Pros and Cons of Being a Stay at Home Mother, Essay Example

The pros and cons of being a working mother and of being a stay-at-home mother have been studied, written about, and discussed for decades without coming up with a definitive answer as to which type of mother has more positives going for her.  Therefore, this explanatory research is narrowing the topic down by focusing solely on the pros and cons of the stay-at-home mother.  In so doing, one must be cognizant of the fact that staying at home not only affects the mother per se, but also her children, husband, neighbors, relatives, and others.

In her article Jyoti (2012) tells of her struggles involved in her decision to become a stay-at-home mother ( SAHM).  She had three degrees and an exciting relatively well paid position for which she had worked very hard which has now become her past.  She felt tired and isolated, but she did not want someone else raising her child.  She had difficulty seeing how she could be both a working mom and still perform certain parental duties.  A second child two years later confirmed her decision.   Yet, her article gives more negatives than positives with regard to being a SAHM.  She does, however, say that some freelance writing that she is now doing is helping somewhat and that she is happy that she had the opportunity to choose whether or not to become a SAHM.  Frankly, most articles on SAHM offer more cons than pros.  Lerner says that a Gallup poll reported this spring that “mothers who don’t work outside the home were far more likely to be depressed than working mothers…reported more anger, stress, and worry.”

Works Cited

Jyoti, C. R. (July 19, 2012).  Why I have regrets about being a stay-at-home mom. retrieved on November 01, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2012/07/19/moi.

Lerner, S.  (May 22, 2012).  Why are stay-at-home mothers more depressed?  The latest battleground on the war on moms. Retrieved on November 01, 2012, from http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/201.