[Vision2020] Nearly 40 percent of mothers are now the family breadwinners

[Art Deco]

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   Nearly 40 percent of mothers are now the family breadwinners, report says By
Brigid Schulte<http://www.washingtonpost.com/brigid-schulte/2011/02/25/ABFkyCJ_page.html>,
Updated: Wednesday, May 29, 12:01 AM

In a trend accelerated by the recent recession and an increase in births to
single mothers, nearly four in 10 families with children under the age of
18 are now headed by women who are the sole or primary breadwinners for
their families, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew
Research Center.
<http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/pew-report-breadwinner-moms/450/>

The report reveals a sweeping change in traditional gender roles and family
life over a few short decades: The number of married mothers who out-earn
their husbands has nearly quadrupled, from 4 percent in 1960 to 15 percent
in 2011. Single mothers, who are sole providers for their families, have
tripled in number, from 7 to 25 percent in the same period.

“The decade of the 2000s witnessed the most rapid change in the percentage
of married mothers earning more than their husbands of any decade since
1960,” said Philip Cohen, a University of Maryland sociologist who studies
gender and family trends. “This reflects the larger job losses experienced
by men at the beginning of the Great Recession. Also, some women decided to
work more hours or seek better jobs in response to their husbands’ job
loss, potential loss or declining wages.”

But the Pew Research report shows that Americans are decidedly ambivalent
about mothers who work outside the home. Three-fourths of those surveyed
say these mothers make raising children harder, and half worry that it’s
bad for marriages.

About half of those surveyed felt it was better if mothers stayed home with
young children. In contrast, 8 percent thought it was better if fathers did.

But at the same time, the report notes that other polls have found that
nearly 80 percent of Americans don’t think mothers should return to a
traditional 1950s middle-class housewife role.

“The public is really of two minds,” said Kim Parker, one of the report’s
authors. Traditional gender roles “are a deeply ingrained set of beliefs.
It will take a while for those views to catch up with the reality of the
way people are living today.”

While not perfect, it’s a lifestyle that suits Lisa Rohrer, who works at
Georgetown University Law Center, as well as her family. Rohrer became the
primary breadwinner when her husband, JJ, started his own business. He now
picks their two kids up from school, stays home when they are sick and does
much of the housework.

“For us, it has been ideal in many ways, because it has allowed JJ to
pursue his dream of starting his own business and has allowed me to take
jobs that require a lot of time and travel. I’m also glad our kids see an
alternative way of handling careers, marriage and kids,” she said. “On the
other hand, I have a lot more sympathy for dads in families where their
wives are staying at home. There is a lot of pressure when you’re the main
breadwinner.”

Although the trend toward mothers who pull in the biggest part of the
family income has been on the rise as more women have become educated and
entered the workforce, the recession has accelerated the trend, said Sarah
Jane Glynn, an analyst with the Center for American Progress.

“Part of what’s happening is that more men have been getting laid off and
are having difficulty finding work,” she said, noting that the number of
married wives who are sole earners has increased since 2007. “And with the
way the recovery’s played out, some men who lost their jobs wound up taking
others that paid less.”

The Pew Research report found that married mothers are becoming
increasingly better educated than their husbands: 61 percent of husbands
and wives in dual-earner households have similar education levels, but
23 percent of the mothers are better educated than their spouses, compared
with 16 percent of fathers.

Women began graduating from college in greater numbers than men in 1985 and
now earn more advanced degrees in many fields.

The stigma of women out-earning men appears to be waning, at least among
those with college educations. About 30 percent of those surveyed think
it’s better if men earn more, down from 40 percent in 1997. Those with a
high school degree or less, however, are twice as likely as
college-educated Americans to think men should earn more.

Heidi Parsons, 44, who owns her own recruiting firm in Alexandria, said
attitudes such as that can make being a breadwinner a challenge in a
relationship.

“My husband is a massage therapist. The disparity in income is hard for
him. I don’t care. I signed up for it. I knew that going in, and it’s never
bothered me,” she said. “But it’s hard, because it’s hard for him. What I
like to look at is how it was nice that he was home for two years when the
kids were little. That’s a contribution there that goes unrecognized on the
dad’s side.”

Cohen said the trend toward breadwinning mothers can be disconcerting
because it upends the status quo.

“Mothers have historically been responsible for the majority of child care
and rearing, and single motherhood represents an extension of that role in
a way that does not challenge traditional gender norms,” he said.

Single-mother breadwinners are at a severe disadvantage, the report found.

Compared with their married peers, they earn an average of $23,000 and are
more likely to be younger, black or Hispanic and have less education than a
college degree.

“The makeup of single mothers has changed dramatically,” said Wendy Wang,
one of the report’s authors. “In 1960, the vast majority of single mothers
were divorced, separated or widowed. Only 4 percent were never married. But
now, it’s 44 percent.” Now, 40 percent of all births are to single mothers,
she added.

Julie Guyot-Diangone, 42, a divorced, breadwinning mother of two who works
on Capitol Hill, earned a PhD in social work and specializes in orphan and
refu­gee displacement. But since both her parents died a few months ago,
she has no one to help her take care of her children, much less buy the
groceries, cook or do laundry.

“I used to think, when looking for employment, I would look at my area of
expertise. But those aren’t necessarily 9-to-5 jobs,” she said. “I find
that I’m looking for work hours. Flex time. Teleworking. I’m looking for
that, as a priority.”

Marcia Greco, 57, who works in Fairfax, had no choice about becoming her
family’s breadwinner when her husband was laid off nearly 20 years ago. Her
husband took care of their two children and went to school at night. He
felt isolated. Sometimes, people thought of them as a curiosity. Despite
that, and despite the unease with mother breadwinners that Pew Research
report found, the situation worked for them. The two just celebrated their
30th anniversary.

“We showed our kids that anyone can be a nurturer or go out and be a
primary breadwinner,” she said. “Your gender doesn’t matter.”

* *


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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