The Case for Staying Home

Abstract

Recent US media reports about a new trend in returning home among married women with children, especially college-educated ones, have raised questions about the well-documented trends of increasing labor force participation among married women with young and minor children in the US. Using both cohort and period data from the 1994 and 2002 General Social Surveys, this study examines whether there is a reverse trend in staying home among married women with young children under the age of six and those with school-age children aged six to 17. Results of trend analyses by cohort and by period and multinomial logistic regression analysis indicate that there is no reverse trend in staying home among married women with young children as a whole, but the evidence does point to a new trend in staying home among married women with young children and a bachelor's or higher degree. For married women with school-age children as a whole and those with a bachelor's or higher degree, there appears to be mostly statistically insignificant changes in staying home across time periods and among the new generation. The study also finds declines in stay-home rates from 1994 to 2002 especially among less-educated, low-income or African-American married women with young children and to a less extent those with school-age children. The implications of the findings are discussed.