Work is good for your health?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Work is good for your health?
1599
Mon, 05-15-2006 - 5:25am

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=43421
Working Mothers Healthier Than Full-time Housewives

Main Category: Women's Health / OBGYN News
Article Date: 15 May 2006 - 1:00am (PDT)

According to new research carried out in Britain, working mothers enjoy better health than full-time housewives. Despite the stress working mothers face by holding down a job, dealing with childcare, housework and striving to keep the family happy.

It appears that working mothers, when compared to full-time housewives, are less likely to become overweight, have a better level of health and a healthier relationship. The study also found that single mothers experience worse health than working mothers who have a partner and children.

You can read about this study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Team leader, Dr. Anne McMunn, University College London, said that women who combine work with children and marriage do seem to have better health than full-time housewives. Even though they may experience high levels of stress sometimes.

It is not a question of chicken-and-egg either. Dr. McMunn said it is the experience of work plus having a family that brings on the better health, not the fact that only healthier mothers decide to carry on working.

The researchers examined data on women born in 1946 from the Medical Research Council's National Study of Health and Development. The data registers their health from 1946 until they are 54. Women's health was examined, with the help of a questionnaire at the ages of 26 through to 54. Every decade, the questionnaire collects data on each woman's work history, whether she is/was married, has children, her height and weight.

The healthiest women were the ones who had all three of the following:

-- A Partner
-- Children
-- A job

Those reporting the worst health were stay-at-home mothers, followed by childless women and single mothers.

38% of stay-at-home mothers were obese when they reached their 50s, for working mothers the percentage was 23%.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:12pm

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I don't understand this statement, I don't see anyone hating you or not giving you respect.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2006
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:19pm

Have you ever had student loans?

Generally student loans come from the DOE, Sallie Mae, or state and private entities (or some combination thereof). You start paying shortly after you graduate. You are allowed to consolidate-- or refinance-- one time only. You generally switch your loans to another provider (I went from DOE and GLHEF to Sallie Mae) to get a lower rate, much like refinancing a house or transferring balances on a credit card. Whether or not you are paying a lower-than-prevailing rate depends on when you consolidated (which generally depends on when you graduate). Someone who consolidated in 1998 could be paying as much as 9%. I am paying 6%. Some who graduated after me are paying as low as 3%.

Unlike a mortgage or a credit card, where you can switch to different lenders an unlimited amount of time, the federal government has a law that says you can only do it once.

That's student loans for beginners. Again, why are you hating on me?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:25pm

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No, as I mentioned in the post that you responded to, I don't know much about student loans so I googled them and came back with quite a few consolidation sites specifically for student loans.


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But you knew this going into these loans, correct?

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2006
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:28pm

PumpkinAngel,

You are argumentative. Saying things like "Why should elected officials help you avoid the debt you agreed to in exchange for a college education?" and "I would love to see what support you have for those statements" are by their very nature argumentative.

I don't see any response to my source, btw. Do facts render you speechless? (Argumentative, I know).

I do not seek to avoid my debt and it's wrong of you to assume that. It's also wrong not to want something better for your kids than what you have-- and when I look at certain laws in this country, that's what I think about. College tuition will quadruple by the time Willie is of age. Who can afford that? One thing we can do to fix it-- make student loan debt like every other debt. No special favors, just equity. Why don't you get that?

have a nice weekend. hope you find satisfaction somewhere.


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2006
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:37pm

Oh and one other thing: show me the 18-year old who can sit down with the giant stack of financial aid forms, who reads and understands every word, and who fully appreciates the consequences to the rest of his or her life when he or she signs. Go ahead. Show me.

Most 18 year olds only know that 1). they need a college education and 2). they need loans to get it. The market is not competitive; you can't shop for lower rates. Many of those rates aren't even fixed when you sign the papers.

Tip: avoid having strong opinions on matters you know nothing about.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:42pm

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Actually one was a question and one was a request, on a debate board on topics and opinions you brought to the table.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:44pm

I most likely could show you quite a few 18 years olds who can handle that.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2000
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:50pm

>If the government allowed the debt market for student loans to work as other debt markets do, we'd be in better shape.<

If the government allowed the debt market for student loans to work as other debt markets do, not a lot of student would be able to get student loans because they wouldn't qualify.

Chris

The truth may be out there but lies are in your head. Terry Pratchett

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 4:58pm

See that's what I was thinking.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 5:39pm

i don't mean to jump all over your post,but wanted to reply to a couple points i don't quite understand.......

>>It is also not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Fair? Not really. Will any elected officials do anything about it<<
i'm assuming you filed for bankruptcy...yes? if you did prior to 2005,you should feel very lucky because not only have laws and officials gotten stiffer on bankruptcy,but they are making it almost impossible to file (chapter 7). dh has to represent his company at bankruptcy hearings pretty regularly and sees chapter 7s redirected to chapter 13,repayment plans.......why isn't that fair? why should you deserve to desolve all of that massive debt but not the next candidate who is repaying his own 20,50,150K in student loans? i see it as a very responsible direction.

>>Happy Mommy who works is better for kids than a crazy Mommy who stays at home. <<
ita. happy mom means happy child(ren) regardless of work status.

>>Stay-at-home moms often have all day to do the things I do in a few hours in the evening: cook (yes, I cook all our meals), shop, pay bills, clean house, volunteer, make social engagements, <<
is this the *truth* based on your 6 month maternity leave...or is this the truth based on assumptions of sahms? i do not have *all* day to prepare any better meal than what a wohm prepares when she comes home from work.......unless you consider sahms only a mix of betty crocker and carol brady all day.

>>Working moms (which is something like 70% of women with school-age children) are ALL SuperMoms. <<
and i am humbled when oprah tells me sahms have the toughest job in the world. ;)

......finally,i don't rely on programs like msnbc to tell me how much or how little time i should spend with my family. stats like that are depressing. really.




Edited 6/2/2006 5:52 pm ET by egd3blessed

 

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