“Stay-at-home moms” are on the rise, with 29% of mothers not working outside of the home in 2012, a level last seen in the middle of the 1980s.
The number of stay-at-home mothers has been rising for roughly 12 years after hitting a low of 23% in 1999, the bottom of a decline tracked since 1967 when 49% of mothers did not work outside the home, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data.
The nation’s 10.4 million stay-at-home mothers are a mix of those who care for their families and those who can’t find jobs, are going to school or are disabled, the Pew report said. About two-thirds have working husbands.
Overall, the stay-at-home moms tend to be young, poor, with small children and have no college education:
- 42% under 35
- 51% care for at least one child under 5
- 49% half have a high school diploma or less
- 33% are immigrants
- 34% live in poverty
About 6% of stay-at-home mothers can’t find a job, compared to 1% in 2000 before the recession. Most married stay-at-home mothers (85%) don’t work because they are caring for their families, while only 41% of single mothers stay at home to provide family care and 64% of those cohabitating remain home to care for the family.
There also is a significant number or women who stay home but are working, according to separate U.S. Census Bureau data. In 2010, 4.5 million women worked solely from their homes and did not have a job outside the home. Also, of the 9.3 million people who worked only at home in 2010, about 3.3 million had children under 18, though the Census data doesn’t separate the number or work-at-home parents by gender.
Despite the increasing number of stay-at-home mothers, most children in the country have mothers who work, the Pew report said. About 21 million of 74 million children, or 28%, have a mother who stays at home. In 1970 it was 48%, or 34 million children.
Stay-at-home mothers spend about 18 hours a week caring for their children. Mothers who work spend about 11 hours a week.
About 70% of Americans believe a working mother can have as secure and good relationship with her children as a mother who stays at home. It was not a sentiment commonly held in 1970 when only 49% of Americans agreed.
