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<h1>Nearly 40 percent of mothers are now the family breadwinners, report says</h1>
<h3>
By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/brigid-schulte/2011/02/25/ABFkyCJ_page.html" rel="author">Brigid Schulte</a>, <span class=""></span>
<span class="">Updated: Wednesday, May 29, <span class="">12:01 AM</span></span>
</h3>
<p>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, <a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/pew-report-breadwinner-moms/450/">according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. </a></p>
<p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>Women began graduating from college in greater numbers than men in 1985 and now earn more advanced degrees in many fields.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>“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.”</p><p>Cohen said the trend toward breadwinning mothers can be disconcerting because it upends the status quo.</p><p>“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.</p><p>Single-mother breadwinners are at a severe disadvantage, the report found.</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.</p><p>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. </p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>
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