Stay At Home Moms

3 Pages 777 Words

Today’s American family is very different from the typical “ideal family” that was the norm only half a century ago. Family life in the 1950s consisted of a father who left for work every morning and a loyal mother who stayed at home to tend to her house and the children. This concept is no longer the norm for American households. Families today come in all shape and sizes, and more and more moms are trading in their gardens and cooking utensils for the hustle and bustle of the American work force. “The number of employed mothers with children under age 18 were 70.1% in 1999, up from to 66.3% in 1990.”11 Are working mothers better than stay-at-home mothers? For many women, the decision to stay at home or work is very frustrating.
What if a mother decides to work? For some families, having mom stay at home is not feasible. A second income is necessary to make ends meet. Even if two incomes is not critical, income is not the advantage when a mother works. Health insurance, life insurance, and saving for retirement can persuade a mom to stay at home or work..
When a mother decides to stay at home, she can cut out the hidden expenses of work. These expenses may include business clothes, dry cleaning, gas, expensive lattes from a coffee shop, and overly-priced burgers at a fast food restaurant.. Staying at home will eliminate child care expenses. Depending on what state a family lives in, child care can add up. “For example, in Ohio the average cost for full-time child care for a 1-year-old is $4,940.”2
An issue that a working mother has to wrestle with is the emotional and physical well-being of her children. She may feel as if she missing out on the most important years of her kid’s lives. And inevitably, all working moms will miss some of their children’s growing years. Nothing is more heart-breaking to a mother than to hear from a day care giver that Billy said “momma” for the first ti...