This blog is intended to go along with Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, by John R. Weeks, published by Cengage Learning. The latest edition is the 13th (it will be out in January 2020), but this blog is meant to complement any edition of the book by showing the way in which demographic issues are regularly in the news.

You can download an iPhone app for the 13th edition from the App Store (search for Weeks Population).

If you are a user of my textbook and would like to suggest a blog post idea, please email me at: john.weeks@sdsu.edu

Friday, April 11, 2014

A Bump in Stay-at-Home Moms

Pew Research recently released their analysis of data from the 2013 March supplement to the Current Population Survey, showing that there has been a rise in the percentage of mothers who are staying at home to care for their children. The most obvious potential reason for this could be the difficulty that some mothers have had finding a job in a lackluster economic environment. That was a point picked up on by MSNBC. On the other hand, Time had a take on the story that came closer to my thinking on the subject--where are the stay-at-home (or even do-some-work-at-home) Dads??
In sum: Stay-at-home mothers don’t need to be objects of our collective, envious projected fantasies about lifestyles of the rich and unsalaried — but a lot of them do need our help. They need ESL classes and job training; access to work that pays a livable wage, and, among other forms of parenting support, access to affordable, high-quality child care.
They also, quite frankly, if married, need their husbands to step up to the plate and give them a break. Full-time child rearing and care of a home is work — unpaid, undervalued, often overwhelming and emotionally draining work. It’s work that, while revered by Mother’s Day cards, comes with none of the financial empowerment of paid labor, and brings much less personal empowerment, too.
One of the other findings was that immigrants mothers are more likely than native-born mothers to be staying at home with the kids. This could be, of course, simply that it is harder for them to find jobs, or it may represent a different cultural perspective on parenting. Either way, there needs to be more emphasis on the role of husbands and fathers in the everyday life of the family. 

2 comments:

  1. I am a mom and I have a 5 years old daughter, so I can understand that for any mother how difficult it is to look after her children and going out for job. That is the reason I prefer to work from home that allows me to look after my child and make me independent as I can earn from home and stay updated with today world. If you are also in same situation I have a suggestion for you from here you can learn how to make money or get good earning from home based job, I am confident it will be of Great Value to you and yours. Respectfully, Enjoy

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