Blog - Mom 6.5.13

Over the past couple of decades, amid the references to “soccer moms,” an image emerged of many successful, professional white women choosing to leave the workplace and raise kids as a stay-at-home mother. Their decision to leave a successful job helped coin the term “opt-out moms.”

Yet a recently released report by the Census Bureau suggests that this image is not typical of stay-at-home mothers. According to the Washington Post:

… census statistics released Thursday show that stay-at-home mothers tend to be younger and less educated, with lower family incomes. They are more likely than other mothers to be Hispanic or foreign-born.

… the profile of mothers at home that emerged is clearly at odds with the popular discussion that has flourished in recent years, (researchers) said.

The notion of an opt-out revolution took shape in 2003, when The New York Times’ writer, Lisa Belkin, coined the term to describe the choices made by a group of high-achieving Princeton women who left the fast track after they had children.