Soul Talk

Mothers as sole earning members of households, a growing trend

A recent study has found that a large number of families with children have mothers as the only breadwinner in the family and the trend is growing. Analysis of US Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Centre has shown that a whopping 40per cent homes had mother of children under 18 as the primary or sole earning force from 11per cent in 1960.

Opinion over this increasing percentage is divided. Many see the positive side of the issue — increasing economic independence of women, but there are those who feel that this will affect the quality of a child's upbringing and put unnecessary strain on the marriage.

A research by the same institute states that more than 50 per cent respondents feel the mothers are better off taking care of the kids at home than working to run the household.

They also found that the average income of the family was higher when the mother was the primary earning member.

Facial features give clue to length of a female's relationships

Benedict Jones from the University of Glasgow and Anthony Little from the University of Stirling have found that there is a difference between men's choice of female faces depending on whether they are contemplating a long-term or short-term relationship.

In an experimented conducted on 393 heterosexual men, they were asked to rate 10 paired pictures of women, which had been manipulated to look more masculine or feminine, according to their preference for long-term and short-term relationship.

The results were indicative of the preference that most men have as far as feminine looks go. Faces with pronounced feminine looks were preferred for short-term relationships.

Women more likely to collaborate with social media as compared to men

In a study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Ipsos, it was found that to research competitors and expand networks; women were more likely to collaborate with social media than men.

The study highlighted that men tend to focus more on various tools to get work done while women value the social element of social media. Almost half of the respondents in the study said that the use of social media actually increased productivity.

The finding’s results show that the much-maligned social media in work spaces is actually being put to productive work and can have positive implications for businesses. 

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