Not for the Money

There's no question that women with young children have joined the workforce for economic gain, as real wages have stagnated in the last two decades. This means that dual-income families must be doing great, right?

Not quite, say two researchers who have looked into not only the rewards but the costs of two-income families. When moms join the workforce, up to 68% of their income goes for work-related expenses, such as childcare, transportation, taxes, and lunch money.

Those who benefit most from two sets of wages are low-income families (because they are most likely to use relatives for childcare). Household income increases 70% in these families.

By contrast, middle-income families gain only 38%, while upper-income families gain only 16%, report Sandra Hanson, Ph.D., and Theodora Ooms in the Journal Of Marriage and the Family (53). These families do derive some clear economic benefits--they are more likely to buy a home, and the family has a buffer against a husband's job loss or a divorce.

Among the study's many surprises is that the families who would benefit most from maternal employment are least likely to have mothers in the workforce. It may be because they lack available kin for childcare and can't afford what is available, or that the available jobs don't pay enough, or that they lack employment skills Or all of the above.

These findings suggest that, to be effective, policy strategies aimed at increasing the standard of living of low-income families with young children need to focus on several elements:

o creating higher-paying jobs

o improving employment skills

o providing subsidies for child care.

When middle- and upper-income moms go back to work, childcare takes the biggest bite out of the family's income gain. "Our findings leave no doubt that substantial economic costs are incurred when a wife/mother is employed," say Ooms and Hanson. So why do mothers cite economic gain when entering the workforce?

"Many of the motivations and benefits associated with maternal work are not economic," they point out. But society remains ambivalent about maternal employment. Invoking economic need alone, unfortunately, has the effect of downgrading the other motivations for working--psychological satisfactions, to be specific. Funny thing is, these motivations are considered perfectly acceptable for men.