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May 10, 2007Myths About Mothers and Work: A Fact Sheet From the Council on Contemporary Families |
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Every mother's day, pundits and op-ed contributors debate whether mothers can or should leave the workplace. Still others worry about the "brain drain" that occurs when educated, high-paid mothers quit their jobs. There was a small dip from 2000 to 2004, but employment rates had inched back to 2000 levels by 2006, the latest figures available. Rather than a strong downward trend, there has been a flattening out of the trend line, so that mothers' employment has stabilized, with a majority employed. This strong upward thrust followed by a flattening of the trend holds for most groups of women. Well-educated women are especially likely to be employed, despite the fact that they generally have well educated, and thus high earning, husbands. Surprisingly, the percentage of married moms staying home doesn't go up consistently as husbands' earnings go up. In fact, it is women with the poorest husbands (in the bottom quarter of male earnings) who are most likely to stay home, followed by women with the very richest husbands (those in the top 5 percent of male earners). Recent media reports have talked about an "opt-out revolution," reporting on a real but very small downturn in women's employment rates since 2000. Moms with children under age 5 are most likely to stay home, but they are much less likely to do so than in the past. Probably even more important were increases in women's education, better job opportunities for women, and the "equal opportunity" ideology of the women's movement.
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