Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995                   TAG: 9505110083
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

DOUBLE DUTY FOR MANY WOMEN

Working women are contributing half or more of their households' incomes but still are responsible for family care - and most like it that way, says a study released Wednesday.

The report challenges the notion that working women must choose between job and family, showing that a majority of women in this era of time-starved, dual-income families wouldn't give up their roles as nurturers and providers.

Billed as the most comprehensive analysis of U.S. women's attitudes about family, workplace and society in more than a decade, the survey was put together by the Families and Work Institute for the Whirlpool Foundation.

Where relevant, comparisons were made to a 1981 General Mills study of family and society that encompassed both men and women. Where relevant, men were interviewed to provide a comparison.

Titled, ``Women: The New Providers,'' the study illustrates what recent demographic data have shown: The traditional roles of man as principal economic provider and woman as nurturer no longer hold true, according to the authors.

``Although there continues to be a debate about whether women should or should not work, that doesn't seem to be going on in the minds of women,'' said Ellen Galinsky, co-president of the Families and Work Institute.

More than two-thirds of the 18- to 55-year-old women interviewed were employed, with 45 percent working full time, 15 percent working part time and 8 percent self-employed.

Of the employed women, 55 percent provide half or more of the household income. Of those, 18 percent provided all family income.

The study showed that most of the women were committed to their jobs. If money were not a consideration, 48 percent said they still would choose to work part-time or full-time. Another 31 percent would choose to work at home caring for the family, and 20 percent said they would choose volunteer work.

Indeed, interest in volunteer work was up from 13 percent in 1981, while the number of women stating their preference would be to stay home was down from 39 percent in the General Mills study.

At the same time, the study showed that as women take on a greater economic role, they are not renouncing their position as family nurturer.

Overall, 88 percent of women interviewed said it is their responsibility to take care of their family. Nine in 10 said they were happy about the way things were going for themselves and their families.

``This counters the sense that employed women have diminished care-giving responsibilities,'' said Arlene Johnson, a researcher with the Families and Work Institute.