Mommies Opting Out of Work: A Myth That Won't Die

By Heather Boushey, AlterNet. Posted June 9, 2007.

Last year it was the "opt-out" myth, and this year the story is about opting back in. Both tales defy the hard evidence.

In recent years the media has obsessed over a storyline about highly educated mothers "opting out" of employment. These stories are not only wrong -- the reality is that there is no increase in recent years in women, even women with advanced degrees, choosing to be stay-at-home mothers over working mothers -- they also imply that most mothers have a choice to work or not. This couldn't be further from the truth. Wives typically bring home a third of their family's income and single mothers often have no option but to work. While the choices of professional upper-class women might be interesting to read about, they certainly are not representative of the economic reality facing the majority of families.