Most stay-at-home mothers have less earning power

A majority of women aren’t stay-at-home mothers, but those who are tend to have lower earning power, according to a recent Gallup poll.

A survey conducted by interviewing more than 45,000 women in the U.S. ages 18 and older shows that 63 percent of women with children under 18 are employed, which represents 24 percent of all women, according to Gallup. The other 37 percent are not employed with children under 18 and represent 14 percent of women.

The survey also revealed that stay-at-home mothers tend to have lower incomes based on education levels.

Only 48 percent of mothers who have a high school degree or less are in the work force, according to Gallup.

Similarly, women who make less than $24,000 a year make up 45 percent of working mothers. That’s 32 percentage points lower than mothers who make $90,000 or more.

Lydia Saad, author of Gallup’s article on the survey, said the numbers contradict “any possible assumption that stay-at-home moms are largely privileged.”

“Unless a mother can obtain a good job, likely depending on whether she has advanced education, there may be little or no financial benefit to her working,” Saad said in the post.

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