I picked up my new Time magazine this morning and noticed a title that caught my eye: The Case for Staying Home. It stated that the proportion of working married mothers with children under the age of 3 dropped from 61% in 1997 to 58% in 2002. I see this as still a lot of mothers still in the workplace. The part that really caught my eye was about why these women must work. The article pointed out that since the mid 1970's the mortgage rate had increased a whopping 69% At the same time, the average father's income increased less than 1%. We can clearly see that it is no longer possible to support a middle-class family on Dad's income alone. I can relate to this because we lived on my husband's salary for 2 years when I had Colston and yes we made ends meet, but we did without some things. It was well worth it!!!!!! I enjoyed every minute at home. The article mentioned that preschool programs averaged $5,000 a year, which is more than a year's tuition at a state unitversity. WOW!!!!!! Some mothers are able to scimp and save but most decide that the cost is just too high. The choice of whether to stay at home is no choice at all. Any feelings or comments?

Dawn,
I saw the same article. I too opted to stay home for a time with my second child. It was a wonderful experience that NO amount of money can ever parallel. I was talking to one of my renters the other day, and he was talking about how his ex-wife (who is now remarried) HAS to stay home with their 3 children because she can't AFFORD to work. Daycare for three would be much more than she could bring home in her minimum wage job. I wonder how many of these situations are factored into those numbers we read?

This is a subject my husband and I have discussed many times. When we first got married and discussed having children, I was in favor of staying home, and he wasn't so sure that was a good idea. He now thinks it is. We don't have children yet, but if we ever do, I want to stay home with them, at least for a couple of years. I worked in a daycare when I was in college, and those little kids wanted their mothers so badly!! My mom stayed home with me and my siblings for most of my growing up years. People tell her now that it is nice that she could afford to stay home. She tells them that she couldn't, but she did anyway. We didn't have much, but we were too little to know any better!!