Despite challenges at home and work, most working moms and dads say being employed is what’s best for them
Balancing work and family duties brings challenges for working parents. Yet many say working is best for them at this point in their life.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Balancing work and family duties brings challenges for working parents. Yet many say working is best for them at this point in their life.
Through both recession and recovery, the share of young adults living in their parents’ home continues to rise. As of 2016, 15% of 25- to 35-year-old Millennials were living in their parents’ home.
In 2014, just 14% of children younger than 18 lived with a stay-at-home mother and a working father who were in their first marriage. In 1960, half of children were living in this arrangement.
In 46% of two-parent families, both mom and dad work full time.
Views among Hispanics born in the U.S. mirror those of all Americans—about six-in-ten believe that kids are better off if a parent stays home to focus on the family. But a far larger majority—85%–of foreign-born Hispanics say that children are better off if a parent is at home.
The share of mothers who do not work outside the home has risen over the past decade, reversing a long-term decline in stay-at-home mothers.
Among mothers with professional degrees, such as medical degrees, law degrees or nursing degrees, 11% are out of the workforce in order to care for their families, as are 9% of Master’s degree holders and 6% of mothers with a Ph.D.
The rising cost of child care may be among the factors behind a recent rise in the number of stay-at-home mothers.
Our new report on “Breadwinner Moms” has attracted widespread press coverage and discussion. FactTank asks readers to weigh in with their reactions.
Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comment this week about Ann Romney’s lack of work experience has put the “mommy wars” back in the news. Here is a summary of surveys in recent years that explore public attitudes about issues related to women, work and motherhood.
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