Stay-at-home moms ‘less happy’

According to experts, stay-at-home mothers are being subjected to a backlash from those who think they are lazy, stupid and unattractive.

According to experts, stay-at-home mothers are being subjected to a backlash from those who think they are lazy, stupid and unattractive.

Published Jun 15, 2012

Share

London - Stay-at-home mothers are not as happy as mothers who are employed, a new study has showed.

Gallup found that non-employed mothers in the US experienced more negative emotions such as worry, sadness, stress, anger and depression than those who worked.

The research, which looked at 60 799 randomly-chosen women, showed that 41 percent of stay-at-home mothers experienced worry, while just 34 percent of employed mothers experienced the same feeling.

The women, who were aged between 18 and 64, were interviewed by the company over the phone between January 1 and April 30.

The study also stated that stay-at-home mothers were “also much more likely to report having ever been diagnosed with depression” than mothers who had jobs.

It found that 28 percent of mothers who didn’t work experienced depression while just 17 percent of employed mothers experienced the same feeling.

The findings also determined that 26 percent of stay-at-home mothers experienced sadness, while 16 percent of employed mothers were found to be sad.

Stress was found in 50 percent of stay-at-home mothers, but in 48 percent of mothers who worked.

Anger was found in 19 percent of stay-at-home mothers and in 14 percent of employed mothers.

Mothers who worked were “about as emotionally well-off as working women who do not have children at home”, the study continued.

It also stated that mothers who did not work were “less likely to say they smiled or laughed a lot, learned something interesting and experienced enjoyment and happiness”.

When it came to positive feelings, 91 percent of employed mothers were found to experience happiness, while 86 percent of stay-at-home mothers reported the same feeling.

Dr Robi Ludwig, a New York psychotherapist, told the Today show: “Isolation is a killer. We as human beings are not meant to be alone. The more we’re alone, the more we look at all the things we feel are not right with our lives.

“It contributes to people getting into a negative, self-attacking mentality.”

She added that stay-at-home mothers might struggle to feel as though they were accomplishing things for themselves.

“It’s hard to define themselves because they’re overloaded with the have-to-dos of the home,” she said. “It’s a job that’s never complete. There’s always something that needs to be done.They can feel like an indentured servant.” – Daily Mail

Related Topics: