Brazil, May, 2017 – The importance of Brazilian women in a predominantly male-dominated society has been evolving for a long time. Winning more and more rights was just the beginning of a path towards greater independence for the supposedly stronger sex. A key element is women's role in the work environment. They not only seek financial independence and professional fulfillment, but also show the essence of an egalitarian society.
However, the responsibility of having and raising children still remains predominantly tied to women in a still-machista society. Under these circumstances, how do women themselves perceive the possibility of reconciling professional careers and motherhood in Brazil in 2017 and how do they decide if they should have a child or not? Check out the results below:
| Difficulty Achieving Professional Success with Children (% perceiving greater difficulty) | |
|---|---|
| Federal District | 65% |
| Acre | 61% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 61% |
| Sergipe | 60% |
| Tocantins | 60% |
| Paraná | 59% |
| Alagoas | 59% |
| Ceará | 58% |
| Minas Gerais | 57% |
| Rondônia | 57% |
| São Paulo | 57% |
| Mato Grosso | 57% |
| National Average | 56% |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 56% |
| Maranhão | 56% |
| Piauí | 55% |
| Pará | 55% |
| Goiás | 55% |
| Espírito Santo | 54% |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 53% |
| Paraíba | 53% |
| Santa Catarina | 53% |
| Bahia | 52% |
| Pernambuco | 52% |
| Roraima | 50% |
| Amazonas | 49% |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 49% |
| Amapá | 33% |
Professional Success with Children
- More than half of respondents (56%) believe that professional success is less likely for women with children.
- Women from the Center-West and the Federal District, with 58.2% and 65.2% respectively, are in the region and state with the greatest perceived difficulties.
- The North region, led by Amapá, Amazonas, and Roraima (rates below or equal to 50%), has the lowest perceived difficulty, with an average of 52.7%.
- All capitals in the Southeast (São Paulo 57.7% – Rio de Janeiro 58.2% – Belo Horizonte 60.4% – Vitória 66.7%) report above-average difficulties.
- Aracaju is the capital with the greatest perceived difficulty for professional success with children, where over 72% of women feel this way.
Fear of Losing Job Due to Pregnancy
- 3 out of 7 Brazilian women have or had a fear of losing their job if they became pregnant.
- The fear is greater in the Center-West and Southeast, with 43.8% of women, compared to 38.3% in the North.
- Sergipe is the only state where more women are fearful than not; Aracaju, João Pessoa, and Cuiabá are the only capitals.
- Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis, and Palmas are the only capitals where the fear of getting pregnant is lower than in the rest of the state.
The percentage related to the difficulty of professional success with children reflects the proportion of women in each location who agreed with this statement. The answer to this question often echoes in the fear of losing a job when pregnant. Consequently, it raises the question of whether this perception and fear actually influence the behavior of those who already have children.
Career Influence on Decision to Have Children
- Only 22% of women change their plans to have children because of work, but two-thirds of them only postpone it.
- 8% of women give up on having a child due to work and were only able to have one before or after employment.
- The impact of fear on women’s decisions in the Northeast is greatest, especially in Sergipe, Maranhão, and Piauí, while in the North it is smaller, despite Acre having the most influenced women.
Your decision to have children
was affected by
professional reasons?
Professional obstacles become concrete when a woman actually decides to become pregnant, starting with the employer's full acceptance, given that employers rarely plan for women's absence due to maternity. After a tiring pregnancy, not all workers are able to return to their work activities within the period set by the maternity leave. Some are fortunate enough to adapt their professional tasks to a home office if their profession allows.
Boss's Reaction
- More than a third of superiors were not happy with the employee’s pregnancy and 1 in 6 women felt the boss would have preferred to fire her because of it.
- The reactions perceived don’t show a regional pattern, but do show differences between states.
- Pregnancy was less well received in Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Catarina, especially in Florianópolis.
- Company managers in Piauí and Paraíba were happier together with their employees.
Return After Maternity Leave
- Only 62% of recent mothers manage to return to work at the end of maternity leave.
- On average, they need 95 more days to return to activities and up to 4 months in the Center-West region.
- In the Northeast, employees return only 80 days after the end of leave and only in Sergipe and Paraíba is the period above the national average.
- In Amapá, Acre, and Mato Grosso do Sul, women take the longest.
- Women in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro return in the fourth month after leave.
Being able to return to work is only possible when there is a solution for where to leave the baby. In this context, women were asked about the possibilities and especially about daycare centers and nurseries that should fulfill this role in the public education system. Finally, a general assessment of the system was requested.
Where the Baby Stayed After Leave
- Almost half of Brazilian women have to turn to grandparents or other relatives in order to return to work, also noting that the father rarely stays home taking care of the baby.
- Less than a quarter of women manage to find a daycare center.
- 1 in every 5 women have to find a non-traditional way to care for the baby while working.
Where did your baby stay when
you returned to work?
Difficulty Getting Daycare
- In all regions, women have trouble getting a spot in daycare, with things being more complicated in the Center-West and easier in the Northeast.
- In all states of the South, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, women find it more difficult than the national average.
- In Alagoas, Goiás, and Piauí, it is considerably harder to get a daycare spot in the countryside than in the capital.
- Vitória, Brasília, and Porto Alegre are the most difficult capitals to find a spot, while Aracaju and Porto Velho are the easiest.
Getting a daycare spot
is...
Caring for a Sick Child
- In 62% of cases when a child is ill, the mother has to stay home.
- The chance of the father staying home is 9 times lower.
- The first alternative when the mother cannot stay is the grandparents or other relatives, even before the father.
- The data are relatively close across all regions and states.
General Assessment
How do you rate the |
| Difficulty Ranking for Capitals (descending order, 1. is the highest) | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Brasília |
| 2. | Rio de Janeiro |
| 3. | Goiânia |
| 4. | Porto Velho |
| 5. | João Pessoa |
| 6. | Fortaleza |
| 7. | São Paulo |
| 8. | Cuiabá |
| 9. | Natal |
| 10. | Campo Grande |
| 11. | Belém |
| 12. | Porto Alegre |
| 13. | Recife |
| 14. | Macapá |
| 15. | Curitiba |
| 16. | Maceió |
| 17. | Teresina |
| 18. | Belo Horizonte |
| 19. | São Luís |
| 20. | Florianópolis |
| 21. | Vitória |
| 22. | Aracaju |
| 23. | Boa Vista |
| 24. | Salvador |
| 25. | Manaus |
| 26. | Rio Branco |
| 27. | Palmas |
Methodology
In search of answers, Trocando Fraldas conducted a study with more than 11,000 women from across the country between April 19 and 24, through a questionnaire on its website. Respondents without children answered three questions about their overall view of the compatibility of career and motherhood, while all mothers reported their experiences with children in another six related topics.
Response options that could be converted to numbers, such as “yes” counting as 1 and “no” as 0, were used to calculate averages for comparative purposes. This way, results between regions, states, and capitals could be compared with statistical relevance and representativeness.
Questions
The following questions were asked:
- Do you think career success is harder to achieve when you have children?
- Have you ever been or would you be afraid of losing your job if you became pregnant?
- Do you have children? (if not, continue with question 10)
- Was your decision to have children affected by professional reasons?
- How did your boss react upon learning about your pregnancy?
- Your return to work was...
- Where did your baby stay when you returned to work?
- Getting a daycare spot is...
- When your child is sick, who stays home to care for them?
- How do you evaluate the possibility of reconciling motherhood and professional life in Brazil?
