Moms Don’t ‘Opt Out’ of Work Because They’re Super Wealthy
LatestAlthough most people just assume that stay-at-home moms are luxury-swaddled layabouts who have chosen to remain in the silk, childrearing cocoon of a home that their rich doctor/lawyer/business executive husband has graciously provided for them, research has shown again and again that this simply isn’t the case. Most stay-at-home moms don’t really choose raising children over working because they’re so affluent they can afford not to work, rather they choose to stay at home because the sort of employment they’re most likely to obtain won’t cover the costs of childcare.
Earlier this year, New York Magazine writer Lisa Miller tried to bamboozle the guileless public into believing that an entire cohort of college-educated “feminists housewives” were opting out of the labor force because “mothers instinctively want to devote themselves to home more than fathers do.” Could there really be an “opt out revolution” afoot amongst the country’s upper class feminists? Are stay-at-home moms simply staying at home because they don’t need extra money and are totally fulfilled without that burdensome social construct of productive activity we benignly call a “career”? No, not really.