Room for improvement

Nearly all US women (94 percent) are satisfied with their lives and ability to balance multiple roles and responsibilities, but only half of married/partnered women are satisfied with their sex lives and the division of labor at home, according to (PDF) a Meredith Corp. and NBC Universal survey, writes MarketingCharts.

The "What do Women Want?" study examined women's sentiments about relationships, family, careers and overall life satisfaction; it found key similarities and differences among Baby Boomers (born 1943-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1976), and Generation Y (born 1977-1989).

Issues related to children and education are women's top priorities, followed by marriage and career:

Gen-Y women are more likely than older generations to place a high priority on marriage (73 percent) and career (67 percent):

Relationships:

• Four in ten women (43 percent) would like to change something about the relationships in their lives, with Gen-Y women (54 percent) seeking change the most.

• "Getting married" is more of a priority for Gen-Y women than it is for others.

• The majority of women in committed relationships are satisfied with their physical attraction to (64 percent) and emotional connection with (61 percent) their mate.
• About half of women in committed relationships are satisfied with the division of labor (49 percent), their opportunities to have fun with their mate (50 percent), their sex life (51 percent), the amount of quality time spent together (52 percent), shared interests/hobbies (53 percent) and communication with one another (54 percent).
• Three in 10 married/partnered women say they would choose a good glass of wine over sex with their husband for stress relief.
• Eight in 10 married/partnered women say their spouse/partner/significant other contributes to their stress; one-quarter say their mate contributes a great deal of stress.
• Some 23 percent of women who are no longer married say their former spouse causes them a great deal of stress; 43 percent say their ex contributes to at least some of their stress.
• Only two in 10 married/partnered women seeking change in their relationship say they would have married someone other than their current spouse. Another 14 percent wish they had never gotten married.
• Boomer women are more satisfied than younger generations with their ability to nurture friendships (60 percent vs. 41 percent Gen-Y and 43 percent Gen-X women) and be involved as citizens and/or members of the community (53 percent vs. 33 percent Gen Y and 38 percent Gen-X women).

Family Life:

• Half (50 percent) of all women do not want to change anything about their family life, while the remaining half do.

• Two-thirds are satisfied with the amount of time they have to spend with their children/family.
• Gen Y women (62 percent) are more likely than Gen X (49 percent) and Boomer (42 percent) women to seek a change in their family life.

• Across all generations surveyed, having more children is the number-one desire for women who seek a change in their family life.

Motherhood:

• Two-thirds (67 percent) of women say "having children" and "staying home with children when they are young" are important lifestyle choices to them; 4 in 10 women (41 percent) say "staying home with children when they are in their teens" is important to them.
• Stay-at-home moms are more likely than working moms to place higher importance on being home with children both when they are young (92 percent vs. 69 percent) and when they are in their teens (67 percent vs. 41 percent).
• One-third (34 percent) of working moms with children under 18 say they would be happier if they could be stay-at-home moms versus working moms. This percentage was higher among Gen-X working moms.
• Women say that working moms are more stressed than stay-at-home moms (81 percent vs. 19 percent), and stay-at-home moms are perceived as spending more quality time with their children than working moms (85 percent vs. 15 percent).
• Women, in general, are equally split on which mom is the better role model - the working mom (51 percent) or the stay-at-home mom (49 percent); not surprisingly, mothers in these respective roles are more likely to think they are the better role model.
• Nearly 4 in 10 (38 percent) of mothers with children under age 18 say their children contribute a great deal of stress to their life.
• Less than 2 in 10 women (18 percent) say staying married, even unhappily, for the sake of the kids, is an important to them.
• More than half of women say they would prefer that their first-born was a boy (55 percent vs. 45 percent who would prefer a daughter).
• Two-thirds of working moms (66 percent) say they are more fulfilled with their lives than stay-at-home moms; conversely, two-thirds (64 percent) of stay-at-home moms say they are more fulfilled with their life lives than working moms.

Career:

• The majority of working women want to change some aspect of their jobs. Acquiring new skills to qualify for a higher-paying job is the number-one desire.
• Only 21 percent of working women agreed with the following statement: "I love my job and wouldn't change anything about my current employment situation."
• Two-thirds (66 percent) of working women say they are getting paid less than they deserve and a 26 percent of these women say it is because of their gender.

• Among those wanting change in their current employment situation, nearly half (44 percent) want to acquire new skills to qualify for a higher paying job, 31 percent want to do something more personally rewarding, 26 percent want to retire and 25 percent want to start their own business.
• 38 percent of Boomer women seeking change in their job would prefer to completely retire; one-third (35 percent) of Gen-X women would like to change/start a new career.
• Retirement is of particular interest to Boomer women, while Gen-Y women are interested in flexible hours and Gen-X women are thinking about career change.
• Gen-Y women who seek change are more likely than most women to want flexible hours (43 percent vs. 30 percent of all women).
• Many women say they have to be better communicators, smarter and more compassionate than men in order to be successful in business.

About the research: Meredith and NBC Universal commissioned Applied Research & Consulting to administer an online survey of 3,069 female respondents age 18-64, with household incomes of $20,000 and higher. The sample was weighted by age and region to conform to US Census data.