The share of mothers who do not work outside the home rose to 29% in 2012, up from a modern-era low of 23% in 1999, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.¹ This rise over the past dozen years represents the reversal of a long-term decline in “stay-at-home” mothers that had persisted for the last three decades of the 20th century.² The recent turnaround appears to be driven by a mix of demographic, economic and societal factors, including rising immigration as well as a downturn in women’s labor force participation, and is set against a backdrop of continued public ambivalence about the impact of working mothers on young children.

The broad category of “stay-at-home” mothers includes not only mothers who say they are at home in order to care for their families, but also those who are at home because they are unable to find work, are disabled or are enrolled in school.

The largest share consists of “traditional” married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands. They made up roughly two-thirds of the nation’s 10.4 million stay-at-home mothers in 2012. In addition to this group, some stay-at-home mothers are single, cohabiting or married with a husband who does not work.

The economic ups and downs of the past decade likely influenced mothers’ decisions on whether to stay home or go to work. The share of mothers staying home with their children rose from 2000 to 2004, but the rise stopped in 2005, amid economic uncertainty that foreshadowed the official start of the Great Recession in 2007. The increase in both number and share eventually resumed: From 2010 to 2012, the share of stay-at-home mothers (29%) was three percentage points higher than in 2008 (26%), at the height of the recession.

A growing share of stay-at-home mothers (6% in 2012, compared with 1% in 2000) say they are home with their children because they cannot find a job. With incomes stagnant in recent years for all but the college-educated, less educated workers in particular may weigh the cost of child care against wages and decide it makes more economic sense to stay home.³

Married stay-at-home mothers are more likely than single or cohabiting stay-at-home mothers to say they are not employed because they are caring for their families (85% said this in 2012). By comparison, only 41% of single stay-at-home mothers and 64% of cohabiting mothers give family care as their primary reason for being home, according to census data. They are more likely than married stay-at-home mothers to say they are ill or disabled, unable to find a job, or enrolled in school.

The recent rise in stay-at-home motherhood is the flip side of a dip in female labor force participation after decades of growth.⁴ The causes are debated, but survey data do not indicate the dip will become a plunge, as most mothers say they would like to work, part time or full time.

(Stay-at-home fathers, while not the focus of this report, represent a small but growing share⁵ of all stay-at-home parents.⁶)

Demographic Characteristics

The share of stay-at-home mothers has risen since 2000 among married mothers with working husbands and single mothers. Whether married, single or cohabiting, each group of stay-at-home mothers has a demographic profile distinctly different from that of their working counterparts­—and also different from each other’s. No matter what their marital status, mothers at home are younger and less educated than their working counterparts. Among all stay-at-home mothers in 2012, about four-in-ten (42%) were younger than 35. This compares with roughly a third (35%) of working mothers. Half (51%) of stay-at-home mothers care for at least one child age 5 or younger, compared with 41% of working mothers.

Fully 49% have a high school diploma or less, compared with 30% of working mothers. In addition, stay-at-home mothers are less likely than working mothers to be white (51% are white, compared with 60% of working mothers) and more likely to be immigrants (33% vs. 20%). The overall rise in the share of U.S. mothers who are foreign born, and rapid growth of the nation’s Asian and Latino populations, may account for some of the recent increase in the share of stay-at-home mothers.

One of the most striking demographic differences between stay-at-home mothers and working mothers relates to their economic well-being. Fully a third (34%) of stay-at-home mothers are living in poverty, compared with 12% of working mothers.

There also is substantial variation among stay-at-home mothers. Those who are married with working husbands generally are better off financially than the other groups. They are more highly educated, and relatively few are in poverty (15%), compared with a majority of other stay-at-home mothers. Married stay-at-home mothers (whether their husbands work or not) also are markedly more likely than single or cohabiting stay-at-home mothers to be foreign born. Single or cohabiting stay-at-home mothers are younger than their married counterparts; most are younger than 35, compared with about four-in-ten married stay-at-home mothers.

Among all mothers, the share who are stay-at-home mothers with working husbands fell to 20% in 2012 from 40% in 1970. Among all stay-at-home mothers, those who are married with working husbands make up the largest share (68% in 2012), but that has declined significantly from 1970, when it was 85%. As marriage rates have declined among U.S. adults, a growing share of stay-at-home mothers consists of single mothers (20% in 2012, compared with 8% in 1970). About 5% are cohabiting mothers, and 7% are married mothers whose husbands do not work.

Other significant changes in the nation’s demographics since 1970 also have reshaped the profile of stay-at-home mothers. As women’s education levels have risen, 25% of 2012’s stay-at-home mothers were college graduates, compared with 7% in 1970. And 19% in 2012 had less than a high school diploma, compared with 35% in 1970. In spite of these educational gains, the share of stay-at-home mothers living in poverty has more than doubled since 1970.

This report analyzes the prevalence and characteristics of U.S. mothers living with their children younger than age 18, using data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. The analysis looks at trends from 1970 to 2012,⁷ focusing most closely on patterns since 2000, including the years surrounding the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009. In addition, the report compares time use of mothers at home and mothers at work, using data from the 2003-2012 American Time Use Survey. It also explores public opinion findings about mothers at home and at work.

The changing circumstances of mothers have clear implications for the nation’s children. About three-in-ten children (28%) in the U.S. today are being raised by a stay-at-home mother. This totaled 21.1 million in 2012 out of 74.2 million Americans younger than 18,⁸ up from 17.3 million (24% of children) in 2000. In 1970, 48% of children (34 million) had a mother who stayed at home.

One-in-five U.S. children today are living in a household with a married stay-at-home mother and her working husband. In 1970, 41% of children lived in this type of household. In 2012, 5% of children (3.7 million) lived with a single stay-at-home mother, and 1% (992,000) with a cohabiting stay-at-home mother. An additional 1.5 million children (2% of the total) lived with married parents who were both out of the paid workforce.

Most children today, regardless of race or ethnicity, are growing up with a working mother. Asian and Hispanic children are the most likely to be raised by stay-at-home mothers—37% and 36%, respectively, were in 2012. That compares with 26% of white children and 23% of black children.

Time Use of Mothers

Analysis of time-use diaries finds that mothers at home spend more hours per week than working mothers on child care and housework,⁹ as well as more time on leisure and sleep. Time use also varies among different groups of mothers at home: Married stay-at-home mothers put more time into child care and less into leisure than their single counterparts.

Overall, mothers at home spend 18 hours a week on child care¹⁰, compared with 11 hours for working mothers, a seven-hour difference. The child-care time gap between mothers who work outside the home and those who do not is largest among married mothers with working husbands. There is a nine-hour disparity in weekly child-care hours of stay-at-home married mothers with employed husbands (20 hours) compared with working married mothers with employed husbands (11 hours). The difference for cohabiting mothers is seven hours, and it is five hours for single mothers.

Public Opinion

Public opinion has grown more supportive of working mothers over time. When the General Social Survey first asked in 1977 whether a working mother “can establish just as warm and secure a relationship with her children” as a mother who stays home, only half of Americans (49%) agreed. That share generally rose until 1994, when it was 70%, then declined into the low to mid-60s over the following decade. Since 2008, the share agreeing has reached 70% or more.

However, Americans also continue to think that having a mother (or parent) at home is best for a child. In a recent Pew Research survey, 60% of respondents said children are better off when a parent stays home to focus on the family, compared with 35% who said children are just as well off with working parents.

From their education levels to their birthplaces, the nation’s 10.4 million stay-at-home mothers have distinct differences from the 25.2 million mothers who work outside the home. But there are equally striking differences among different groups of stay-at-home mothers, be they married, single or cohabiting.

In general, married stay-at-home mothers are better off financially than their counterparts who are single or cohabiting. They are more likely to say they are home because they choose to be, not because they could not find a job, or are ill, disabled or enrolled in school. They are better educated and less likely to be in poverty.

Married Mothers with Working Husbands

About four-in-ten married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands (42%) have at most a high school diploma, compared with only a quarter (25%) of married working mothers. Only a third (32%) have a college education, compared with 47% of married working mothers. Married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands are more likely than their working counterparts to be poor,  15% compared with 3%.

As is true of stay-at-home mothers overall, those who are married with working husbands are younger than their working counterparts. A higher share has a child age 5 or younger at home. They are more likely to be Hispanic and less likely to be white. Married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands are nearly twice as likely to be foreign born as their working counterparts (38% vs. 20% in 2012), a larger gap than is true for other types of stay-at-home mothers compared with their working counterparts.

Married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands represent the largest group of stay-at-home mothers, 68% in 2012. That share has declined since 1970, when it was 85%. The number of these married stay-at-home mothers, 11.6 million in 1970, was 6.4 million in 2000 and 7.1 million in 2012.

The vast majority of married stay-at-home mothers with a working husband (85% in 2012) say they are not working because they are taking care of their home and family. The share was 96% in 1970. Small shares say they are home because they were ill or disabled (5%), were in school (4%) or could not find a job (3%).

Single Mothers

Education levels of single stay-at-home mothers are markedly lower than those of single working mothers. About two-thirds (64%) have at most a high school diploma compared with 40% of single working mothers. Only 8% have at least a college degree, compared with 20% of single working mothers who do.

Most (71% in 2012) are below the poverty level, compared with a quarter (27%) of single working mothers. One-in-five single stay-at-home mothers (20%) received welfare income in 2012, compared with only 4% of single working mothers. About a quarter (23%) received alimony or child support, compared with 30% of working single mothers who did. And 5% reported receiving some income from family or friends.

Single stay-at-home mothers are slightly younger than working single mothers, and are more likely to have at least one child age 5 or younger at home. About a third are white, somewhat less than the 42% of working single women who are, and about a third are black, somewhat more than the 29% of working single mothers who are. A quarter are Hispanic, a similar share as for working single mothers (23%). The share of foreign-born is similar for single stay-at-home mothers and working mothers but is lower than for married stay-at-home mothers.

The share of all stay-at-home mothers who are single rose to 29% in 1993, fell to 18% in 1999 and grew slightly to 20% in 2012.¹¹ There were 1.1 million single stay-at-home mothers in 1970, 1.5 million in 2000 and 2 million in 2012.

Single stay-at-home mothers include those who have never been married, are divorced, separated or widowed, and who do not have partners living with them. About half (48%) have another adult relative in the household, an indication that someone else may be available to help with child care or financial support.

Less than half of single mothers at home (41% in 2012) say the reason they do not hold a paying job is to take care of home and family. The rest say say they are home because they are ill or disabled (27%), cannot find work (14%), or are in school (13%). The reasons for being home have changed substantially for this group since 1970, when 76% said they were at home in order to care for home and family.

Cohabiting Mothers

As is true of single mothers, there is a wide education gap between cohabiting stay-at-home mothers and cohabiting working mothers. Two-thirds of cohabiting stay-at-home mothers (66%) have a high school diploma at most, compared with 39% of working cohabiting mothers. Only 5% have at least a college education, compared with 17% of cohabiting working mothers. Most are poor (88%), compared with a third (32%) of their working counterparts.

Among cohabiting stay-at-home mothers, fully one-in-five (21%) is younger than 25, compared with 15% of working cohabiting mothers. Nearly two-thirds have at least one child age 5 or younger at home, compared with about half of cohabiting working mothers who do.

Cohabiting stay-at-home mothers are somewhat less likely than their working counterparts to be white, and somewhat more likely to be Hispanic. The shares of cohabiting stay-at-home mothers and at-work mothers who are black are identical. One-in-five cohabiting stay-at-home mothers (20%) is foreign born, somewhat higher than for cohabiting working mothers (15%) but lower than for married stay-at-home mothers (38%).

Data for cohabiting mothers have been fully available only since 2006, when they made up 4% of all stay-at-home mothers; their share was 5% in 2012.

About two-thirds of cohabiting stay-at-home mothers (64% in 2012) say they are taking care of home and family. Others say they are not working because they are ill or disabled (17%), going to school (11%) or unable to find work (6%).

Married Mothers with Non-Working Husbands

In terms of education, more than half (58%) of married stay-at-home mothers whose husbands do not work have a high school diploma or less, markedly more than the 39% share for married working mothers with non-working husbands. Only 16% have graduated from college, compared with a third (34%) of their working counterparts.

About three-fourths (74%) are poor, compared with a quarter (24%) of their working counterparts. Among this group, 9% received welfare in 2012, compared with 4% of their working counterparts.

They are somewhat more likely to be Hispanic than comparable working mothers and less likely to be white. The share who are immigrants was 35% in 2012, compared with 31% of their working counterparts.

Married stay-at-home mothers whose husbands are not working made up 7% of all stay-at-home mothers in 2012. Since 1970, their share of stay-at-home mothers has ranged from 5% to 9%. They are younger than comparable working mothers: About four-in-ten (39%) are younger than 35, compared with 29% of married working mothers with non-working husbands. However, they are less likely than other stay-at-home mothers to have children age 5 or younger at home; only 41% did in 2012, about the same as married working mothers with non-working husbands (40%).

Some 57% of married stay-at-home mothers with non-working husbands say they themselves are home in order to take care of home and family. One-in-five (19%) say they are home because they are ill or disabled, and 9% each say it is because they are going to school or could not find a job.

There is substantial variation in the share of stay-at-home mothers among racial and ethnic groups and among mothers of different education levels. But the direction of change among all groups has been the same in recent years: The share of stay-at-home mothers has risen.

For all groups except Asians (whose data trail is shorter), the share of all stay-at-home mothers declined from 1970 to 2000 but rose somewhat from 2000 to 2012. For Asians, data began in 1987; the share of all Asian stay-at-home mothers rose from 2000 to 2012.

Racial and Ethnic Groups

Comparing racial and ethnic groups, Hispanic mothers (38% in 2012) and Asian mothers (36%) are most likely to be home with their children. Among white mothers, 26% were home with their children in 2012, as were 27% of black mothers.

The higher share of stay-at-home mothers among Hispanic and Asian women relates to the fact that so many are immigrants. Fully 86% of Asian mothers were born outside of the U.S., as were 60% of Hispanic mothers. In comparison, just 13% of black mothers and 6% of white mothers are foreign born. Among all immigrant mothers in 2012, 40% were stay-at-home mothers, compared with 26% of mothers born in the U.S.

Among stay-at-home mothers, the “traditional” married stay-at-home mother (with a working husband) is the most common type among Asians, whites and Hispanics. Black stay-at-home mothers are most likely to be single. The share of stay-at-home mothers has risen since 2000 for all four racial and ethnic groups, after declining in the years leading up to 2000. The rise from 2000 to 2012 was most striking for black mothers, whose stay-at-home share rose to 27% from 18%. For the period from 1970 to 2012, stay-at-home mothers declined as a share of all mothers for whites, blacks and Hispanics. Data for Asian stay-at-home mothers have been available since 1987; the share is about the same in both years.

Trends by Nativity

Foreign-born mothers are far more likely than U.S.-born mothers not to work outside the home. In 2012, 40% of immigrant mothers were stay-at-home mothers, compared with 26% of U.S.-born mothers. Immigrants also are more likely than U.S.-born mothers to be married stay-at-home mothers.

Trends in the share of stay-at-home mothers are similar for foreign-born and U.S.-born mothers since 1993, the first year for which data became available by nativity. The share of stay-at-home mothers declined for both groups for 1993-2000 and grew for 2000-2012, with an interruption for several years around the time of the Great Recession.

Educational Attainment

In terms of schooling, the least educated mothers are the most likely not to work outside the home. In 2012, 51% of mothers with less than a high school education were stay-at-home mothers, compared with 35% of high school graduates, 25% of mothers with some college education and 21% of college graduates. The least educated mothers are most likely to be stay-at-home single mothers.

Among stay-at-home mothers, the most educated mothers are the most likely to be married with a working husband (not shown in chart). Fully 88% of stay-at-home mothers with a college degree are married to a working husband. By contrast, among stay-at-home mothers with less than a high school diploma, only 57% are married with a working husband. The share is slightly higher for high school graduates who are stay-at-home mothers with a working husband (60%).

Only the least educated mothers are about as likely now as in 1970 to be stay-at-home mothers, though their share dipped in the late 1990s before rising again. Among women of other educational attainment groups, the share dipped until about 2000, when it began rising again, but it did not reach earlier levels. Among mothers with a college degree, the share of stay-at-home mothers grew only one percentage point, from 20% in 2000 to 21% in 2012.¹²

Mothers who are not working for pay spend more time, on average, on child care and housework than do working mothers, but they also have more time for leisure and sleep, according to a new Pew Research analysis of pooled data from the 2003-2012 American Time Use Survey.

Stay-at-home mothers spend an average of 18 hours per week in child-care activities, seven hours more than working mothers.¹³ At the same time, stay-at-home mothers spend nine hours more per week than working mothers on housework (23 hours vs. 14 hours), and they also have nine more hours per week of leisure time and five more hours per week of time to sleep (including naps) than do working mothers.¹⁴

Working mothers’ time at home is limited by their hours at work. On average, working mothers spend 36 hours per week in paid work, while stay-at-home mothers spend only about one hour per week on activities intended to generate income.¹⁵

One reason that stay-at-home mothers may spend more time on child care is that their children are younger and require more intense attention. As explained elsewhere in this report, 51% of stay-at-home mothers care for at least one child age 5 or younger, compared with 41% of working mothers. As also noted earlier in this report, mothers who are at home with their children differ from working mothers on key demographic variables such as age, education, race, ethnicity and nativity. (See Chapter 1 for more detail.)

Among all stay-at-home mothers, time-use patterns vary considerably by marital status. Married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands spend more time on child care than do single mothers who are at home (20 hours per week vs. 15 hours).¹⁶ They also spend more time doing housework. These married stay-at-home mothers have less leisure time than their single counterparts (29 hours per week vs. 35 hours).

The total time cohabiting stay-at-home mothers spend on home activities falls in between that of married mothers and single mothers. For example, their child-care time is slightly less than that of married mothers (19 hours per week vs. 20 hours), but more than that of single mothers (15 hours per week).

The child-care time gap between working and stay-at-home mothers is largest among married mothers. Married stay-at-home mothers spend an average of 20 hours per week on child care, nine hours more than married working mothers. By contrast, single stay-at-home mothers spend about 15 hours per week taking care of their children, only about five hours more than single working mothers.

Children’s Characteristics

One important factor related to mothers’ time use is the age of their children. Younger children create greater demands on their parents’ time. Among married stay-at-home mothers, those with children ages 5 or younger spend twice as much time on child-care activities as do those with older children (25 hours per week vs. 12 hours). At the same time, stay-at-home mothers with younger children do somewhat less housework than their counterparts with older children (24 hours per week vs. 27 hours).

Married stay-at-home mothers have more leisure time when their children are older. Those with school-age children have an average of four more hours per week of leisure time than those with children ages 5 or younger (31 hours per week vs. 27 hours per week).

The same pattern can be seen with married working mothers. Those with younger children spend more than twice as much time on child-care activities as do mothers with children age 6 or older (16 hours per week vs. 7 hours). Their time doing housework is also somewhat lower (14 hours per week vs. 16 hours).

The number of children in a family also affects parents’ child-care time. Married stay-at-home mothers with two children younger than 18 spend more time than those with one child on child-care activities (20 hours per week vs. 16 hours), and married stay-at-home mothers with three or more children spend even more time on child-care activities—23 hours per week. This pattern applies to married working mothers as well: Those with two children spend about three hours more on child-care activities than mothers with one child (12 hours per week vs. nine hours), and those with three or more children spend 14 hours per week on child care.

Single mothers’ child-care time also is affected by children’s characteristics. (There is not a large enough sample of cohabiting mothers to report on their time use at this level of detail.) Stay-at-home single mothers with children ages 5 or younger spend about twice as much time on child care as their counterparts with older children (19 hours per week vs. 10 hours). There is a similar gap among working single mothers—those with young children spend 14 hours per week on child care, compared with seven hours among those with school-age children.

Single stay-at-home mothers with three or more children spend an average of 20 hours per week on child care, significantly more than their counterparts with one or two children (11 hours per week and 17 hours per week, respectively). Working single mothers’ child-care time also increases by the number of children they have. Single mothers who work for pay spend an average of eight hours per week on child care if they have one child, 11 hours if they have two children and 13 hours if they have three or more.

Mothers’ Characteristics

The amount of time married stay-at-home mothers spend with their children differs significantly by education, race and ethnicity. College-educated stay-at-home mothers who are married spend more time on child care than their less-educated counterparts—an average of 24 hours per week. By comparison, mothers with some college education spend 19 hours per week on child care, and mothers with a high school education or less spend 17 hours per week.

Asian and white married stay-at-home mothers record more time with their children than their counterparts who are black or Hispanic. On average, married stay-at-home Asian mothers spend 23 hours per week on child-care activities, and married stay-at-home white mothers spend 21 hours per week. By contrast, Hispanic married stay-at-home mothers spend about 17 hours per week on those activities, and black mothers who are married and staying at home with their children spend 16 hours per week on child care.

Among single stay-at-home mothers, those who are college-educated spend more time on child-care activities than do mothers without a college degree (17 hours per week vs. 15 hours). However, among working single mothers, education doesn’t make a difference in their child-care time. Single mothers who work for pay spend about 10 hours per week on child care, whether they have a college education or a high school education.

The racial differences in child-care time among single mothers are smaller than they are among married mothers. White single mothers who are at home on average devote about one hour more to child care than do Hispanic mothers (16 hours per week vs. 15 hours), and two hours more than black mothers (14 hours per week). Black single working mothers spend slightly less time on child-care activities than their counterparts in other racial and ethnicity groups (nine hours per week vs. 10 hours). There is not a large enough sample of Asian single mothers to report on their time use at this level of detail.

Aside from differences in the amount of time stay-at-home mothers and working mothers spend with their children, there are differences in the types of activities in which each group engages. The data can be broken down into four broad categories of child-care activities: physical, managerial, recreational and educational.¹⁷ Physical care includes activities such as changing diapers, feeding or dressing a child, and care related to children’s health. Recreational care includes activities such as playing games or sports with children. Educational activities include reading or helping with homework. And managerial activities related to child care include organizing and planning for children, attending events and the like.

Married stay-at-home mothers spend more time than their working counterparts in each of these areas. The gap is larger for physical, recreational and educational activities; married stay-at-home mothers spend about twice as much time in these activities as do working mothers. The smallest gap is in managerial activities, where working mothers do 77% of what the stay-at-home mothers do.

For both groups of mothers, physical child-care activities take up the largest share of their child-care time. This is especially true for married stay-at-home mothers: about 42% of their child-care time is spent on taking care of children’s physical needs. Among married working mothers, 37% of their child-care time is spent on physical care.

Single mothers who are at home also spend about twice as much time in physical care as their counterparts who work for pay (6.6 hours per week vs. 3.4 hours). But the two groups of mothers spend similar amounts of time in managerial child-care activities (3.6 hours per week vs. 3.3 hours). The gaps in educational or recreational activities among single mothers are not as large as those observed among married mothers. For stay-at-home single mothers, 2.1 hours per week are spent on educational activities with their children, compared with 1.6 hours among working single mothers. And stay-at-home single mothers spend 2.5 hours per week on recreational activities with their children, compared with 1.5 hours among working single mothers.

Despite the fact that most mothers in the U.S. work at least part time, many Americans continue to believe that having a mother who stays at home is beneficial for a young child, though as is often the case with public opinion variations in question wording elicit slightly different responses. A recent Pew Research survey focusing on “parents,” rather than just on mothers, asked Americans which statement came closer to their view: First, children are better off when a parent stays home to focus on the family; or second, children are just as well off when their parents work outside the home. Fully six-in-ten adults chose the first statement and only about one-third (35%) chose the second statement.¹⁸

Men (65%) are somewhat more likely than women to say children are better off when a parent stays home. But even among women, 55% say having a parent at home is better for a child. Four-in-ten women say children are just as well off when their parents work outside the home.

Sharper differences of opinion on this question emerge across ethnic, socioeconomic and religious lines. Hispanics are considerably more likely than whites or blacks to say children are better off with a parent at home—73% of Hispanics say this, compared with 57% of both whites and blacks. These attitudes may be linked to behaviors as Hispanic mothers are among the most likely to be stay-at-home mothers.

Views also differ significantly by educational attainment, with support for working parents rising as educational levels rise, though in no group does a majority say children are just as well off when their parents work. Among college graduates, 51% say children are better off with a parent at home to focus on the family, while 43% say children are just as well off when a parent works. And college-educated women are one of the few groups in which a plurality (50%) say children are just as well off with working parents. By contrast, among adults with a high school diploma or less education, fully 66% say children are better off with a parent at home and only 30% say children do just as well with working parents. Adults with some college education, but not a bachelor’s degree, fall in the middle–60% say having a parent at home is preferable, and 35% say it doesn’t matter either way.

Religious affiliation is also strongly correlated with views on this issue. Among white evangelical Protestants, 69% say it’s better for children if a parent is at home to focus on the family, and 26% say children are just as well off when their parents work outside the home. White mainline Protestants and white Catholics are more evenly split on this question, although each group leans toward saying that it is better for children to have a parent at home. Adults who are not affiliated with any religion are among the least likely to say children are better off with a parent at home (46%). About half (50%) say children are just as well off when their parents work outside the home.

Among parents with children younger than 18, mothers (56%) are less likely than fathers (69%) to say it is better for children to have a parent at home. Women’s views on this issue are fairly consistent, regardless of whether or not they have children. But among men, there’s a wide gap between fathers and non-fathers. While about seven-in-ten fathers say children are better off when a parent stays home to focus on the family, only 58% of men who are not fathers agree.¹⁹

Previous polling has shown that the public clearly differentiates between mothers and fathers when considering what is best for children. In a 2013 Pew Research survey, respondents were asked whether children are better off if their mother is home and doesn’t hold a job, or if they are just as well off if their mother works. Some 51% of respondents said that children are better off if their mother is at home, while 34% said they are just as well off with a working mother. And, in a separate question, they were asked about fathers and their children. Only 8% of all adults said that children are better off if their father is home and doesn’t hold a job, while 76% said children are just as well off if their father works.

That same 2013 survey found that while the public recognizes the clear economic benefits of having more mothers in the workplace, many voice concerns about the toll this is having on children. Roughly two-thirds of adults (67%) say the increasing number of women working for pay outside the home has made it easier for families to earn enough to live comfortably. But at the same time, 74% say this trend has made it harder for parents to raise children.

Asked what the ideal situation is for young children, the share of Americans who say having a mother who does not work outside the home is ideal has declined since a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, when 43% said so, to 2012, when 33% did. A plurality (42%) in 2012 said having a mother who works part time is ideal for young children, while 16% said a full-time working mother is ideal. When the question was asked from the mother’s point of view—which situation is ideal for women with young children—the results were similar: 33% in 2012 said not working at all was ideal, compared with 39% who said so in 2009.

Opinions about what is best for children have changed considerably over time. In 1985 when the General Social Survey asked about the impact that a working mother might have on a young child, some 55% of adults agreed that “a pre-school child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works.” By 2012, only 35% of adults agreed with that statement.

Similarly, views about what is best for women also have evolved. In spite of the public’s ambivalence about the role of mothers and the merits of staying at home versus working, very few adults believe that society should turn back the clock. Pew Research has been tracking views on this issue for 25 years. In 2012, only 18% of adults agreed that women should return to their traditional role in society. This is down from 30% who endorsed this idea in 1987. Over the same period, the share of adults who completely disagree that women should return to their traditional roles has risen from 29% to 58%.

In a Pew Research Center survey in 2012, a plurality of working and stay-at-home mothers said that the ideal situation for them is to work part time. Only 36% of stay-at-home mothers said that not working at all is ideal for them. The share of stay-at-home mothers who said that not working at all is their ideal situation has fallen since 2007, when 48% said so.

Despite the additional time they spend on child care, mothers who do not work outside the home give themselves slightly lower ratings than working mothers for the job they are doing as parents. In a 2012 survey, 66% of stay-at-home mothers rated themselves as “excellent” or “very good” parents, compared with 78% of working mothers.

There is also a middle ground for parents between working and staying at home, and some adults move in and out of these categories over the course of their careers.

A recent Pew Research survey found that women are much more likely than men to report having had a significant career interruption related to family caregiving. Among adults who have ever worked, fully 42% of mothers say they have reduced their work hours in order to care for a child or other family member. This compares with 28% of fathers. And roughly the same share of mothers (39%) say they have taken a significant amount of time off from work in order to care for a family member (compared with 24% of fathers). About one-quarter of mothers (27%) with some work experience say at some point in their working life they quit their job in order to care for a child or other family member.