Being a very independent female, people are often surprised to learn my mother never worked. I’ve pondered it over the years. For one, my grandmother did work and is also fiercely independent. No doubt my mom was raised in a home where women take care of themselves. & she did get a degree. She just married very well! Whereas, 2 of my dad’s sisters did not go to college, were left with young kids to raise, and were financially devastated by divorce. Likewise, my parents didn’t feed me the usual fairytale of finding a man to take care of me – QUITE the opposite.

For reference, my spouse has stayed home for 9 years with our kids. He has a degree and some relevant work experience. He can take care of himself just fine. There are several women in our family who are educated and spent many years home with their kids. They also spent many many years working before their kids were born and after they were grown up. & not necessarily because they had to, but because they didn’t want to subject themselves to poverty and financial ruin if the marriage didn’t work out.