The ‘new woman’ is a housewife (educated women has discovered the secret of a happy marriage)

The Sunday Times ^ | April 16, 2006 | Sarah Baxter and Tom Baird

[IrishMike]

A NEW breed of educated women has discovered the secret of a happy marriage — opting to stay at home instead of pursuing a career. The phenomenon, in which wives prefer their husbands to be the main breadwinner, has been identified by American sociologists and is now gaining a foothold in Britain. Unlike the housewives of the 1950s, who had little choice over rearing children and acting as homemaker, this generation of women is building on the advances of the feminist movement to determine their optimum lifestyle. The women are predominantly drawn from the middle classes and have young offspring. They regard themselves as “at-home mothers”, seeing their prime responsibility as bringing up the children rather than housekeeping.

They include women who have given up jobs altogether as well as those who have taken extended career breaks to be with their children throughout their upbringing.

According to research by academics at the University of Virginia, 52% of modern housewives describe themselves as “very happy” with their marriages compared with 41% of working women.

[MacDorcha]

Bump!

Thanks, my fiance would love to see this trend making her feelings more "the norm."

[blueminnesota]

I really doubt there's one secret to a happy marriage. Wife staying home works for some, not for others.

[bboop]

It is a HUGE trend. Because, guess what? It makes sense.

[pettifogger]

Happy wife and mom bump.

Trust me, Dad is happy, too. When Mom doesn't have to burn the candle at both ends, there is more energy for burning candles in the bedroom. And we ALL know what that means.

[ishabibble]

Surprise! Feminism is a bad idea and a flop. Women are free to be themselves once again, and now they owe it to the young girls in school and college to show the way back to ladylike ideals and the strength of true womanhood.

[IrishMike]

Amen to that, because it's the absolute truth.
Families live in homes, not a collective of individuals.

[VanDeKoik]

Oh please. A women being free to be themselves is being a housewife? To instill in a young girl that the only thing that makes her "ladylike" is to aspire to do housework is as stupid as what the feminazis have been doing the past 40 years.

[MacDorcha]

Oh, agreed 100%!

It's just nice to see common sense make a snap in this world.

[CindyDawg]

It's not just moms with little kids.

[SamuraiScot]

this generation of women is building on the advances of running from the insanity of the feminist movement to determine their optimum lifestyle.

Just editing for sense.

[linda_22003]

I agree. Just as stupid is the headline, "educated women (plural) has (singular)". Why is it still the feeling that women should be pushed all in one direction or the other?

[television is just wrong]

I stayed home to raise my children from 1985 til just recently. I have been criticized and treated like a second class citizen because of it.

I am college educated, and am just now starting to work. It is NOT easy. Maybe I'm just a little ahead of my time. It was worth it. Got two almost adult kids NO MAJOR PROBLEMS.

I have friends who are single mothers. Would not want to be in their shoes to save myself. They are tired, drained ALL OF THE TIME.

[ivyleaguebrat]

Agreed. Being free to be themselves (IMO) means doing whichever is best for their children, their marriage, and their aspirations.. probably in that order. There is certainly no one correct answer.

[ishabibble]

Oh please yourself. I could just cry when I see what is happening to young girls today, and where on earth did you get the idea that ladylike behaviour equals housework.

Know any 16-19 yr. old girls? I do. All sorts of achievements
and more miles on them than Rte. 95. Only American feminism could have ever put prostitution out of business, but that is what is happening.

Wild On, Mardi Gras, 6th grader performing oral sex on the morning school bus.

So yes, definitely. Women should be protecting the children that they brought into this world, now more than ever. There are a world of options out there, but women need to break out of all the "liberated" crap, and it's not going to be easy. Just look at how easily you bristled!!!

[blueminnesota]

That really makes me wonder what kind of people you hang out with. I know many 16-19 year old girls and they do not "have miles on them". You shouldn't watch so much MTV.

[SamuraiScot]

To instill in a young girl that the only thing that makes her "ladylike" is to aspire to do housework is as stupid as what the feminazis have been doing the past 40 years.

I think it's a larger idea than that. It's to instill in a young girl the truth that if she doesn't make home "home," nobody will. Further, it's that building your own civilization is a higher calling than wearing a floppy bow-tie to work for someone else at a bank or a law firm.

It's not that there's something wrong with the bank or law firm thing. It's that making a home is a higher calling.

[mlc9852]

Raising a happy, healthy family and running a household is a full-time job. Unfortunately feminists have told women it isn't enough. But her family knows it is.

[ran15]

Good news! I've noticed most (but not all) women are happier being a mom.. then working up the corporate ladder. Of course once the youngest kid gets into school there is lots of time left to be in the rat race too.

[Coldwater Creek]

Our Girls are educated women who raise their own children, who are now becoming educated women that will raise their own children.