Mother Working Essay

721 Words3 Pages
The basic unit of every society is the family. Families make up the fabric of every community and should be valued for the important role they hold in keeping people together. The heads of each familial unit have a duty, a duty that I feel is unique to each family and can change over time. Traditionally, the father has been the breadwinner—working several days a week to provide for his family financially. The mother has traditionally been the homemaker—taking care of the children and the house. In recent years, our society has seen a rather dramatic shift in the expectations of both the father and mother. We now expect the father to play a more active role in the lives of his children and in the running of the household. We also expect the mother to be more active outside of the home, often by working. There has been a division amongst people as to the benefits and consequences of having women work outside of the home. While some believe that working women are harming the family, I feel that working women are benefiting their families and teaching their children valuable life lessons. Working parents and nonworking parents alike have a common goal in mind for their family: that their children are well taken care of and provided with everything that they might need. In “Working Mothers are Harming the Family,” Richard Lowry argues that when given the choice, most mothers would choose to stay home with their children. I disagree with Lowry. In today’s competitive society, in order for a family to do well, it is often necessary for both parents to work. Parents work because of the undeniable financial benefits that come with having both parents work. Two-parent families in which both parents work make an average of $26,000 more than families in which only one parent works (Karaim). I have seen many examples of this in my own life. My family and many of my relatives
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