“Stay-at-Home-Wives” more popular

by   Erin Roach                                                                                                                                         Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2009

Feminists tried hard to break free from it, but now it seems more young adult women are embracing it. According to a recent article published on CNN.com, stay-at-home-wives are the latest status symbol.

"It says, 'We make enough money that we both don't need to work outside the home," said Scott Haltzman, author of The Secrets of Happily Married Women. "And especially with the recent economic pressures, a stay-at-home spouse is often an extreme and visible luxury."

In many cases, the women don't have children, and they don't telecommute, the article noted. They just stay home because they enjoy homemaking and they welcome the extra time to devote to their husbands.

"We're no longer stressed out," said Anne Marie Davis, a 34-year-old wife in Texas. Ten years ago she was an "overwhelmed" high school English teacher, she said, and she didn't have time for much else. Now, because she takes care of her home, she says her new lifestyle has made her happier and brought her closer to her husband.

Without a high-pressure workplace taking up most of her time, Davis now is able to pursue charity work, reading, creative writing, and exploring new hobbies like sewing, the article said.

"In the past few years, many women who are well educated and trained for career tracks have decided instead to stay at home," Haltzman said. He estimated that more than 10% of the 650 women he has interviewed who choose to stay home don't have children, signaling a new trend toward women taking care of the home full-time without yet having the title "stay-at-home-mom." [BP]

[Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.]