Homemakers at Heart

A formative, family-friendly factoid from a survey or study in the news.

We’ve heard this before and we’ll surely hear it again: Most working mothers wish they could cut back on their hours and spend more time raising their children. This time the point is reiterated in a new study by the Pew Research Center. In late August the San Antonio Express-News reported that the steadily rising numbers of wistful working mothers, as reflected in the Pew study, point to “a possible sea change in the culture.” The study showed the desire crosses income and educational lines, too. Deborah Collin Stephens, author of This Is Not The Life I Ordered, told the newspaper that the new yearning for homemaking signals a retreat from the “have it all” dreams of the ’70s and ’80s. “Women are realizing that children aren’t just projects that you can go back to at certain moments,” she said. “Children are a one-time shot.”