Motherhood in America looks different than the rest of the world. When you think of American mothers, you may think of things like how we helicopter our kids more, or worry more, or have less childcare support or maternity leave. You may picture us as over-tired and over-stressed and while those things may very well be true (the bags under my eyes speak volumes there!) there is also one very significant way that motherhood is changing in the United States:
Financially.
According to data from Chase, the face of motherhood in America encompasses a lot of challenges and changes, from single-parent households to the decisions that women make regarding having children while also providing for themselves and others financially. Here’s what the data can tell us about the changing face of motherhood in the United States:
The majority of women are postponing having a family for their careers
Photo by Caleb George on Unsplash
According to the data, a whopping 89% of women over the age of 25 reported intentionally postponing their families in order to focus on their careers. This is a major change because it affects pretty much everything. I mean think about it: women postponing having kids could change the landscape of jobs, of child care, even of the fertility and infertility worlds themselves. Schools might have to change eventually to meet the needs of new parents who are unable to pick up their kids at 2 or 3 PM every day (I mean, really, how has this not changed already? I’m home and I still feel like it’s impossible!)
I find the data very interesting because it also didn’t dig deep enough to specify if women feel like they have no other choice other than to postpone their careers because they couldn’t afford to have kids or if they just felt passionate about their careers and wanted to be sure they were secure and confident in their choices and life situation before plunging into parenthood. Knowing why women make the choices they do are so important because it can help us determine if we need to advocate differently or support the changes that women are making in order to support themselves.
Read more how Millennial moms are the minority at EverydayFamily.com
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