The decision to stay at home to raise your children -- or to go out to work -- isn't just a dollars and cents proposition. In a survey by the human resources firm Adecco, 48 percent of mothers said they wished that they could spend more time with their children, and a number of working moms feel guilty that they're not doing as good a parenting job as they could if they were able to stay home with their kids. Power moms -- mothers who stay at home and focus their energies into raising their family, instead of into a career -- are becoming more vocal, although there is still a large number of women who choose to juggle their job and family.
A British study in the "Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health" reported that children of stay-at home-mothers are more likely to participate in organized sports than those whose mothers worked, possibly because their mothers had more time to take them to sports practices. Other studies have found that children of stay-at-home moms were exposed to fewer germs and suffered from fewer illnesses. In addition, stay-at-home moms can have more time to prepare healthier foods and they rely less on convenience foods, partially for financial reasons. A lot of rhetoric has been heard regarding whether families with stay-at-home moms are emotionally healthier, and all the pros and cons of mothers working outside the house have been presented. In the end, it really does depend on each family's individual circumstances. Each family should weigh the benefits and drawbacks of whether the mother should go out to work or stay at home and make its own decision.
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