Affordable, quality health care and retirement security joined equal pay and equal opportunity as the top concerns of women workers, according to the AFL-CIO's Ask a Working Woman 2002 survey.

The federation's third survey of working women also found that more women are working longer hours. Of those participating, 63 percent said they work 40 or more hours per week, up from the 60 percent who responded in the 2000 survey.

The survey, conducted for the AFL-CIO by Lake Snell Perry & Associates, found that 92 percent of those surveyed ranked equal pay as "very important" or "important" as a legislative priority. Health care was next as a priority, with 91 percent.

These were followed by: pensions/Social Security, affirmative action, and discrimination, 90 percent; paid family/medical leave, 88 percent; part-time equity, 84 percent; and child care, 78 percent.

Broken down by the "very important" ranking, health care was number one, with 69 percent of participants calling it very important. Some 64 percent ranked pensions/Social security as very important. These issues ranked very important were followed by affirmative action, equal pay, discrimination, family/medical leave, child care and part-time equity.

For the first time, the 2002 survey asked men about their workplace and legislative concerns, and male workers expressed very similar concerns to working women.

Some 92 percent of male respondents ranked pensions/Social Security and health care as "important" or "very important." These issues were followed by: equal pay, 86 percent; discrimination and family/medical leave, 85 percent; affirmative action, 80 percent; part-time equity, 79 percent; and child care, 76 percent.

Both working women and men expressed a strong belief that workers should have the right to form a union without employer interference. Some 66 percent of women and 63 percent of men supported the right to join a union without employer interference.

The survey found that the right was supported by majorities in nearly every subgroup surveyed, with the strongest support coming from Latinas, 72 percent; 40-to-49 year-old workers, 72 percent; and white women with children, 71 percent.

The AFL-CIO said that, "in the current economic downturn, working women place a high priority on changes at work that will affect their pocketbooks – including health insurance, job security, retirement security, and equal pay. Working women also see increasing respect on the job and challenging and ending discrimination as priority goals."

Women's top priorities for change at work, according to the survey, include workplace safety, respect on the job, job security, retirement security, equal pay, and paid family and medical leave. Ranked at the second level of importance were promotions, discrimination, and job growth. The third tier ranking included job flexibility, equity for part-time workers, and family care.

The survey found that, contrary to common assumptions, married mothers who work are not part-timers. Some 68 percent of married working mothers work 40 hours or more per week, and 38 percent said they work different schedules than their spouses or partners.

Some 68 percent of the working women said they have a traditional Monday-through-Friday workweek, while 30 percent said they work nontraditional shifts, including weekend and evening work. In the 2000 survey, 28 percent of women reported working nontraditional shifts.

The AFL-CIO said the likelihood of women working traditional workweeks varied greatly by education level, race, and ethnicity. The survey found that 76 percent of college-educated and 73 percent of white women reported working traditional workweeks. Some 55 percent of African American women and 56 percent of Latinas surveyed said they work traditional hours.

The survey also found that working women of color are more likely than white women to work different schedules than their spouses or partners.