In the New York Times article “For Most, Choice of Stay-at-Home Motherhood Is Far From a Luxury.” Susan Saulny examines the realities of balancing motherhood and career in today’s economy and work world.  With a debate over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comment on Ann Romney’s choice to not work swirling in the news, Saulny discusses the actual demographic profile of stay-at-home mothers.  She cites census data and analysis from Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge:

Stay-at-home mothers are younger, less educated and more likely to be Hispanic than they were in previous generations, and perhaps have a more traditional view of family and more limited job skills than other women these days, according to a Census Bureau report that analyzed changes in stay-at-home motherhood from 1969 to 2009. Eighteen percent of stay-at-home mothers lack a high school degree, compared with 7 percent of women in the work force. And black women were about half as likely as white women to be stay-at-home mothers.

Across the country, 70 percent of married women over the age of 25 with children work outside the home. The median income of those households is about $87,700, compared with $64,000 for households where the mother stays at home, according to an analysis by Andrew A. Beveridge, a sociologist at Queens College of the City University of New York. “The biggest difference is education,” he said.

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