Stay- at - Home Mothers Versus Working Mothers

Introduction

The conflict between the stay-at-home mothers and working mothers has continued for many years. This controversial topic has created divisions, animosity, and pain among these two groups of mothers. This conflict has been a social issue since WW I, 1914, when married women were brought into the workforce and about 13,000 women were allowed entry in the Navy. In 1919 20% of the women in the workforce were married, as opposed to in 1814 when the factory workers were unmarried women (Khalid, 2004).

During the great depression the unemployment rate jumped to 23.6% in 1932. Some men deserted their wives and children, leaving the women and children to work in order to survive. Many men were still against their wives in the workforce, but due to the economy many women had to work. The work hours were long and the pay was low. About 20% of white women had entered the workforce during this time (US Department of Labor via Khalid, 2004). WW II was another major time in history that forced women out of the home and into the workforce. Men were deployed and the women were called upon to help their country out by taking over the men’s jobs. Public opinion was still against women in the workforce, yet the government used propaganda to attempt to change the public’s view on working women. Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character used to make it seem as though working were patriotic, and due to the propaganda about 6 million women joined the workforce, the majority were married.

In the 1950’s after the dust had settled from WW II, the government attempted yet another type of propaganda. This time it was to get the women to return back home, since the men needed jobs again. This didn’t work as well as they had hoped and about 30% of women continued to work after the war ended, due to economic status (US Department of Labor via Khalid, 2004). The women that did return home, took care of their children, this was the time of the baby boom. The television had become a major part of life and by the 1960’s, 90% of America’s population had at least one television set in their home (US Department of Labor via Khalid, 2004). The commercials would show items that the families weren’t able to afford with one paycheck in order to live the quality of life shown. Many women went back into the workforce in order to allow for these products.

Back in the 1940’s only about 8.6% of women with children were working, yet in 1987 60.2% of women with children worked (US Department of Labor via Khalid, 2004). This caused issues in society, since mothers weren’t home, children were left unattended and this caused teenage crime to rise. Today the majority of women are working outside the home in lower level positions, such as clerical, retail, service, and factory jobs. Only about 31% of women are in a managerial or administrative position (US Department of Labor via Khalid, 2004). The only time