29% of Moms Stay at Home

A study released Tuesday from the Pew Research Center shows that the percentage of mothers who do not work outside of the home increased for the first time in decades. In 2012, 29 percent of all mothers were stay-at-home, compared to a modern low of 23 percent in 1999. Part of the increase may be due to the fact that the category “stay-at-home” mothers may also include those who are unemployed. In fact, 6 percent of stay-at-home moms said they didn’t work outside the home because they could not find a job, compared to 1 percent of all stay-at-home mothers in 2000. Thirty-four percent of stay-at-home mothers live in poverty, compared with 12 percent of working mothers.