That article manages to say so many statistics that I've a little lost in the point of any of it. Going by the caption "Single women in their thirties are most likely to do unpaid overtime" (which I realize is not the same as saying "young women without children, but the article claims that both demographics are the most likely to work unpaid overtime), I would posit that "single women in their thirties" are also more likely to be highly focused on their career.

The article also says that professionals are more likely to work unpaid hours than hourly employees. Perhaps single/childless, young/thirty-something women are more likely to be professionals?

Then there's the statistic that men with children, though less likely to work unpaid hours, work more of them on the average when they do. I'm not sure how to explain that.

That article was a bit dizzying.

the article was very dizzying. What I take from what I can get out of it is it seems that salaried workers, most likely low to middle tier, are getting royally screwed.

Amen to the part about teachers doing the most unpaid work per week. Even though I'm paid by the hour and not on a salary, I am looked at with awe by my colleagues when I (occasionally) request compensation for some work I do beyond the 40 hours. Being new to the business, and not knowing much about the teaching profession beforehand, I had naively expected that you get remunerated for your work. But I can't help but feel like this expectation is gendered. How else would the (male) head of school encourage me to volunteer my time making costumes for a school play (so not in the job description), because of the "wonderful spirit of volunteerism at school" (on the part of wealthy, nonworking parents)? Would he really expect a male teacher to volunteer the amount of time required to build the set for said play? How far are we from the ancient stereotype of the lonely spinster teacher with no homelife?
Ok, so I know there was half a sentence about teachers in that article, but I'm pissed. Are there other teachers in the feministing world who can back me up?

i dont know name, ive had this talk with many of my friends who went into teaching both male and female. all of them are expected to "volunteer" quite often and they spend good sums of their own money on supplies or "extras". of course one of my male friends got the added bonus of being accused of being a pedophile because why else would a man want to be around 8 year olds all day? boggles the mind.

When I worked in a call center, my supe was looking for people to work extra through the hols. The first people he asked were the single and/or childless people, including me and a newly married couple. When I said no and told him I was traveling to see family, he asked me 'what family? you don't have kids.'

When I worked at the fabric store, a customer said that we (the clerks) should make costumes for Halloween and sell them. When I pointed out we had lives outside of the job, families, hobbies, etc, she said that was well enough for those people who had little kids, but since most of the people at the store either had no kids or only had grandchildren, it didn't matter, that we should do whatever it took to get the job done. In other words, the customer knew better than I did how I - a single female - should spend my time.

Admittedly, these are only two anecdotes and anecdotes don't constitute fact, but I've heard variations of the theme just about everywhere I've worked.

"Are there other teachers in the feministing world who can back me up?"

This coming from a family where grandparents, aunts, mother and myself were teachers. Were. I consider teaching to be a profession where there is the greatest amount of unpaid labor. Nights and weekends shot, if one is doing their job on their own efforts, as opposed to using pre-prepared lesson plans, exercises and easy to grade (i.e. bubble sheet or fill in the blank) tests provided by textbook publishers. My mother was a physical science and chemistry teacher who had to set up all the materials and equipment for labs, as well as take care of all the hazardous wastes and clean up when it was done, before, between and after classes. There were NO shortcuts for her. She also came from a generation where people wrote their own lesson plans, and wrote their own homework and tests, and being in science, had to check all the students' work for accuracy, down to the correct arithmetic and proper use of significant figures. She checked grammar and spelling as well. This before the advent of computers, photocopiers, or correction tape for typewriters. My mother had no life outside school or housework. She had no hobbies, and now at the age of 69, is still looking for ways to spend her time. Most recently, she goes to weekly ballroom dancing lessons, the only pastime she's tried that she continues, when her joints are up to it.

And to silence the critics: being paid during seasonal holidays is NOT four months of paid vacation for teachers. In the Department of Education in Hawaii at least, the teacher is paid for the school year, but the salary is divided and paid over the entire 12 months for them to live on. Naturally, teachers I know attend workshops, teach summer school, or do other temporary jobs on breaks to gain experience or more money. People who complain about teachers and teaching, should give it a try, as it is not so hard to get into. In Hawaii, a high school graduate is eligible to be a substitute. They even hire people full time, without a teaching license or education degree. So odd people do not want to do it, much less be inspired to make a 30-40 year career of teaching. Also in Hawaii, within three years of university graduation, a full 50% of teachers have already quit, despite the allegedly off at 2:40 p.m., weekends, year end, spring break, and summers off, national and state holidays, retirement at 55, retirement benefits, and a powerful union.

So much cushier than your average life sucking office job with maybe two weeks off a year, a 401(k), no job security, and no pension. Go for it.

FeDhu,
Similar anecdotes have happened to me everywhere I've worked. My husband and I do not want to have children and shockingly have very full lives anyway. However, employers in the many diverse places I have worked feel that my lack of children means I should work every holiday, that staying late without prior notice is ok, and a myriad of other things that end with "So and so has children, but since you don't you won't mind staying late."

I've said that I minded and that I didn't appreciate the discrimination, but this attitude towards women without children seems to be a persistent and insulting one.

I just love women are continued to be defined by their reproductive choices.

Oh yes, the good ol' "Single people have no lives" thing. I hate the assumption that I have nothing better to do, so I might as well stay late at work and do everyone else's job while they go home to lives far more important than my own, simply because they happen to married and/or have children.

Over and above the assumption that I can always work overtime, I get reprimanded if I make "too many" personal phone calls (I make maybe three a week, for a few minutes at a time, if that), while my officemate is on the phone with her husband and kids ALL DAY LONG. Not that I'm saying she shouldn't be able to talk to them; she should, just as she should be able to work flexible hours to arrange for child care when they are sick, etc.

But the idea that MY hours shouldn't be flexible because I have no kids, or that my 'family' consists of other single people, so I can't touch base with them during the day for five minutes, pisses me off.