Women's views of women's roles: a survey of South Australian women

Four hundred and eighteen randomly selected South Australian women answered 18 opinion statements about women's roles, as part of a general postal survey. The results showed that most women supported equality between the sexes, the importance of parenting and mother roles, and physical appearance. However, there were many statistically significant differences between members of demographic groups; generally younger and more‐educated women favoured equality more, and valued motherhood less for personal fulfilment than older, less‐educated women. Women in paid employment placed less value on traditional domestic roles and more on equal pay than those not so employed. The relationships of these findings to recent changes in women's roles within and outside the family are discussed. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved