Your average American apparently believes that moms would, and should, stay out of the paid workforce if only they could. Pundits love to cite the statistics saying that most moms who work full-time would rather cut back. Never mind the parallel statistics that say most stay-at-home moms would also like to work part-time. If you ask me, it all points to the scarcity of part-time work (more on my own experience with this in due time!) and the insane demands of the typical job. Never mind whether Ozzie’s wage-earning role fits modern-day Harriets; nowadays a full-time job means way more hours than Ozzie ever put in. Full-time working moms pine for fewer work hours, not to return home to do nothing but gurgle at baby (and feed and diaper and clean and ...).
Salon’s Broadsheet reports on a study that undercuts Caitlin Flanagan-type paeans to the idyll of staying at home. The study, from the British Institute for Social and Economic Research, finds that “mothers with jobs are significantly happier than their nonworking counterparts.” I hate to quibble with a sister, but I think the Broadsheet writer meant wage-earning mothers are happier than non-wage-earning mothers. Let’s not play into the media-created so-called “mommy wars”. We should all agree: Mothering is a job. Dammit. And, when you put it that way, suddenly the research seems like little more than common sense. Who wouldn’t be happier with some wages than without?
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