SAHM or SAHW. In today’s internet culture, that is the acronym for a modern Stay-at-Home-Mom (or Stay-at-Home-Wife).
My Grandmother, Bessie (her nickname, not her real name), was born in 1912. During this era, it was expected of the woman to stay at home and keep her house nice and tidy and raise the children. It was considered the woman’s role – or inherited status in life as the “weaker sex”.
Enter the 1940s and World War II. With all of our men out in the battle grounds, work was needed to be done back on the homefront. Women haralded together to perform factory work previously done only by men – and they loved their independence. Working outside the home was something new. It let women feel how it was to be appreciated by others outside of their family. So even though the war ended, the female demographic work force did not. Easier access to higher education for women also helped catapult women into professional careers.
Along with higher education, the advent of many “modern conveniences” such as the vaccuum cleaner, electric oven, and more, working outside the home became an easier choice for more and more women as the years progressed. Unfortunately, with inflation and rise of materialism in the 1970′s and ’80s, this choice became more of a necessity for many families. “Latchkey” kids, those children who came home from school only to spend the afternoon alone in an empty house, grew at an alarming rate during the 1980s and into the early 90s. With each successive generation, dual working families became mainstream, until it reached a point to where many children were growing up under the impression that this is the way it has to be in order to survive.
Fortunately, within the past 15 years, a trend has surfaced towards families falling back to more traditional ways of thinking. Women, tired of pressure to be SuperMom, began looking for ways to cut back and make their lifestyle more affordable. The excitement of forging new paths into the business world was slowly being taken over by exhaustion. A returning towards family life also sent many businesses scrambling to provide more family friendly alternatives – onsite daycares, flexible hours, and even better benefits. Businesses did not want to lose valuable women employees! However, as the years progress, we are seeing more and more families are forgoing their dual income to live a more simpler life.
Today, there are millions of websites and forums devoted to reducing costs, frugalism, “tightwadedness” (a title proudly worn by those who love the TightWad Gazette), freecycling, dumpster diving, saving, investing, homemade foods, and other homemade recipes. As a result of this trend, many families around the country are now reaping the benefits of having a full-time family member at home once more.
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Tags: housewife
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Allen Taylor
I Love All the info.!!!!!! Keep it up!!