[quote=bearishgurl][quote=CA renter]It would make all the sense in the world if you would take off the blinders of your preconceived notions. These highly-educated, intelligent women are doing what’s right for their families (what may have been right for you is not necessarily what’s right for them). After realizing that we can’t “have it all,” and after calculating how much it costs to work outside of the home, along with the emotional costs to the family of working outside of the home (more stress, more resentment, etc.), these *families* (not just one spouse) have opted to make a choice that provides the greatest benefits at the lowest cost for themselves.[/quote]
That’s all well and good if it truly was a “joint decision.” But why go through the trouble and expense of going to college and graduating, only to drop out of the workforce shortly after graduation … especially with student loan debt looming.
Ballooning student loans in the background don’t mix very well with attempting to raise a family on one salary. Sorry, but that’s not a wise choice to make for the family whose future the SAHP purportedly cares so much about. It actually jeopardizes the family’s financial future so the cost is way too high, imho.
You don’t need an expensive college degree to be a mom, let alone a $200K+ graduate degree that some of them are laying to waste by “choice.”[/quote]
Again, in EVERY case that I know of where one parent is the SAHP, it was a joint decision. I’m sure that *after the divorce* some of the non-SAHPs would like to claim that it was a unilateral decision; but that doesn’t mean it’s true.
Many women (and men who are SAHPs!) plan to re-enter the workforce at a later time. Others got their degrees because they didn’t know for sure if they were going to get married and care for kids, so made plans to be sole providers. Others will work in phases, going from SAHP to part-time to full-time, or some combination of those things. Others are able to help their husbands in their work, even advising them and helping to write research papers, speeches, etc. An education is never a waste, IMO.
And, many of us do NOT have student debt (or non-mortgage debt of any kind), including myself.
