Jason Monastra

My life and thoughts out on the web

The traditional family, that horrible word - that trend that impedes the successful women of the world from making their mark.  Women’s rights I thought squashed this terrible ideology where woman stay home, take care of children and run the home.  Ahhhh…..but the idea is making a large come back and I am happy to see that people are seeing the benefits of the traditional family.  Working less, more balance and taking control and responsibility for their children in a country monopolized with fast food, instant dinners, and nannies that take the role of mothers.

Lets look at the statistics and see what is happening.  According to the Bureua of Labor Statistics, the trend is dropping.  Working mothers are slowly declining.  According to the professional stats, the trend began its decline in 1998 when it hit the peek where 58 percent of working mothers were active in the work force.  Since then, it has fallen, and continues to fall.  It hit an all time low in 2005.

Why is this happening?  Well, there are numerous factors that are behind the decline.  Economic factors are playing a large play in the decline.  In 2001, as the major recession hit the US - there were less roles available for the work force.  Women tend to have lower seniority in the work place.  Therefore, rather than working for lower pay or doing more work, the trend was to leave the work place till the landscape looked better.  In addition, there was an influx of women with younger children that looked over their family matters and began staying home at the younger stages of their childrens’ lives.  Those would return to the workforce when their children would get to school age.

The decision to return to the traditional family has many impacts, some micro and some macro offering opportunities and challenges for the economy and the family to deal with the shift.  First, income is reduced causing concessions and reductions in overall spending.  Decisions must be made on where to live and how to compete with dual income houses that vie for the best areas to live.  Secondly, the stigma - some people see the working mother as not the proper way for the family to operate.  While others revel in the opportunity grasping at the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.  Third, the economic factors for the country is large.  Impact to overall company productivity and staff are huge.  Companies loose critical talent and struggle to find and train others to take their place.  It is has been a major force in the telecommuting boom and the rise in flex hours, making it possible for mothers to handle both work and home life responsibilities.

In all, the trend is moving and it has been shifting more towards the traditional family over the last decade.  What the data says, I think more than not - people are tired of selling their lives for a larger house, a better car, or to say they live in a specific area.  People want to be happy, live with the family - see their family, and enjoy time where not every minute is managed by someone else.  People want to be people.  That is more important than money and a lot more important than work.