Stay-at-home mother

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A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct from a mother taking paid or unpaid parental leave from her job. The stay-at-home mom is forgoing paid employment in order to care for her children by choice or by circumstance. A stay-at-home mother might stay out of the paid workforce for a few months, a few years, or many years.

Contents

Many mothers find that their choice to be at home is driven by a complex mix of factors, including their understanding of the science of human development in the context of contemporary society. [1] [2] [3] [4] They are also likely to consider their values, desires and instincts. [5] [6] Some mothers are driven by circumstances: a child's special needs and/or medical condition may require great amounts of time, care and attention; [7] the family may lack affordable, quality childcare; [8] a family residing in a rural area may find it impractical to travel for childcare. [9] Other mothers may prefer and desire to stay at home with their children but must work out of the home to make an income to support the family. [10]

The stay-at-home mother's role entails physical, emotional and cognitive labor. This work is not exclusive to stay-at-home mothers; mothers who earn income still take on much of this labor as well. Fathers may share some of these responsibilities. While a mother may do the physical work of preparing meals, running errands and grocery shopping, cleaning the home, doing laundry, and providing care to her child or children, she also often anticipates her family's needs, identifies ways to satisfy them, makes decisions and monitors progress. [11] She plans the daily meals, outings and activities, baths, naps and bedtime. She not only provides physical care through a child's illness, she consults medical professionals as necessary. She also often takes the lead in managing routine medical and dental appointments, thinking about and planning time together with extended family, and planning for holidays and special occasions. Other tasks may include researching, hiring, and managing outside help including house cleaners, repairmen, or tutors and babysitters.

There is no term that has popularly replaced stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home mother. At-home mothers are diverse; they range across the spectrum of characteristics such as age, economic status, educational and career achievements, political and religious beliefs, and more. [12]

Definition

At-home mothers exist throughout the world. However, determining the number of at-home mothers is difficult. Some mothers earn income but don't report it. [13] Some mothers who consider themselves “at home” are counted as “working mothers” due to the definition of “employed person.” [14] In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed, in 2021, that labor force participation of mothers with children under 18 years of age was 71.2%, leaving 28.8% to be mothers with children under 18 outside of the labor force. [15] These mothers who are outside of the labor force are otherwise known as stay-at-home mothers. They are not considered part of the labor force because they are not employed for pay nor are they unemployed, meaning available and searching for paying work. [16]

The definition of employed person by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is this:

“Employed persons are all those who, during the survey reference week, (a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; or (c) worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family.” [16]

By this definition, a mother could have worked just one hour and would be considered a working parent for statistical purposes, yet that mother may consider herself to be a stay-at-home mother because that is what she did for the vast majority of her time. [17] [14]

Economy

Following the industrial revolution, when women began to work outside of the home, [18] mothers had the job of educating children to be productive members of the labor market. [19] Such was essential “to the development of a vibrant capitalist economy.” [19]

The work of stay-at-home mothers is not included in calculations of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). [20] When the GDP was first developed in the early 1930s, “its calculations were limited to the total monetary value of goods and services that were sold,” leaving out intangibles like “improvements in surgical techniques, the value of clean water, or the care provided by a family member.” [19] Much of the unpaid work done by stay-at-home mothers was excluded from the measure. As Ann Crittenden points out in her book “The Price of Motherhood,” this results in “absurdities” where for example a nurse bottle feeding a baby is included in the GDP but a mother doing the same thing is not. Another source points out: “The world of work has holistically dominated and been valued over the world of care.” [21]

Worldwide, the unpaid work of caregiving is worth $10.8 trillion a year and done mostly by girls and women. [22] When nations and global aid organizations make economic decisions based only on paid work, they often have unintended negative impacts on unpaid caregivers. [23] [24] Perpetuating a false dichotomy between “at home” and “working” results in family policies that exclude millions of families. [25] Scholars and advocates for at-home mothers and for unpaid caregiving call for change in everything from how “work” is defined and measured to how economies are structured. [26] [27] For example, in “Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism,” Premilla Nadasen reveals the inequities of the for-profit care economy. She points to the essential human ethic of caregiving and the elements of joy and community-building that constitute a caring society. [28]

Advocacy groups

Global and regional organizations are advocating for the interests of stay-at-home mothers and others who do unpaid domestic labor and care work. Mothers at Home Matter represents mothers and fathers in the UK and internationally, working for an “economic level playing field." [29] In Europe, 19 organizations campaign together as FEFAF (Fédération Européenne Des Femmes Actives En Famille / European Federation of Parents and Carers at Home). This group has said:  "Unpaid care should be equally valued, protected and recognised on a human, social and economic level." [30] In the U.S., Family and Home Network campaigns for inclusive family policies that would benefit all families, equitably supporting all care. [25] The Global Women's Strike and Women of Colour GWS issued an open letter to governments: "We demand a care income across the planet for all those, of every gender, who care for people, the urban and rural environment, and the natural world." [31] More than 100 organizations globally signed on to the letter. [32] Reports on government programs, as well as analyses of policy proposals, illuminate the need to recognize and support at-home parents and caregivers. [33] [34] [35]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminist economics</span> Gender-aware branch of economics

Feminist economics is the critical study of economics and economies, with a focus on gender-aware and inclusive economic inquiry and policy analysis. Feminist economic researchers include academics, activists, policy theorists, and practitioners. Much feminist economic research focuses on topics that have been neglected in the field, such as care work, intimate partner violence, or on economic theories which could be improved through better incorporation of gendered effects and interactions, such as between paid and unpaid sectors of economies. Other feminist scholars have engaged in new forms of data collection and measurement such as the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and more gender-aware theories such as the capabilities approach. Feminist economics is oriented towards the goal of "enhancing the well-being of children, women, and men in local, national, and transnational communities."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child care</span> Care and supervision of children

Childcare, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Childcare is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early childcare is an important and often overlooked component of child development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housewife</span> Married woman whose occupation is managing the familys home

A housewife is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying and/or mending clothes for the family; buying, cooking, and storing food for the family; buying goods that the family needs for everyday life; partially or solely managing the family budget—and who is not employed outside the home. The male equivalent is the househusband.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babysitting</span> Temporary childcare

Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages; however, it is best known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for employment in the general economy. It provides autonomy from parental control and dispensable income, as well as an introduction to the techniques of childcare. It emerged as a social role for teenagers in the 1920s, and became especially important in suburban America in the 1950s and 1960s, when small children were abundant. It stimulated an outpouring of folk culture in the form of urban legends, pulp novels, and horror films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double burden</span> Workload of people who both earn money and have significant domestic responsibilities

A double burden is the workload of people who work to earn money, but who are also responsible for significant amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This phenomenon is also known as the Second Shift as in Arlie Hochschild's book of the same name. In couples where both partners have paid jobs, women often spend significantly more time than men on household chores and caring work, such as childrearing or caring for sick family members. This outcome is determined in large part by traditional gender roles that have been accepted by society over time. Labor market constraints also play a role in determining who does the bulk of unpaid work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stay-at-home dad</span> Father who is the main caregiver of his children

A stay-at-home dad is a father who is the main caregiver of the children and is generally the homemaker of the household. The female equivalent is the stay-at-home mom or housewife. As families have evolved, the practice of being a stay-at-home dad has become more common and socially acceptable. Pre-industrialization, the family worked together as a unit and was self-sufficient. When affection-based marriages emerged in the 1830s, parents began devoting more attention to children and family relationships became more open. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, mass production replaced the manufacturing of home goods; this shift, coupled with prevailing norms governing sex or gender roles, dictated that the man become the breadwinner and the mother the caregiver of their children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwich generation</span> People caring for parents and own children

The sandwich generation is a group of middle-aged adults who care for both their aging parents and their own children. It is not a specific generation or cohort in the sense of the Greatest Generation or the Baby boomer generation, but a phenomenon that can affect anyone whose parents and children need support at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Folbre</span> American feminist economist

Nancy Folbre is an American feminist economist who focuses on economics and the family, non-market work and the economics of care. She is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Carers' rights are rights of unpaid carers or caregivers to public recognition and assistance in preventing and alleviating problems arising from caring for relatives or friends with disabilities. The carers' rights movement draws attention to issues of low income, social exclusion, damage to mental and physical health identified by research into unpaid caregiving. In social policy and campaigning the movement distinguishes such people's situation from that of paid careworkers, who in most developed countries have the benefit of legal employment protection and rights at work. With an increasingly ageing population in all developed societies, the role of carer has been increasingly recognized as an important one, both functionally and economically. Many organizations which provide support for persons with disabilities have developed various forms of support for carers/caregivers as well.

Family caregivers are "relatives, friends, or neighbors who provide assistance related to an underlying physical or mental disability for at-home care delivery and assist in the activities of daily living (ADLs) who are unpaid and have no formal training to provide those services."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unpaid work</span> Labor that does not receive any direct remuneration

Unpaid labor or unpaid work is defined as labor or work that does not receive any direct remuneration. This is a form of non-market work which can fall into one of two categories: (1) unpaid work that is placed within the production boundary of the System of National Accounts (SNA), such as gross domestic product (GDP); and (2) unpaid work that falls outside of the production boundary, such as domestic labor that occurs inside households for their consumption. Unpaid labor is visible in many forms and isn't limited to activities within a household. Other types of unpaid labor activities include volunteering as a form of charity work and interning as a form of unpaid employment. In a lot of countries, unpaid domestic work in the household is typically performed by women, due to gender inequality and gender norms, which can result in high-stress levels in women attempting to balance unpaid work and paid employment. In poorer countries, this work is sometimes performed by children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Care work</span> Type of employment based on affection rather than immediate pecuniary reward

Care work is a sub-category of work that includes all tasks that directly involve the care processes done in service of others. It is often differentiated from other forms of work because it is considered to be intrinsically motivated. This perspective defines care labor as labor done out of affection or a sense of responsibility for other people, with no expectation of immediate pecuniary reward. Regardless of motivation, care work includes care activities done for pay as well as those done without remuneration.

A working parent is a father or a mother who engages in a work life. Contrary to the popular belief that work equates to efforts aside from parents' duties as a childcare provider and homemaker, it is thought that housewives or househusbands count as working parents. The variations of family structures include, but are not limited to, heterosexual couples where the father is the breadwinner and the mother keeps her duties focused within the home, homosexual parents who take on a range of work and home styles, single working mothers, and single working fathers. There are also married parents who are dual-earners, in which both parents provide income to support their family. Throughout the 20th century, family work structures experienced significant changes. This was shown by the range of work opportunities each parent was able to take and was expected to do, to fluctuations in wages, benefits, and time available to spend with children. These family structures sometimes raise much concern about gender inequalities. Within the institution of gender, there are defined gender roles that society expects of mothers and fathers that are reflected by events and expectations in the home and at work.

Work–family balance in the United States differs significantly for families of different social class. This differs from work–life balance: while work–life balance may refer to the health and living issues that arise from work, work–family balance refers specifically to how work and families intersect and influence each other.

Shared earning/shared parenting marriage, also known as peer marriage, is a type of marriage where partners at the outset agree to adhere to a model of shared responsibility for earning money, meeting the needs of children, doing household chores, and taking recreation time in near equal fashion across these four domains. It refers to an intact family formed in the relatively equal earning and parenting style from its initiation. Peer marriage is distinct from shared parenting, as well as the type of equal or co-parenting that father's rights activists in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere seek after a divorce in the case of marriages, or unmarried pregnancies/childbirths, not set up in this fashion at the outset of the relationship or pregnancy.

The motherhood penalty is a term coined by sociologists, that in the workplace, working mothers encounter disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, and benefits relative to childless women. Specifically, women may suffer a per-child wage penalty, resulting in a pay gap between non-mothers and mothers that is larger than the gap between men and women. Mothers may also suffer worse job-site evaluations indicating that they are less committed to their jobs, less dependable, and less authoritative than non-mothers. Thus, mothers may experience disadvantages in terms of hiring, pay, and daily job experience. The motherhood penalty is not limited to one simple cause but can rather be linked to many theories and societal perceptions. However, one prominent theory that can be consistently linked to this penalty is the work-effort theory. It is also based on the mother's intersectionality. There are many effects developed from the motherhood penalty including wage, hiring, and promotion penalties. These effects are not limited to the United States and have been documented in over a dozen other industrialized nations including Japan, South Korea, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Poland, and Australia. The penalty has not shown any signs of declining over time.

A moneyless economy or nonmonetary economy is a system for allocation of goods and services without payment of money. The simplest example is the family household. Other examples include barter economies, gift economies and primitive communism.

Caregiving by country is the regional variation of caregiving practices as distinguished among countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family policy in Japan</span>

Family policy in the country of Japan refers to government measures that attempt to increase the national birthrate in order to address Japan's declining population. It is speculated that leading causes of Japan's declining birthrate include the institutional and social challenges Japanese women face when expected to care for children while simultaneously working the long hours expected of Japanese workers. Japanese family policy measures therefore seek to make childcare easier for new parents.

Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD), also known as caregiver discrimination, is a form of employment discrimination toward workers who have caregiving responsibilities. Some examples of caregiver discrimination include changing an employee's schedule to conflict with their caregiving responsibilities, refusing to promote an employee, or refusing to hire an applicant.

References

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  13. ↑ Davis, Lisa (2024). Housewife: Why Women Still Do It All And What To Do Instead. New York: Legacy Lit. pp. XVIII. ISBN   978-1-5387-2288-6.
  14. 1 2 "Statistics on Mothers and Work: Setting the Record Straight | Family and Home Network". familyandhome.org. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  15. ↑ "Labor force participation of mothers and fathers little changed in 2021, remains lower than in 2019 : The Economics Daily: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
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