After decades of decline, the share of mothers who stay home with their children has steadily risen over the last several years, a new report has found. In 2012, 29% of all mothers with children under age 18 stayed at home, a figure that has steadily risen since 1999 when 23% of mothers were stay-at-home, the Pew Research Center reported Tuesday. The share of stay-at-home moms had been dropping since 1967, when about half of all moms stayed home.I don't think it is an accident that the first generation of mothers to grow up without mothers in the home have concluded that the grand social experiment was a disaster. Now if they will only abandon the rest of the equalitarian program, there may be some hope for the future of the West.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Learning, but not fast enough
Some Generation X mothers appear to have learned from the mistakes of their mothers:
17 comments:
I saw someone post that 29% number on fb, but didn't have the context behind it, although I did note that it seemed very low.
They didn't learn a thing. They are just lazy and entitled.
Perhaps the low level of employment is one reason to stay home. Obamacare has ensured many female oriented professions go begging. Nurses were laid off at record numbers contrary to expectations of more employment in these professions. Many teachers were laid off. Cities can't afford them. Class sizes have grown. Less families are participating in pre-school.
Staying home and have kids is a great idea. Don't tell that to our illegal aliens.
I wonder how many of the stay at home moms are single moms on welfare. Didn't see it in the post but admittedly only skimmed on my break.
This would be a much different group than those who actually married a responsible man and sacrificed income to raise children.
My wife and I are both Gen-X, and a lot of our peers are STAHM who homeschool 3, 4, or 5 children. Lazy and entitled they are not. Alexander, my wife could work you into the ground while simultaneously nursing our infant son. My wife was a lonely latchkey kid raised by a single-mother feminist nurse, and we both agreed that she would be at home with our children at all costs, even if we had to live in a van down by the river. The biggest problem we see is there is a disconnect between Boomer grandparents and their children. Since boomer mothers spent their best years in nursing, teaching, or HR, they have no home economic skills to pass on to Gen-X/Millennial parents who want to give their children a proper upbringing. Not that they would want to, anyway. Gen-X/Millennial mothers have two options: rebuild society, one home at a time, or continue the destruction, one powerpoint slide at a time.
I'm going to chalk at least half of that number up to the deplorable jobs market.
But even half of that 6% is still pretty good. Just wait until the non-productive economy really tanks, and they HAVE to stay at home and find out it is much better than slaving away for some soulless corporation.
I'm going to chalk at least half of that number up to the deplorable jobs market.
Yes and no, 'cause it cuts both ways. The deplorable job market hampers their husbands too.
Most of our social circle are older Xers, 40+, and the most common situation is the wife runs her own part-time job from home. In fact, of the dozen or so couples we socialize most often with, only one has the wife working full-time outside the home*, and she wants to quite ASAP but her husband is still trying to get his startup off the ground so they need the income.
* though some of the "part time" from home jobs are probably close to full time as far as hours go, but they're at least flexible hours.
Just wait until the non-productive economy really tanks
Boy-howdy, ain't that going to be the case. Funny though, you made me think through what the part-time SAHMs are doing, and since most of them are running what amount to consulting businesses, most are part of the semi-productive economy: Accounting, Marketing, Event Coordination, Catering... They have to do something people are willing to pay for Only one of them has a completely useless function - medical billing coding. Nice woman, but what a stupid waste of productivity that is.
"wonder how many of the stay at home moms are single moms on welfare. Didn't see it in the post but admittedly only skimmed on my break."
I'm wondering this too. Most of the "Stay at home" mums I know of, are sat there watching Jeremy kyle with their black kid stuck in the other room, with random unemployed drug dealing convicts flitting through so they're not "lonely". NOT choosing to raise their children with the biological father in a happy family.
You might want to connect these thoughts with the thesis of The Fourth Turning, a book on generational theory by Strauss and Howe. They argue for certain over-arching characteristics on a four-generation circular recurring model, each generation having different emphases than the one following or preceding. And the mix of generations in public life, as each goes through the stages of life, affecting society generally.
In the US, for example, it's interesting that the presidents did not include a representative from the "helper" generation (born 1926-ish to 1945-ish) -- a group very good on process (think Rumsfeld and Cheney) -- but jumped right from the hero generation (public minded) to the baby boomers (idealists). (Carter and HW were born 1924.)
they have no home economic skills to pass on to Gen-X/Millennial parents who want to give their children a proper upbringing
Yeah that probably mattered more before the internet.
Of course, there has been some idiotic over correcting. Helicopter parents abound. They spend their time scheduling play dates and driving them to 5 concurrent extra curricular activities.
That is another issue. More stay at home mothers, but still with the 'do it all, have it all', materialistically driven, success-industry mindset. It's so prevalent in the US that you literally cannot escape it. It's so utterly a part of the rhythm of life in America that people who consciously speak out against materialism are then incapable of looking around and seeing that, bit by bit, over time, they succumb to the exact same pressures to have, buy, collect, upgrade, or remedy the next 'lack' they recognize.
But not, they're not materialistic like all those other people.
تحميل العاب مجانية
تحميل برامج مجانية
هوت سبوت شيلد
تحميل برنامج انترنت داونلود مانجر
تحميل برنامج ياهو ماسنجر
تحميل برنامج فلاش بلاير
"the biggest problem we see is there is a disconnect between Boomer grandparents and their children."
Damn right on that. My wife's parents basically think we're from outer space for having lots of children and living a simple, agrarian homeschooling life. Plus my wife stays at home and has no interest in working at some crappy HR department. She also brings me a cup of coffee every morning in bed. WHAAAA?
It's totally outside of their materialist/feminist paradigm.
It's hard to say that all these Gen-X women are suddenly making smart social and moral decisions that their mothers did not. Some are. Many, it seems, simply can't find a job. In 2000, only 1% of stay-at-home moms did so because they couldn't find employment. Now it's up to 6% of stay-at-home moms. Harsh economic realities don't account for all of the new stay-at-home moms, but it's a good share of them. These people aren't any more moral; they're simply out of choices.
These people aren't any more moral; they're simply out of choices.
So, instead of arguing about whether the glass is half empty or half full, you just want to knock it over and complain the tablecloth is wet?
Plus my wife stays at home and has no interest in working at some crappy HR department. She also brings me a cup of coffee every morning in bed. WHAAAA?
Although my wife needs to work for now, she also does the coffee in bed thing every morning before our Bible study. It's awesome.
You all should bother reading the report before spouting off your theories. The increase is driven by foreign women (Asian and Hispanic) coming to America, marrying and staying home with their kids (with the help of extended family, not in the report, but certainly the case).
Post a Comment
NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS.