Scared for the Future of Utah Women

I am Scared for the Future of Utah Women 

 

When the LDS church changed the minimum missionary age a few weeks ago, locally, social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter went nuts with the news. Of particular excitement was the decrease in women's ages for missionary service.  Women can now serve a whole 2 years earlier than the previous requirement of age 21.  Joanna Brooks (of askmormongirl.com) stated that she was "thrilled" with the announcement, and many other Mormon feminists were overall happy with the news, although still acknowledging  that the church is still not regarding men and women as equal.  (The new mandate allows young men to serve for two years at age 18, while young women serve for 18 months at the age of 19).

 

But, it was a step in the right direction. Right?

 

Maybe.

Here's my concern, which seems to be overlooked by the majority of bloggers and media. What unintended consequences will this mean? There was some speculation that some women might think about getting married even earlier, but this seems to be a far stretch. Obviously, scholarships and family finances by LDS families are going to have to make adjustments.  But here's my greatest concern... what's going to happen to these 20 1/2 year old women when they return from their missions? They may have one year of college under their belts before they leave, and if we keep the same average age of marriage for them as before the missionary change, they will most likely be married within a few years.
 

Will LDS women finish their college degrees?

 

The current Mormon culture values higher education, but for women it's a bit more slippery. Mormon culture also values a MALE's higher education over a female's higher education.

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."

- The Family: A Proclamation To The World, September 1995

It is easy to see from many conference talks given over the decades that it is the man who is to provide for the family.  It has been seen over and over in Utah colleges that once an LDS woman has married, if it is not financially feasible to have both spouses in school, it is the woman who will quit school and work to put her husband through school.  There is also much cultural pressure to, once married, have children quickly.  This adds to both the financial strain and time constraints of allowing a woman to finish her degree.

In a 2010 Deseret News article entitled, For many Utah women, family trumps college, study shows, it was reported that: "Survey participants said they saw no urgency to graduate, believing they would finish 'someday'. Others said that starting a family trumped college, and getting married ended their education." As a college professor, I see this first hand in my classes. They are full of women who in their 30's and 40's are finally finding time to go back to college. Nearly all of them report the regret of not completing their degree earlier.

According to workforce services, "Utah already lags behind all other states in the attainment of college degrees by women. The percentage attending college started to decrease in the early 1990s and dipped below the national average about 10 years ago." So, no, things are not improving for the state of women in Utah, in fact they are getting worse. 

Let's start with some of the facts about Women in Utah (by Lecia Parks Langston -Utah Workforce Services and complied from multiple sources)

• Most women who work are married.
• A higher percentage of Utah women work outside the home than the national average.
• Utah has a higher divorce rate than the national average.
• A young woman today can expect to spend more than 30 years in the labor force.
• Most women at one time or another will need to support themselves and/or their families.
• The majority of mothers of preschool children in Utah work outside the home.
• Choosing a career with a high wage will make it easier to combine home and family.
• Almost one-third of female-headed households are in poverty.
• Utah shows by far the largest gap in the nation between male and female college-graduation rates. The difference for college-educated Utah men and Utah women is 6.0 percentage points. New Jersey shows the next highest gap at 2.7 percentage points, while the national average is a mere 1.3 percentage points.

Then there's the recent announcement regarding women's pay.  Women in Utah have it the worst in the nation, as far as their pay goes.  They get paid 55 cents for every dollar a male makes. The relationship to men's pay is down from where we were just 4 years ago. (Just a few years ago it was reported to be 69 cents for every dollar).  I have personally heard many people, including news articles, argue that women in Utah choose this lower pay in order to have the flexibility they want.  I have also heard the argument that women take off many years to have their children and therefore they don't have the same experience as men.  However, as you can see from the above stats, most women are not taking off a lot of years to have children.  Young women are making early decisions based on an illusion from the 1950's, namely that their husbands will make the money and they will stay home and raise the children.  This just isn't a reality for the majority of women.   

It is clear from this information that some of the possible reasons why Utah women are being forced to make sacrifices to their salary is because:

• Women of the state are not getting enough education
• Women are unprepared for possible divorces and future financial circumstances
• Cultural pressure is pushing women toward early marriage and larger families

But, if a woman who doesn't get her education before getting married or having children she really doesn't have the same choices anymore. She often no longer has the ability to choose a higher salary, or support the family financially when times get tough.  Because of earlier decisions, women are now having to choose a job over a career... an important distinction. 

So, I ask again, what is to become of the women of this state.  Will we continue to CHOOSE to be dead last when it comes to women's earnings?  Will we continue to value men's education and careers over a woman's?  And more importantly, will it continue to get worse?  I hope not. 

I love Utah.  I love the beauty of the state.  I love the family friendly atmosphere.  But, if this wonderful state wants to prosper, the data sitting right in front of us cannot not be ignored. We cannot continue to build the state's economy when we are disregarding half the population and whitewashing the current situation.

I have hope in my 13 year old daughters. I have hope that they will never give up their educational, professional, family and even their religious goals. They can have it all. Really, they just need to make sure they don't bow to the cultural pressure of the state. They have the right to choose what to study, when to get married, when to have children.  I hope the women of this state will teach their daughters the same thing.  Together we can make this state even better.  Together we can educate our children to make wiser choices than we did.