CHART 11: AUTO PURCHASES
18 empower these female consumers to delegate to others (spouses,
children, brands) so they can have more time to be who they want to
beat home, CHART 12: TRAVEL PURCHASES 19 at work and on their own.
And marketers have to use new ways to reach a population that
rarely has time to sit down to read or watch or enjoy CHART 13:
ENTERTAINMENT something without simultaneously doing something
else. PURCHASES 23 CHART 14: PERSONAL-CARE PURCHASES 23 CHART 15:
APPLIANCE PURCHASES 24 CHART 16: HOME-FURNISHING PURCHASES 25 CHART
17: FOOD/BEVERAGE Real moms look to subvert the PURCHASES 26
so-called mommy trap, where a CHART 18: ELECTRONICS PURCHASES 26
mother has to choose whether to CHART 19: TECHNOLOGY PURCHASES 27
forfeit a career to care for the kids or plow ahead at work and
hand over the stroller reins to the nanny.
4. WHITE PAPER 4 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM THE REAL WOMAN CHART
1: IMPORTANCE OF CAREER How men and women responded to questions
about work The American woman has come a long way since the 1960s,
when second-wave feminists began charting new territory. MEN
(N=452) WOMEN (N=418) She is no longer defined solely by her
husband (as Mrs. Please tell us how important each of the following
is to you right now, John Doe) or her domestic role (housewife).
Schools and at this point in your life. companies alike have opened
their doors to her. She works, she parents, she leads, she chooses.
57 Back in 1982, Rena Bartos, then senior VP at J. Walter Having a
career is Thompson, captured this woman, albeit in a nascent stage,
very important 36 in her book The Moving Target. She called the
American womans metamorphosis a quiet revolution 0% 20 40 60 80
that was bound to have lasting implications for career, family,
society and more. Women have moved from MEN (N=277) WOMEN (N=228)
defining themselves in terms of derived status, Ms. How much do you
agree or disagree (among those who are employed)? Bartos said in
her book. They are moving towards want- ing a sense of personal
identity beyond those private domestic roles. I consider what I do
for 63 Certainly since 1982 women have ventured beyond a living a
career 48 their domestic roles. They have made enormous strides
when it comes to attaining high levels of education. While the same
can be said of men, the positive trajectory for women has been much
more pronounced. According to I work for my own personal 56 the
most recent Condition of Education report pub- and professional
fulllment 50 lished by the National Center for Education
Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, women earned
a majority of higher-education degrees in the 2006-2007 academic
year: 62.2% of associate degrees, 57.4% of bach- My work is very
linked to 51 elors degrees, 60.6% of masters degrees and 50.1% of
my sense of who I am 47 doctoral degrees. They are thriving in
professional pro- grams, such as medicine and law, that
historically were 0% 20 40 60 80 dominated by men. Women are also
entering the work force in higher numbers than ever before, and
with higher education lev- els, they are commanding higher
salaries. In 2008, women and girls 16 and older accounted for 46.7%
of the U.S. labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, and both parents were employed in 62% of the 24.6
million families made up of a married couple Between 1990 and 2006,
with children under 18. The increase in women in the labor force
has been magnified during the recession, when womens median income
the unemployment rate has been higher for men than for grew 32.9%
to $20,014, women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Between 1990 and 2006, womens median income grew while mens grew
only 32.9% to $20,014, while mens grew only 6.3% to 6.3% to
$32,265. $32,265, according to census data from Catalyst, a non-
profit organization committed to expanding business opportunities
for women. Yet another sign of womens achievement: The num- ber of
working women who regard what they do for a liv- ing as a career
(rather than just a job) has grown con- siderably in the past 30
years. In 1971, 29% of working women considered what they did a
career, while 71% said Source: Advertising Age and JWT survey
5. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 5 what they did was
just a job, according to a Yankelovich CHART 2: PRIORITIES FOR
WOMEN BY AGE Monitor analysis referenced in Ms.Bartos book. By 1980
Percentage who said each of the following is very important at the
numbers had changed: 39% of women considered this point in their
lives what they did a career; 61% said what they did was just a
job. The survey conducted for this paper found that now CAREER
EDUCATION PARENTHOOD MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIPS 48% of women consider
what they do a career, while 70% 65 63 43% said its just a job. But
in the wake of all this social progress, there are 64 60 many signs
that point to stagnancy in the movement 54 60 59 toward gender
equality. Just consider the numbers of 54 female U.S. senators (17
of 100), House members (76 of 50 435) and state governors (6 of
50). Or the 3% of Fortune 48 500 CEOs this year who are women and
the 15.7% of 41 40 Fortune 500 corporate-officer positions held by
women in 34 2008, when women held 50.8% of management, profes-
sional and related occupations, according to Bureau of 30 Labor
Statistics data reported by Catalyst. Our survey found that women
today are more career- 22 18 20 oriented than they were decades
ago, but they are still less likely than men to prioritize having a
career, and 10 16 working women are less likely than men to
consider 10 what they do a career (see chart 1, page 4). Working
women are also less likely to work for personal and pro- 5 0
fessional fulfillment. (The one exception: Women 30 to Women 18-29
Women 30-44 Women 45-59 Women 60+ 44 said work is very linked to
who they are. That may be (N=74) (N=112) (N=166) (N=66) because
women in that age group who are working are in the heart of their
career development or have risen to middle-management positions or
higher.) While women, especially younger women, are opti- CHART 3:
PRIORITIES FOR MEN BY AGE mistic overall about professional
opportunities, on bal- Percentage who said each of the following is
very important at ance they are pessimistic about equal pay.
Rightfully so: this point in their lives While women are working
more, there is still enormous CAREER EDUCATION PARENTHOOD
MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIPS pay inequality. In 2008, women and girls 15
and older who worked full time, year-round received 77.1% of the
70% median annual earnings their male counterparts did, 61 60
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (In 1960, the per- 60 59
centage was 60.7%.) 53 55 One year out of college, women who work
full time 50 already earn only 80% as much as their male peers
earn, 50 45 according to a 2007 report published by the AAUW (for-
44 42 merly the American Association of University Women), 40 a
nonprofit organization that promotes education and equity for women
and girls. Whats more, 10 years out of 28 30 31 college, that
earnings ratio drops to 69%. Therefore its no surprise that women
still feel there are barriers to 24 overcome. 20 Why do these stark
inequities persist in 2009? Perhaps 14 men hold more executive
positions than women, or they 13 work longer hours, or they simply
have pursued more 10 11 demandingand therefore lucrativecareers.
Maybe women opt out of the work force or choose fields that dont 0
pay as well. But according to the AAUW study, the pay Men 18-29 Men
30-44 Men 45-59 Men 60+ (continued on page 6) (N=66) (N=93) (N=178)
(N=115) Source: Advertising Age and JWT survey
6. WHITE PAPER 6 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM ratio does not reach
100% even when accounting for dif- CHART 4: MILLENNIAL PRIORITIES
ferences in working hours, occupation, parenthood and Percentage
who said each of the following is very important at other factors.
There is still discrimination. Maybe its not this point in their
lives overt, but its there. MEN 18-29 (N=66) WOMEN 18-29 (N=74)
Some may theorize that this discrimination is deeply rooted;
responsibilities on the home front continue to hold Having nancial
90 women back from taking advantage of professional oppor-
independence 94 tunities and fully devoting themselves to their
careers. Taking care of 89 Women do not have the same career
trajectory as men do, myself (me time) 90 either because they opt
out, prioritize family over work or take time off to have children,
which can handicap them in 91 the long run. Having a career 86 We
found that women 30 and older, even those in the work force, tend
to value marriage and parenthood over Feeling attractive to 80
career and education (see chart 2, page 5). Even millennial the
opposite sex 85 womenwho consider career and education more impor-
tant at this point in their livesplace much more importance Being
married/in 61 a committed on being in a committed relationship,
owning a home and relationship 82 being a parent than men their age
(see chart 4). Only men 30 to 44 prioritize parenthood as much as
Expanding 80 women (see chart 3, page 5). While womens interest in
par- your education 82 enthood rises from the 18-to-29 age group to
the 30-to-44 age group and then declines slightly as they age
further, men 79 Seeing the world peak at 30 to 44 and dramatically
de-prioritize parenting as 80 they age.For men, its like, Ive done
my job, Ive gone to the 44 baseball games, Ive paid for your
college education; now Owning a home 76 youre on your own, said
Miriam Muly, founder of the 85% Niche, a consulting firm dedicated
to helping business- 43 Being a parent es grow market share among
women across ethnic, racial and 70 socioeconomic lines. [Women] are
nurturers; we are there. One-third of survey respondents said if a
parent needs to Owning your 44 stay at home with the children, it
should be the mother. And own business 30 while 55% said it should
be the parent who earns the lower 0% 20 40 60 80 100 salary, in
many cases that would still mean the mother. THE REAL MOM In this
paper, for lack of better descriptors and in a desire to For men,
its like, use familiar terms that connect with readers, we refer to
Ive done my job, mothers who earn wagesmore specifically, those who
work Ive gone to the full or part time, in or outside the home, on
a contract or free- baseball games, Ive lance basisas working
mothers and those who do not as paid for your stay-at-home mothers.
By using these terms we do not mean to imply that working mothers
do not spend significant college education; time at home or that
stay-at-home mothers do not work in now youre on your their roles.
These are merely functional labels by which we own. can identify,
group and better understand two different sets of MIRIAM MULY women
with children under 18. In todays fast-paced and always-connected
world, both sets of mothers parent and often run the household 24
hours a day. They are the emotional and operational cores of fami-
ly life. In the end, both working and stay-at-home moms Source:
Advertising Age and JWT survey
7. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 7 CHART 5: HOUSEHOLD
AND CHILD-CARE RESPONSIBILITIES Who is primarily responsible for
each task 100% STAY-AT-HOME MOMS Taking care of child(ren) when
sick ALL MOMS 90 Scheduling or handling doctor visits for
child(ren) Cooking Grocery Doing the laundry shopping 80 Doing the
dishes Dusting Cleaning the bathroom Planning 70 Making lunches for
child(ren) Mopping birthday the floor parties/ STAY-AT-HOME MOMS
(N=65) Mean Getting child(ren) ready for school other events
Vacuuming 60 for child(ren) Putting child(ren) to bed Paying bills/
50 Driving child(ren) to school Disciplining managing finances
Driving child(ren) Helping child(ren) to child(ren) 40 with
extracurricular activities homework Doing yard work other 30 than
mowing the lawn Taking out the garbage 20 10 Mowing the lawn
DADS/SOMEONE ELSE WORKING MOMS 0 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
WORKING MOMS (N=88) have the pedal to the metal all the time, said
Earl Wilcox, a birthday parties and other events for their
children, and han- qualitative researcher who focuses on
ethnographic work dling doctor appointments for their childrenmuch
more and founder of Plannerzone in Philadelphia. There are only so
than their male counterparts. (Interestingly, according to 24
hours, and both are more than overwhelmed with our survey, men with
spouses or partners who do not work responsibilities. are more apt
to share child-care responsibilities.) While working mothers are
less likely than stay-at-home mothers SO MUCH FOR MR. MOM to help
the kids get ready for school in the morning, the for- Despite the
perception that Mr. Mom is on the rise, our mer are more inclined
to help with homework, perhaps research shows that traditional
gender roles still exist among because they are more likely to have
children who are old married and cohabiting parents. Mothers in
those relation- enough to get ready on their own (see chart 7, page
9). ships assume the bulk of household and child-care responsi-
Figures from the American Time Use Survey, sponsored bilities
regardless of whether they work or not (see chart 5). by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics and conducted by the Mothers in our survey,
both working and stay-at-home, Census Bureau, reinforce many of our
findings.Among full- tend to do inside or wet jobs such as cleaning
the bath- time workers with children under 18, married mothers are
room and doing the laundry; fathers tend to do outside or more apt
than married fathers to spend timeand more of dry jobs such as
mowing the lawn and taking out the itdoing household chores and
caring for their children. garbage (see chart 6, page 8). The only
shared tasks: paying The survey, which was based on interviews with
about bills/managing finances and grocery shopping. This tradi-
17,000 Americans from 2003 to 2006, revealed that on aver- tional
breakdown of household chores exists for couples who age the
mothers spent almost one more hour a day doing cohabit and married
couples without children, too, although household chores than the
fathers (2.0 hours vs. 1.2 hours) the second shared task is
vacuuming; women tend to do the and almost a half-hour more caring
for their children (1.2 grocery shopping. hours vs. 0.8 hours). The
fathers, meanwhile, spent one addi- Both working and stay-at-home
mothers are responsible tional hour at work per day. (Its difficult
to determine for taking care of their children when theyre sick,
planning (continued on page 8) Source: Advertising Age and JWT
survey
8. WHITE PAPER 8 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM CHART 6: HOUSEHOLD
RESPONSIBILITIES Who is primarily responsible for each task 80%
DADS BOTH 70 Doing yard work other Taking out the garbage than
mowing the lawn Paying bills/managing finances DADS WHO ARE
MARRIED/COHABITING (N=106) 60 Mowing the lawn 50 Grocery shopping
Mean 40 Doing the dishes Vacuuming 30 Cleaning the bathroom Cooking
Doing the laundry 20 Mopping the floor Dusting 10 SOMEONE ELSE/NOT
APPLICABLE MOMS 0 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 MOMS WHO ARE
MARRIED/COHABITING (N=125) whether or not women would spend more
time at work if American Time Use Survey data from 2003 to 2004,
two they did not shoulder the bulk of the child-care and house-
University of Maryland sociologists found that single moth- hold
responsibilities.) ers with children under 13 put in 83% to 90% of
the child- rearing time their married counterparts did. We were
sur- DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS prised that these women managed to pull
it off so well, often Our findings are based on self-reported data,
so there could working long hours with little help, yet devoting up
to 90% be cases where survey participants over- or underestimated
of the time to their children that married women do, said their
involvement in certain activities. Additionally, while Sarah
Kendig, the principal researcher, just before the study our sample
size has been weighted to census data across age, was published in
December 2008. gender and household income, it has not been
weighted Demographic differences aside, there are clear universals:
across race, ethnicity or geography, and its focus skews With
longer to-do lists than ever before, many moms find toward those
who are married. (Two-thirds of family groups themselves
time-starved, stressed and unhappy. In some with children under 18
in 2007 were headed by married cou- ways, the second wave of
feminism has wrought not only ples, according to the Census
Bureau.) opportunities but also increased challenges, complexity
and If anything, however, our findings likely would be more unmet
expectations. pronounced for black, Hispanic or single moms. Ms.
Muly Martine Reardon, exec VP-marketing at Macys, said of of 85%
Niche said when it comes to household and child- the retailers 25-
to 49-year-old female target:Ten years ago care responsibilities,
women of colorespecially those new she was probably at home. Now
she is a working mom. Shes to the U.S. who come from cultures with
traditional gender juggling many, many balls. She may still be
home, but shes rolesplay a much more confined, traditional role.
working from home. As for single mothers, while they may receive
some sup- On balance, working and stay-at-home mothers reported
port, they still bear much of the burden when it comes to far more
stress than working fathers in our survey, and household and
child-care responsibilities. In analyzing the working moms reported
the highest levels of stress (see Source: Advertising Age and JWT
survey
9. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 9 CHART 7: CHILD-CARE
RESPONSIBILITIES Who is primarily responsible for each task 100%
STAY-AT-HOME MOMS ALL MOMS Taking care of child(ren) when sick 90
Scheduling or handling doctor visits for child(ren) 80 Planning
birthday parties/ Getting child(ren) other events for child(ren) 70
ready for school STAY-AT-HOME MOMS (N=65) Making lunches for
child(ren) Mean 60 Putting child(ren) to bed Helping child(ren)
Disciplining with homework 50 Driving child(ren) to school
child(ren) Driving 40 child(ren) to extracurricular 30 activities
20 10 DADS/SOMEONE ELSE WORKING MOMS 0 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
90 100 WORKING MOMS (N=88) chart 8, page 10). Working mothers
attribute roughly 49% dren and have them at a younger age than
non-Hispanic of their daily stress to their professional lives and
51% to Caucasian women, she said. That suggests that the stress
their personal lives, whereas working fathers attribute levels of
women of color are off the charts, Ms. Muly roughly 62% of their
daily stress to the former and 38% to said. She said not just home
life but work life may be more the latter. stressful for women of
color because were trying to The near-even split between work life
and personal life as break the glass ceiling in terms of implicit
and explicit sources of stress for working mothers indicates that
these behavior directed at women of color. women do not find much
reprieve at home. In fact, three- For single mothers, add financial
stress to the equation. quarters said they feel that they have to
sacrifice personal Half of single-mother households in 2007 had
incomes less time for a clean and organized home. than $25,000,
while only 8% were in the $75,000-plus Again, these figures are
likely to be even more pro- bracket, according to a report by
market-research company nounced among black, Hispanic and single
moms. Mintel. Just 4% of single-mom households earned Multitasking
for women of color is at a much higher level $100,000 or more in
2007 compared with a third of couples than the mainstream market,
Ms. Muly said, because with children. And according to data from
the Bureau of more women of color are working and [have] children
at Labor Statistics for September 2009, women with families home.
In her 2009 book, The 85% Niche: The Power of without a spouse
present are more than one and a half Women of All ColorsLatina,
Black and Asian, Ms. times as likely as married men to be
unemployed. Muly references census data to back her claim: Married
All this sacrifice and stress has taken a toll on todays
African-American mothers with children under age 18 have mothersand
on women in general. Economists from the higher rates of work-force
participation than other married Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania recent- mothers82% compared with 55% of white moms,
66% ly examined the happiness of American women and con- of Asian
moms and 62% of Hispanic moms. cluded that women are less happy
today than they were 35 Whats more, women of color tend to have
more chil- (continued on page 10) Source: Advertising Age and JWT
survey
10. WHITE PAPER 10 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM years ago, both
absolutely and relative to men. In the CHART 8: STRESS LEVELS 1970s
that gender gap was reversed; women typically Net percentage of
people who reported a high level of daily stress* reported higher
subjective well-being than men did. In their National Bureau of
Economic Research working Working dads with 1 kids under 18 (N=99)
paper, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness, pub- lished in
May 2009, economists Betsey Stevenson and Non-working moms with 14
Justin Wolfers posit that the womens movement may, iron- kids under
18 (N=66) ically, have brought about much of this unhappiness. The
Working moms with increased opportunity to succeed in many
dimensions may 17 kids under 18 (N=88) have led to an increased
likelihood of believing that ones life is not measuring up, Ms.
Stevenson and Mr. Wolfers said. Women with no kids -12 Or women may
simply find the complexity and increased (N=206) pressure in their
modern lives to have come at the cost of Women (N=418) -4
happiness. Responding to the Wharton economists findings, New Men
(N=452) -13 York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat said: Feminists
and traditionalists should be able to agree ... that the struc-
Total (N=870) -9 tures of American society dont make enough
allowances for the particular challenges of motherhood. We can
squabble -20 -15 -10 -5 0% 5 10 15 20 forever about the choices
that mothers ought to make, but *Calculated by subtracting the
percentage who reported stress levels of 1 to 3 from the percentage
who reported stress levels of 8 to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, where
1 means no stress at the difficult work-parenthood juggle is here
to stay. all and 10 means extremely high stress. Source:
Advertising Age and JWT survey 77 pr em iu m br 12 magazine b an ra
n d s + de 175 sp d ecial w i n te eb re s t si pub te lica s tio
ns Meredith brands provide women with information and inspiration
to create a rich and meaningful life by focusing on the core
passions of family, home and self. Online or o ine, we connect with
her across multiple m ing gram platformsdelivering quality, trusted
content whenever, d p ro wherever and however she wants it. Let
Meredith help d ban you engage 75 million women at every touch
point. b ro a + t ed ca n di sy Source: MRI Spring 2009 (including
Publishers estimate for SIPs)
11. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 11 Indeed, the juggle
has been around since women first started working outside the home.
Mr. Wilcox, the ethnogra- pher, said he believes that modern life
has enhanced peoples individual and collective opportunities. But,
he said, with those opportunities comes complexity. Because [a
mother] is at the center of the family, she per- Women love sonally
touches the added complexity of each member, Mr. opportunity. And
so you Wilcox said in an e-mail. Her life becomes even more com-
plicated by each family members opportunities/complexi- start to
expand yourself ty. And in a world of limited resources, he said,
compromis- into all the possibilities, es must be made for and
among the familyand those com- promises ultimately contribute to
mothers unhappiness. which is both wonderful Gina Garrubbo, exec VP
at BlogHer, the womens blog- and horrible. ging network, put that
concept in more accessible terms: Women love opportunity, she said
in a roundtable discus- sion we hosted at JWTs New York offices in
July. And so you start to expand yourself into all the
possibilities, which is both wonderful and horrible, because its
not clear-cut. There is no right or wrong choiceand yet every
choice has its opportunity cost. (continued on page 12) h judy e c
t wit conn ys to ite wa inn n at i ona lm edi ab ran ds
12. WHITE PAPER 12 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM THE NEW PRAGMATISM
Whats different today is that womenmillennials in par- Women
realize that ticularare becoming more accepting of those opportuni-
theres no such thing ty costs. With the publication of books such
as Good- as being good at Enough Mother, Even June Cleaver Would
Forget the everything, so Juice Box, The Mommy Myth and Perfect
Madness, the second half of this decade has brought a backlash
theyre going to against the mythical Supermomthat hyperactive
Type-A focus on doing well personality who whips up perfect cookies
and perfect chil- in the moment that drenand an embrace of the
likable, more relatable real theyre in. mom, who doesnt obsess over
the little things. Spilled ALIZA FREUD milk? No problem. As we near
the next decade, this shift from striving for perfection to
settling for pragmatism promises to continue for womenespecially as
more millennials become moth- ersand the philosophy is expanding to
areas beyond par- enting. We asked our survey participants whether
they believe that having it all when it comes to family and career
is subjective, and nearly two-thirds of women said they do. Nearly
half of women we surveyed said finding balance between family and
career is a joke for working women. Todays women understand that
life is a series of tradeoffs both big and small: Having a job
means less free time to spend with children but more income and
autono- my; getting takeout for dinner means less control over
ingredients but more convenience. Increasingly, women are showing
signs that they are not aspiring to perfection in any arena of
their lives. There is no such thing as being perfect, said Aliza
Freud, founder and CEO of SheSpeaks, a New York-based word-of-mouth
network for women. Women realize that theres no such thing as being
good at everything, so theyre going to focus on doing well in the
moment that theyre in. If Im work- NOBODYS PERFECT: A number of
parenting books ing, then Im working. If Im with my kids, then Im
with in the past five years have rejected the concept of an ideal
mother. my kids. Ms. Freud said she believes that a great deal of
this sea change has come from millennial women. Through research in
her community of women, Ms. Freud has found that millennials are
less conflicted than, for example, Generation X. Gen Xers were
raised at a time where their parents might have instilled in them
that they can do any- thing they want to do, Ms. Freud said.
Oftentimes that She has witnessed meant being either the perfect
career woman or the perfect her parents having, mom or both at the
same time. Now those women are con- in theory, gender flicted about
the choices they have made. If they chose to equality. But actually
stay at home, they think about what they gave up at work, her
mother was and if they pursued a career, they think about what they
are missing at home. [Millennials] grew up with seeing a lot
hustling and doing of moms working, being outside the home a lot,
and decid- two jobs. ed, Hey, this isnt what I want, Ms. Freud
said. So they may be at peace more with their not working or
working. GLORIA FELDT Gloria Feldt, an activist, author, and former
CEO and
13. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 13 president of
Planned Parenthood, put this millennial phe- nomenon into context:
She has witnessed her parents Meet a mom having, in theory, gender
equality. But actually her mother We asked video-based community
ExpoTV to help us was hustling and doing two jobs. And trying to
succeed at understand how moms shop for groceries. We received
both. video entries from women all across the country who Laura
Vanderkam, a Manhattan-based journalist and let us peek into their
grocery bagsand their lives. author of the forthcoming book 168
Hours, has analyzed how Americans spend a week (i.e., 168 hours)
and identi- fied ways in which they can do so more efficiently. She
has found that pragmatism is growing among a certain set of
mothers, women she refers to as core-competency moms. Rather than
skimp on time with their childrenamid all their responsibilities,
45% of working mothers indicat- ed to us that they dont get enough
time to spend with their childrenthese moms are going to cut
themselves slack in non-core-competency areas, Ms. Vanderkam said.
If something has to go, she said at the July roundtable, its going
to be the housework. Its going to be the errands. Its going to be
the me time. Its going to be a little bit of sleep. Its going to be
television. ANGELA Ms. Vanderkam has carefully studied the American
Dayton, Ohio Time Use Survey, which found that married mothers who
Age: 29 worked full time spent, on average, less time on household
Relationship status: Married chores (2 hours vs. 3.6 hours),
leisure activities such as Children: 2-year-old socializing or
exercising (2.9 hours vs. 4.2 hours) and sleep- Employment: Works
full-time as a budget analyst ing (8.18 hours vs. 8.77 hours) than
their stay-at-home counterparts did. However, the time they spent
interacting Angela is an efficient shopper, and the designated with
their children did not vary as much: Working moth- shopper for her
family. At the end of the workday, she ers spent an average of 0.04
hours reading to or with their values a good deal for her money and
time. She shops children and 0.19 playing or doing hobbies with
them, weekly or biweekly, mostly for items she knows her compared
with 0.09 hours reading and 0.52 hours playing family needs. for
stay-at-home mothers. While she does buy some branded items, shes
not Catalyst refers to this as work-life effectiveness, as
particularly brand loyal. I buy the Walmart-brand fruit. opposed to
work-life balance. The view at the nonprofit is They come in the
nice, little, convenient containers, that the word balance
inherently connotes accommodation she said. I buy Walmart because
its cheaper and I between work and life, whereas what is really
needed is think it tastes just as good as the regular brand name.
organization. Balance means different things at different times of
the day, at different times in your life, said Jan Combopiano,
VP-chief knowledge officer at Catalyst. Its hard to use that term.
The idea behind work-life effective- ness, she said, is that you as
an individual have choices about what you have to do now. And
perhaps most impor- If something has to tantly, what you choose to
do is not a one-size-fits-all. go, its going to be This movement
toward work-life effectiveness recog- the housework. Its nizes that
womens lives are multidimensional. Nuance can going to be the come
from all corners, whether its a womans upbringing, errands. Its
going to stage in life or socioeconomic status, among other things.
MICHAEL FALCO Many of the experts interviewed for this paper
stressed be the me time. Its that point. Moms are a pretty broad
bucket, said going to be a little bit SheSpeaks founder Ms. Freud.
Its about how a woman of sleep. defines herself at any given moment
in time. LAURA VANDERKAM (continued on page 14)
14. WHITE PAPER 14 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM Ms. Freud and some
others said the way mothers define themselves is directly
correlated to the dependency of chil- Meet a mom dren on them. When
she has young children, because those children have such needs, her
primary definition of herself is Mom, Ms. Freud said. But as her
children grow and become less dependent, its not just about being
Mom. Real moms want to be embraced for all of who they are. Smart
businesses recognize that cookie-cutter approaches dont work, Ms.
Combopiano said. Ms. Garrubbo said she has witnessed similar
sentiment in the BlogHer community. Theres this sort of backlash
and anger that women have to marketers, she said. What theyre
saying: Dont tell us what we think; dont tell us who we are. JANE
WHAT REAL MOMS WANT Tampa, Fla. Real moms come to the table with
different life experi- Age: 34 ences, attitudes and demographics,
and they want mar- Relationship status: Married keters to
understand and embrace those differences. The Children: 2-year-old
and 4-year-old real mom wants products and services that not only
reflect Employment: Stays at home her unique reality but also help
make it better. She is look- ing for solutions that will help her
manage the complexi- Jane shops for groceries every Wednesday night
with ties of her life, lessen her stress and workload, and give her
her husband and two children. The family makes an more time to
focus on whats really important. She wants outing of it, getting
dinner at McDonalds along the way. to be a good mom and COO of the
household but also have She selects what to buy based on her
grocery stores an identity outside that. And while she may be
embracing circular. She considers price before convenience, buying
her perfectly imperfect selfas a mother and beyondshe whatever is
on sale, especially if its buy one, get one wants brands to catch
up. In plainer terms, she wants prod- free. Thats pretty much how
we shop is the buy-one- ucts and services that provide value to her
and her fami- get-one sales, she said. lyand that give her
permission to be imperfect and rec- ognize her identity outside of
being a mom. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS Money has always been a source of
stress for families, and Theres this sort of backlash the current
economic climate has only heightened that stress. So it comes as no
surprise that, as the COO of the and anger that women have to
family, todays mom is trying to manage that stress by marketers.
What theyre saying: playing the price and value game. In the
qualitative research Ad Age and JWT did with Dont tell us what we
think; ExpoTV, we asked women to share with us on film their dont
tell us who we are. most recent grocery-store purchases. They
repeatedly said they had bought certain products based on sales,
coupons or store circulars. Often they bought generic products
because they were cheaper and/or just as good as the branded
versions. I bought the Walmart-brand product because it was the
cheapest one and I think that their stuff tastes just as good as
the name brand, said Angela, a full- time working mother from Ohio,
referring to her most recent shopping trip. Others said they had
waited for sales to stock up on items they needed, such as laundry
detergent and toilet
15. SPONSORED BY THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM 15 paper. I buy it in
bulk, I buy it on sale, I comparison shop, said Jocelyn, a
small-business owner from North Carolina. Meet a mom Danielle, a
married mother of two and high-school science teacher from New
Jersey, said she shops using grocery- store circulars and maximizes
her stores bonus bucks system. Ms. Reardon said she has seen
similar patterns at Macys. [Mom] is definitely still looking for
style, but she also wants value, she said. And value doesnt nec-
essarily mean price. Both Ms. Reardon and Kathy OBrien, U.S.
marketing director for Unilevers Dove, emphasized that product
quality plays a role too. Moms have just become more and more
savvy, Ms. OBrien said. They weigh price with the benefits of
products. Thats something women said in our research with ExpoTV as
well in explaining why they bought branded items with coupons or in
bulk, or purchased their pro- HEATHER duce at one store and their
dry goods at another. Right Vicksburg, Mich. now, amid the
recession, price is especially important. Age: 35 And this behavior
has expanded to income brackets that Relationship status:Married
never before would have considered such savings meth- Children:
3-year-old and 6-year-old ods, said Mr. Wilcox, who collaborates
with ExpoTV on Employment: Stays at home but sells embroidered
goods its ethnographic practice. on Etsy.com As Betsy ORourke,
senior VP-marketing at Royal Caribbean International, put it:
Today, for everybody, Heather dislikes grocery shopping, so she
prefers to shop cheap is chic. The cruise-line brand is
highlighting every three or four weeks. She is the primary shopper.
budget-friendly family vacations to resonate with Mom. She plans
for all of the meals, so she makes food purchases based on her
familys needs. Heather shops in FAMILY COMES FIRST two different
stores: one local store for produce and Were all time-deprived, Ms.
ORourke said. We live Walmart for everything else because of its
low prices. in a society where we are very busy people, whether
When she shops, shes armed with coupons, seeking to were working
moms or non-working moms. A vaca- get the best deals. She is not
brand loyal. Just got the store tion can be one of the rare
occasions when the entire brand because it was the cheapest, she
said. It all tastes family gets together for a long and
uninterrupted period pretty much the same. of time, she said. From
a mom point of view, that On grocery-shopping nights, she picks up
convenient responsibility to create a family connection is even
more items for dinner that dont require her to cook. When we
important. Theres a lot riding on it. met Heather, she had picked
up rotisserie chicken for her Ms. ORourke said Royal Caribbean
tries to partner family for $4.48. with moms on convenience, rather
than pander to their every whim and fancy. We want to make it easy
for you to have a great time, and on your budget thats avail- able,
she said. Royal Caribbean aims to provide a hassle-free Moms have
just become productappealing to time-crunched moms. Ms. ORourke
said the company knows that a mother wants more and more savvy.
They to feel taken care of once on board. We want to make weigh
price with the benefits sure that youre the hero, that when your
family comes on our ship, its going to be a great experience for
all of of products. them, she said. And that you, mom, who has done
all the planning and scheduling, get to enjoy that vacation. Ms.
ORourke said the goal is to empower moms to relax: Give me
permission to do things that I dont oth- (continued on page
16)
16. WHITE PAPER 16 THE RISE OF THE REAL MOM CHART 9: PURCHASING
INFLUENCES Who women said has the most influence on what they buy
(N=418) SPOUSE/PARTNER OTHER/NOT APPLICABLE MYSELF Personal care 8
25 67 Clothing 9 27 64 Books 7 30 63 Cosmetics 5 34 61 Jewelry 13
29 58 Food/beverage 31 24 45 Entertainment 29 28 43 Home
furnishings 32 25 43 Financial products 36 22 42 Technology 34 26
40 Appliances 38 25 37 Travel 39 26 35 Electronics 45 21 34 Cars
and trucks 46 23 31 Restaurants 42 29 29 0% 20 40 60 80 100 erwise
get the chance to do. salad dressings. She said she tends to buy
healthful items Increasingly, taking care of the family means
provid- she reads about in magazines or hears about from friends,
ing more-holistic, healthful food. Youre seeing a strong such as
green tea and blueberries. consumer trend towards healthy food,
said Hy Nguyen, Carol Anne from Minnesota, a married stay-at-home
brand manager at Unilevers Skippy peanut-butter mother of two, buys
a lot of fruit, yogurt and eggs for her brand. Basically, theres
nothing more important to family. They are healthy, she said, again
and again. A mom than taking care of her kids and nurturing her
number of other women said they had bought 100-calorie kids. packs,
whole-wheat bread and so on because they were Skippy was the first
national brand to introduce no- healthy. need-to-stir natural
peanut butter, something it sensed would be in increasing demand.
Indeed, sales of Skippy PERMISSION TO BE IMPERFECT Natural were up
145% to $20.1 million in the 52 weeks As the movement toward
pragmatism continues, real ended Sept. 6, according to Information
Resources, Inc., moms will come to embrace brands that give them
per- the Chicago-based market-research firm. And mothers mission to
be imperfect without feeling guilty. That are the primary shoppers
for Skippy. Moms are con- could mean a number of things for
marketers, but chief stantly trying to find things that their kids
are going to among them is providing women the tools to let go of
eat, Mr. Nguyen said, and they want items that are good the
inclination to do it all and simply delegate some of for their kids
too. those non-core-competency responsibilitieswhether That was
evident among the women in our research its to a spouse, a child or
a brand. with ExpoTV. Women across the country went out of In a
series on core-competency moms for the their way to buy products
they knewor thoughtwere Huffington Post, Ms. Vanderkam talks about
delegating healthy. We are trying to eat more healthy, said Angie
the dishes to Dixie. Dixie disposable dishes can be from North
Carolina, a married stay-at-home mother of tossed after meals,
eliminating the need to ri