Housewife is a term used to describe a married female who is not employed outside of the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household.
Some contemporary women are leaving the paid workforce and concentrating full-time on parenting. Many of these women have left the paid workforce so that they can focus on raising their children, particularly through the children's early years before entering kindergarten. There is considerable variability within the stay-at-home mother population with regard to their intent to return to the paid workforce. Some plan to work from their homes, some will do part-time work, some intend to return to part or full-time work when their children have reached school age, some may increase their skill sets by returning to higher education, and others may find it economically feasible to not return to the paid workforce.
Similarly, there is considerable variation in the stay-at-home mom's attitude towards domestic work not related to caring for children. Some may embrace a traditional role of housewife, cooking and cleaning in addition to caring for children. Others see their primary role as that of child-care providers, supporting their children's physical, intellectual, and emotional development while sharing or outsourcing other aspects of home care.
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