And when stay-at-home mothers end up poor, their children may be the ones to suffer most. Divorced women and widows in straitened financial circumstances must often downsize their lifestyles to survive. When mothers have to sell their homes and move in order to economize, their children may lose their rooms, their neighborhoods, their schools and their friends. Such upheavals can be extremely disruptive.
Even after the children of stay-at-home mothers grow up, they may still find themselves paying an unexpectedly high price for their mothers' choices. Stay-at-home moms who have lost their partners, can't find work and don't have enough money to support themselves often depend on their adult children for support. Many are angry and resentful about their mothers' failure to take responsibility for their own lives.
Such outcomes make it all too clear that women become terribly vulnerable if they give up their economic independence to become full-time homemakers. Over time, most stay-at-home moms will eventually find themselves on the wrong side of the odds.
For working mothers, the picture is very different. No matter what happens to her spouse, a working woman has her own income; whether or not he's made adequate financial provisions for her future, she can take care of herself -- and her children. A woman who is able to support herself will never have to face the terrible fear felt by women who have given up their financial self-sufficiency, only to find that they've lost their breadwinner. Economic independence gives women the confidence and strength to face whatever challenges may arise.
Coming up next, two more reasons why working moms should be happy about what they do.
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Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jen157 on 2nd February 2012