Did you get the memo? Men are happier than women today, mainly because they seem to have chucked out the long to-do list. But before we break down the details of this new research, we want to recap two of the week’s big headlines: Ahmadinejad and Myanmar.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the United States this week yielded two major takeaways
First, according to him, Iran has no gays. This notion of course sparked plenty of commentary and laughter; Second, he says he’s done discussing Iran’s nuclear program, which is forging ahead, and rejects UN sanctions regarding the program.
Myanmar is Burma and vice-versa
You might be a little confused by the press, which alternates between Burma and Myanmar when referring to the massive protests in this little country nestled alongside Thailand. In fact the military dictatorship government there (also called a junta) renamed Burma as Myanmar in 1989.
The United States and the United Kingdom don’t recognize the government, which oppresses its people, so they continue to call the country Burma. The protests against the government are calling for democracy, with Buddhist monks helping to lead the charge. The BBC does a fantastic job of breaking down what's going on.
After that, hopefully you’re not too unhappy to read more about unhappiness
Here's the deal: Researchers say women are increasingly unhappier than men, though they believe their status has improved. A New York Times story this week says Princeton economist Alan Krueger finds men are working less and relaxing more. He should know—he wrote this eye-opening story three years ago: “A growing number of men are not working, so what are they doing?”
The happiness curve decreased as more women entered the workforce
One report shows that in the 1970s, women were slightly happier than men. Now that more women are in the workforce, they are less happy, including stay-at-home moms. The researchers suggest that “increased opportunity to succeed in many dimensions may have led to an increased likelihood of believing that one’s life is not measuring up.”
Read the report > The "Discussion" section touches on their conclusions, which starts on page 19.
The big picture
It’s not new news that women are still trying to do it all and please everyone. And it’s not new news to many of us that not being able to do it all causes stress and unhappiness. But the research does remind us of the need for employers, the government and mates to pitch in, and the need to delegate the to-do list!
Would you say more opportunity is leading to more unhappiness for women? Tell us why or why not!
