March 31, 2004 8:23 AM

Fighting for flexibility
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 8:23 AM

While some magazines might focus on the minority of women who choose (or are forced) to “opt out,” the Wall Street Journal’s Carol Hymowitz put forth some statistics and suggestions for the rest of us (otherwise known as the majority) – women who don’t want to choose between work and home. Check out yesterday’s “In the Lead” column, "While some women choose to stay home, others gain flexibility."

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about executive women who are choosing to drop out of high-pressure jobs rather than kill themselves trying to do it all. Workplace participation by married women with a child who is less than one year old fell to 53% in 2000 from 57% in 1997 and hasn't risen since. But that still leaves 72% of mothers with children under 18 in the work force, and many of them don't want to have to choose between a life that is 24/7 business and 24/7 domesticity.

--------