Affording to Stay at Home

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2007
Affording to Stay at Home
1968
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 12:20am

Ever notice that those moms that SAH are usually (although not always) more well off than mothers who WOH? It seems to me, based on what I have seen, that while most women enjoy working their jobs and having a professional life outside of the home, some women prefer to stay home with their kids for a certain amount of time - whether it be 1 year or 10 years - and those women have the option to do so, while other women wouldn't even consider the option because they feel they can't afford it.

Well, it has been my experience that most women who do stay at home have

1) husbands who support the idea

2) Husbands who probably earn enough (or almost enough) to support the family.

3) Enough money to support themselves without working.

**Now I am not talking about people who get help from government agencies, I am speaking about women who do it with no outside help - just seems like most women can't because of financial reasons. So, is being a SAH mom now an "upper class" phenomenon - in general? Of course there are many SAH moms that are middle class, but if they chose to have paying jobs, they'd probably move right back up into that higher income bracket.

Blythe

http://beaworkathomemom.blogspot.com/

Working on being...Supermom!

Blythe http://beaworkathomemom.blogspot.com/ Working on being...Supermom!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2006
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 5:42am

I agree & disagree....


<<Ever notice how hardly any parents ever PLAN their lives? It seems so *normal* to just have babies before marriage, have babies before financial stability, have babies before knowing if your marriage will work or not...>>


I plannned.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 6:42am
God only knows.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 6:47am

I've alreayd answered this several times over.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 6:48am
And I might enjoy driving a Jaguar.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 6:49am

You don't give women much credit do you?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 6:50am
Same here.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 7:38am

But increasing one's buying power (thanks currieri for that term) and increasing one's SES are two different things. My daughter's SES would not be significantly impacted by DH working full time. Would we have more money? Sure, but not enough that the things SES predicts would be much different. DD would still be likely to graduate high school, go to college and grad school, not become a violent criminal, not get pregnant in high school, etc. We'd still live in basically the same area, she'd attend the same schools, etc.

What definition of SES are you using? And more importantly, what definition do the studies you keep citing use? I don't deny that SES does make a difference in children's lives, I just don't think that both parents working really makes that much of difference in SES outside of people who live at the poverty line.

And I don't think I'm the one who continually fails to give women credit.


Avatar for mkatherine
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 7:38am

"You don't give women much credit do you?"

OMG thanks for the laugh -- you have had exaclyt zero good things to say about women individually or as a whole since you've been posting here -- every woman you write about is scheming, lazy, manipulative, flirtatious, duplicitous etc.... you may think y ou're the big champion of women but if they don't live exactly like you think they should then you have no use for them.

"If gay Americans are not allowed to get married and have all the benefits that American citizens are entitled to by the Bill of Rights, they should get one hell of a tax break. That is my opinion,"

- Jeane "Dear Abby" Phillips, in an interview with Lisa Leff.

 

Yes. We. Did.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2007
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 7:50am

So money effects how well your children are going to do in highschool and college?

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Avatar for mkatherine
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 12-20-2007 - 7:54am
Some of the people with the highest moral standards, the best work ethics and most compassionate personalities where friends I have who grew up on the 'wrong side of the tracks' -- and some of the biggest idiots, liars, cheats, and a**holes I know grew up in neighborhoods of privilege.
"If gay Americans are not allowed to get married and have all the benefits that American citizens are entitled to by the Bill of Rights, they should get one hell of a tax break. That is my opinion,"

- Jeane "Dear Abby" Phillips, in an interview with Lisa Leff.

 

Yes. We. Did.

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