CNBC and Momentive, maker of Survey-Monkey, in March, announced the results of their joint Women at Work survey. The survey, which polled over 5,000 women in the U.S., finds that working women continue to feel increased stress and burnout amid tough economic conditions. Nearly half (41%) of working women who have seriously considered quitting in the past 12 months say they’re overwhelmed with work. Meanwhile, more than half of working women (56%) say their mental health suffers from burnout at their job, which is roughly unchanged from the 2020 and 2021 surveys (53% and 54%, respectively). Even though nearly half of working women (46%) say the possibility of an economic downturn or recession has not caused them to make any changes at work, 27% of working women say they have worked longer hours over the past year, while 17% say they have delayed taking time off and 15% have asked for a raise.
These results are nearly identical to working men. The survey also highlights access to abortion for working women following last year’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Working women say abortion access is now a key factor when considering job location with nearly a quarter (23%) who say they will not work in a state that limits or bans access to abortion, almost three times as many who say they will only work in a state that limits or bans access to abortion (8%). Additionally, with new pay transparency laws going into effect this year, the top motivator for more than half of working women (52%) who are considering quitting their job is higher pay, while nearly half of working women (41%) say they have not heard about newly published salary ranges and relatively few of either gender (12% of women, 16% of men) say they have used published salary ranges to try to negotiate a raise for themselves.
Despite these economic and political challenges, many working women continue to have high ambitions and career aspirations. Overall, nearly half of working women (48%) consider themselves “very ambitious” when it comes to their careers, which is below early pandemic levels (54% in 2020). Ambition remains highest for women of color with two-thirds of Black women workers (64%) describing themselves as “very ambitious,” nearly the same as last year’s poll (66%). Meanwhile, more than half of Hispanic women (52%) consider themselves “very ambitious,” slightly lower than last year’s survey (55%). “Pay transparency laws enacted within the last year might help finally eliminate the persistent wage gap between men and women—but they haven’t yet,” said Laura Wronski, director of research at Momentive. “Nearly half of the workers are unaware that companies are publishing salaries for open roles, but as awareness increases workplace norms around pay are ripe for disruption.” Additional key findings from the survey include:
MANY WORKING WOMEN CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH STRESS AND BURNOUT
• Around three in 10 women (28%) say the biggest source of work-related stress stems from being overwhelmed at their job.
• This year, 24% of women report working more hours per week than they were a year ago, while 45% are working about as many hours as before, and just 20% report working fewer hours now, which is all unchanged from the 2022 survey.
PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES AND PAY TRANSPARENCY
• More working women than working men (41% and 33%, respectively) say they have not heard about newly published salary ranges, and relatively few of either gender (12% and 16%, respectively) say they’ve used published salary ranges to try to negotiate a raise for themselves.
• Among working women, 44% report their salaries have increased in the last 12 months, a slight uptick from 40% who reported salary increases one year ago. Another 39% say their salary is about the same as it was a year ago, while 15% say their salary is lower now. Among working men, 42% say their salary is higher, 39% say it is about the same, and 17% say it is lower than it was a year ago.
• More than half of working women (65%) have been stationary in their positions over the past 12 months despite claims of a “great resignation,” compared to 33% who are considering an exit now or have already exited.
WOMEN ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO SAY ABORTION ACCESS IS A KEY FACTOR WHEN CONSIDERING JOB LOCATION
• Younger working women are some of the most motivated by last year’s Supreme Court ruling: 32% of working women age 18-34 say they will not work in a state that limits or bans access to abortion, compared to 18% of working women age 35-64 and 21% of working women 65 and over.
• Working women that earn a higher income are more apt to view this as impacting their lives: 29% of working women that make $100,000 or more say they will not work in
a state that limits or bans access to abortion, compared to 23% of women with incomes
of $50,000-$99,999 and 21% of women with incomes under $50,000.
• Nearly three-quarters of men (73%) say the overturning of Roe v. Wade has made no difference in where they are willing to work, while 15% say they will not work in a state that limits or bans abortion and 10% say they will only work in a state that limits or bans abortion.
The CNBC/Momentive Women at Work online poll was conducted February 14-21, 2023 among a national sample of 10,278 adults, including 5,420 women. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than two million people who take surveys on the Momentive platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 1.5 percentage point. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.
Complete results of the survey can be found at momentive.ai.
