A look at the role of mothers
Capstone Project
Megan Ault
Spring 2009
To work or not to work:
How are moms feeling about their decisions about work?
Kristin Walukas volunteers as a leader for two separate meetings of La Leche League of Eau Claire, a breastfeeding support group. One is composed of a group of working moms who meet at night, while the other group of stay-at-home moms meets during the day.
Rich and poor. Stay-at-home moms and full-time working moms. Conservatives and liberals. Walukas said that there are many different types of moms between the two groups.
“Sometimes I think breastfeeding is the only thing that these moms have in common,” Walukas said.
In spite of their differences, she said that there is still a common thread that she sees in all of them.
“Both sides feel like they have to justify themselves and their decision of whether or not they work, “ she said.
The sentiment shown in these groups is one that Barbara Kernan, a faculty member in the Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said that she has observed and experienced in her own life.
“I think we live with perpetual guilt, all moms in the U.S. do,” Kernan said.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, less than 30% of Americans say that couples in which both parents work full-time can do a good job. The majority of women preferred the idea of a more traditional family setting.
In spite of the preference for having stay-at-home moms, the majority of families at both a national and local level have both parents in the workforce.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 77% of families with children ages 6-17 and 66% of families with children under 6 years old had both parents in the work force in the city of Eau Claire.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals the fact that these same trends also ring true at a national level. 62% of families with children under 18 had both parents in the work force, while only 30% of the families had the mother unemployed while the father was employed.
Katherine Rhoades, the Interim Program Coordinator for UW-Eau Claire’s Department of Women’s Studies, said that women are still struggling to balance the traditional roles of a stay-at-home mother with their freedom to be a part of the working world.
“Women are still doing the bulk of the emotional work and the household chores in most families, which makes it difficult to maintain a position in the work force and be an effective home manager,” Rhoades said.
Rhoades used her daughter as an example to elaborate on this point. Her daughter is a doctor who would love to stay at home with her son, but financially doesn’t have the option to do so. Even though she works full-time, her daughter still bakes her own bread and cans her own vegetables, repeating traditions that her mom modeled for her as a stay-at-home mom. Rhoades said that her daughter feels like she needs to do these things in order to be a good mom.
“There is a stereotype of the ‘Leave It to Beaver’ mom with cookies, the perfect household and the purpose to support those she loved, perpetuated by the American media that is now made fun of, but deep down we think we should be her,” Kernan said.
In spite of these pressures, the U.S. Census Bureau survey reports that 53% of moms who are very satisfied with their job are also very satisfied with the job they are doing at home.
“The idea of the ‘super mom’ has passed its prime and people are realizing that it isn’t fair or healthy, ” Kernan said.
Kernan suggests that perhaps it should be more acceptable for moms to choose whether or not to stay home without being preached at.
Rhoades said that traditionally stay-at-home moms are stereotyped as being lazy and working moms are stereotyped as uncaring where their children are concerned.
“The problem with stereotypes is that stereotypes don’t take complex situations into account,” Rhoades said.
Walukas said that she thinks that both working moms and stay-at-home moms still want it all.
“Our parents worked so hard so women could work, so guilt comes from not taking advantage of it,” Walukas said. “It’s my personal opinion that they broke down those barriers so we could choose whether or not to work.”
Check out these profiles of moms- from working moms to stay at home moms.
Check out these profiles of moms- from working moms to stay at home moms.
-Profile of a stay-at-home mom
-Profile of a stay-at-home mom who works from home
Resources for moms:
Link to:
-Newcomer's Club of Eau Claire