A recent report shows women have wide support in the workplace, but many still don't receive equal pay for the same positions men hold.

Stacey Smith and her colleagues are pouring over ideas for the next issue of her magazine: "Hybrid Mom."

Just like her readers, Smith is trying to embrace and balance multiple roles at work and home.

"Women want everything. They want to be the mom, support their kids and be there for their children and help raise them. At the same time we are educated and well rounded, and we have other desires too," Smith said.

She says she is happy to be part of the changing American workforce. Women now make up 49.9 percent of all U.S. workers.

Smith says over the decades, women have redefined the roles of worker and mom.

"Totally breaking the mold, it's not your traditional mom world any longer," Smith said.

California's first lady, Maria Shriver, noticed the changing landscape after hosting a roundtable in her state. In a nationwide project with Time magazine and NBC-Universal, Shriver is examining the state of women in American life.

"Mothers are the primary bread winners, the co-bread winners in a majority or two-thirds of American families. That's never happened before," Shriver said.

According to a new poll, the majority of women and men feel very or somewhat positive nearly half of U.S. workers are women. But the societal shift has women and men rewriting the rules of engagement when it comes to household chores, child care and finances.

The economy is also driving the changes. National unemployment is nearing 10 percent, many male-dominated jobs have disappeared and in some fields, women are still fighting for equal pay.

Many moms are barely getting by.

At a roundtable in Detroit, single mom Tracey Shumard says she is struggling to keep up with mortgage payments and care for her family after losing her job at Ford earlier this year.

Shumard says she thought of giving up, but couldn't.

"I have two children to think about, so I can't," she said.

NBC's "A Woman's Nation" series debuts Sunday on "Meet the Press." Shriver will serve as guest editor throughout the week on "Today," "NBC Nightly News," MSNBC, Telemundo, iVillage, MSNBC.com, and TheGrio.com.