Over the last few years, we have seen a real surge in the number of mums and dads buying stick on name labels for their children, choosing this fast and convenient way to make sure school uniform and equipment doesn’t get lost, in favour of the traditional sew on name tags.
We believe parents should have the choice, but this development certainly got us thinking about a notion made famous by Jane Austen – ‘an accomplished woman’.
We were interested to find out what traits accomplished women have today, in comparison to previous generations. We asked 2,500 women to let us know what they believe makes for an accomplished woman in today’s society, after all, things have moved on quite significantly since the Jane Austen era. This is something that 86 percent of women agree with, according to our research.
The Demise of Traditional Skills
The results show that priorities have changed dramatically over time. It seems that women today are not as interested in learning traditional skills, like sewing or knitting. Over 28 percent said they did not have time to learn skills such as knitting, sewing in name tags, baking fairy cakes or handwashing, while nearly a third said they tend to offload practical or household tasks to their mum or grandmother.
Gardening and making beds the old-fashioned way without fitted sheets emerged as skills modern women feel are failing by the wayside. Perhaps unsurprisingly, things like gutting a fish, plucking a pheasant and polishing silverware are also becoming skills of the past as modern mums add other strings to their bows.
The Modern Day Accomplished Woman
Over 60 percent of the women we asked said they felt accomplished, something they owed to a range of new and important skillsets. These included being well-travelled (27 percent), having financial independence (53 percent), being well read (32 percent) and giving sound advice (27 percent).
Three in ten said being tech savvy was an accomplishment for the modern age, while 27 percent said being able to negotiate a deal was important and 28 percent said being a good cook was a skill worth having.
Earning a high salary was what determined an accomplished woman in 2018, according to 40 percent of the women we asked.
The research also asked mothers to give details about the things they do with their own children that their own mother didn’t do with them when they were children. Being more clued up on popular culture (40 percent), watching funny videos on YouTube (40 percent) and being more open and honest about finances (40 percent), were among the top answers.
The Top 10 Attributes of a Modern Day Accomplished Woman
- Knitting 51 percent
- Darning socks 46 percent
- Mending clothing items 41 percent
- Ironing a pleated skirt 38 percent
- Making a patchwork quilt 37 percent
- Gutting and filleting a fish 37 percent
- Keeping house plants alive 35 percent
- Cooking and baking 34 percent
- Washing clothes by hand 34 percent
- Plucking a pheasant 33 percent
The Top Attributes Women Want to Pass on to Their Children
- The ability to cook and bake
- Independence
- Kindness
- Honesty
- Manners
- Common sense
- Good manners
- Family values
- Financial savvy
- Loyalty
