Mothers Are the Sole or Primary Provider in Four-in-Ten Households with Children

The Story: According to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, a record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family. The share was just 11% in 1960.

The Background: These "breadwinner moms" are made up of two widely divergent groups. A little more than a third (37%) are married mothers who have a higher income than the their husbands. Approximately 5.1 million American women fall into this category. However, the vast majority (63%) are single mothers, a group comprised of 8.6 million women.

As the Pew analysis notes, the median total family income of married mothers who earn more than their husbands was nearly $80,000 in 2011, well above the national median of $57,100 for all families with children, and nearly four times the $23,000 median for families led by a single mother. Compared with all mothers with children under age 18, married mothers who out-earn their husbands are slightly older, disproportionally white, and college educated. Single mothers, by contrast, are younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to have a college degree.

The Takeaways: Some of the more interesting findings from the survey include:

• The total family income is about $2,000 higher when the mother, not the father, is the primary breadwinner.     Continue at Joe Carter

Why Do You Go to Work?

Gene Veith wrote an excellent article for TCG on the purpose of our work. I encourage you to read it here. This article is even more relevant, given our present economic issues. Why do we go to work in the first place? Is it merely for the paycheck that affords us to do all the things we really want to do? Are we just working for the weekend? Many would seem to agree with Josh Thompson’s country song, “It puts the beer on the table.”

But is that the primary reason to be looking for work? Veith reminds us of Martin Luther’s contribution in the doctrine of vocation. We work to love and serve our neighbor. Christians should understand this better than anyone:

God himself, in his providential care for his whole creation, is working through our human vocations. God gives us our daily bread by means of the farmer, the miller, and the baker. He protects us by means of lawful magistrates. He creates and cares for new human beings by means of fathers and mothers. He proclaims his Word and administers his sacraments by means of pastors. He creates beauty by means of artists and musicians.  Continue at Aimee Byrd