The importance of women's paychecks to their families has continued to rise, making it more challenging to manage the income loss when Mom stays at home.
The dropping out trend is most pronounced among mothers of children under age 1. Work force participation rates of all married mothers of infants fell about eight percentage points to 51% in 2004 compared with 1997, analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
Women at all income levels are taking job breaks, not just the highly educated, prosperous moms examined in many recent studies. And they are staying out of the work force for shorter periods. This suggests parents are particularly intent on shepherding babies' crucial first year of growth. However, the stay at home decisions are sparking radical changes in family life, reordering couples' work-home roles and bringing some households to a financial standstill, parents say.
Here are some of the reasons women drop out of the work force after childbirth:
Desire to nurture babies in their first years
Poor quality of available child care and the high cost of acceptable child care
Lack of extended maternity leave and flexible return-to-work options
Decision to switch to a more family friendly career
Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2006