Do you think our society would be in a better place if women stayed at home?

Question

I think that as a Christian our society would be better if more women stayed home. I know that in some cases that is not possible. God created man and woman to be equal but each has its own role. Traditionally man was to provide for his family and women were to care for the children and the home. I think our divorce rate would be lower if our roles in marriage were more clearly defined. It is so hard to find a good balance when both people are working outside of the home. 1 Cor 11:3 "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God" Now I don't think this means we are supposed to let our husbands rule us. But submission was established in order to prevent Chaos. One definition of submission I found was that it means mutual commitment and coorperation. Submission among equals. I don't think he made man SUPERIOR he made the perfect way for man and woman to work together. What do you think?

Answer 1

I used to think that way. Personally I would absolutely love it if I could stay home, have kids, and take care of all of that. But that's really not an option for me, and the same is true for many women. That's just life.

I've since learned that women working or not is not what authority and submission are about. Working outside of the home and making money (no matter how much) is not a stamp of authority. God gave husbands the authority in the home regardless. As for wives, we are supposed to submit to our husbands. Now if a husband specifically tells his wife not to work, then she should obey her husband, but if the husband doesn't have a problem with it, then it is not an issue. Instead of worrying about "roles," the submissive wife ought to do anything and everything she can to take care of her family in the best way possible, while respecting and submitting to her husband.

Read Proverbs 31:10-31

Answer 2

I think our social ills are not so much a consequence of females not staying home, but of children raising children (or NO ONE raising children.) There needs to be SOMEONE acting in the parental role, be it a mother, father, grandparent, etc. There is some research that points to the female being a better choice in caring for the very young.

Children can not raise themselves and be expected to achieve a healthy level of social maturity. By taking the primary care giver/nurturer out of the their role and turning them into a money earner, the upbringing of our youth has suffered immensely. This is unquestionable. But women have the same right to work as men. It is PARENTS, that have a responsibility to raise children in a healthy fashion. If this means one must stay home and forgo extra money, then that's what should happen. First things first! Parenting is the most important job a person can ever do.

The religion is irrelevant.

Answer 3

It both up to the situation and the woman. Some woman can easily handle both career and family, as their life situation can easily support it. Other time it become necessary for either the woman or the man to stay home to support the family. This is true when one job pays well but calls for much time away from home. The whole thing is based on more than just the basic factor should a woman be at home. It a big personal decision and involves more than just a woman. It involves incomes, child needs, social and economic climates, personal goal and desires and just plain linguists. So, yes I think a woman's place is in the home, or at the work place or any where she wants to be.

Answer 4

Yes, I do. And part of the beauty of this country is choices. I have read all the other answers and I don't see anything I strongly disagree with, except we're NOT stuck in the fifties. You don't even have to be Christian to love your kids.
I pay about $40,000 a year for child care, because that is what my college educated wife made prior to DECIDING to stay home and raise OUR children.
If a woman CHOOSES to go to work and fight her way up that ladder, this is America, and we've already had a woman astronaut, police, doctors, attorneys, carpenters, welders, etc., and I'm sure a woman president isn't too far in the future.I am thankful for my daughter that she will have the right to vote, get an education, and make her own choices.
I don't like to see women criticised for their choices, whatever that choice may be. If working is an economic necessity for a particular individual, so be it. But don't criticize MY wife for HER choice not to.
Go ahead and call me a bigotted patriarch, but I believe the questioner is correct about what is BEST. And I'm only trying to speak for myself, so if the shoe doesn't fit, don't make BOTH of us uncomfortable by trying it. Please, no hate mail.
And yes, my wife drove a BOMB of a car for awhile. When we could afford a new one, the JUNKYARD didn't want her 1977 Chevrolet in 1995. My kids are worth the financial sacrifices we've made.

Answer 5

OMG....How can people be SO biased....a LOT of the answers posted said that women should stay home and the world was a better place when they did....How can people type such dribble....Some of the greatest minds have been women and they still are....if those women kept their mouths shut and stayed home to reproduce....we would not be as advanced and civilized....I CANNOT BELIEVE that people are SO JADED!!!! Divorce rate has nothing to do with it....guns and violence have nothing to do with it....Our society is as it is because of a group effort....and if you want to go THERE....the United States has ALWAYS had a MAN running it and mostly MEN are still holding the swaying offices....If women were just there to make babies and cook the world would be WAY more OVERPOPULATED and we would run out of the things we NEED to survive!!!! So the answer is NO!!!!

Answer 6

I'm an atheist. I think that children definitely need lots of time with their parents - BOTH of them. Whether the father or the mother or neither stays at home is irrelevant, so long as the children are able to have lots of time with their parents being loved and taught.

I'd say that the drive to "keep up with the Joneses" has been more destructive to home life than women being in the workplace.

Personally, however, I'd like nothing better than to raise kids, keep house, and grow vegetables and flowers in my yard. But that's my idea of idyllic home life. Other women should have the freedom to choose their life path as they see fit, and indeed, many career couples have delightful families.

Answer 7

Basically yes, but it is not enough to simply "stay home". The husband and wife should both be in agreement that the mother is providing a stable enviroment for the children.

She can not hind behind the TV, she must be active in the training of the children. She must provide guidance, support, leadership and discipline.

If it were in my power to do so, I most certainly would trade all the money of my retail management career to go back and be a stay at home mom to my children. All the money I made was spent, and I missed so much and cheated them in the process...........

Answer 8

I agree with you completely in an ideal world. The sad truth is that women's shelters are filled with women who have been left, divorced, battered, widowed, etcetera, but were not employed and are now unemployable without extensive and expensive retraining. In our culture, sadly, having a job or career has become a way for women to protect themselves and their children.

Another issue is the second income. In households where the second income is needed for luxuries...the Biblical answer there is obvious. But in many homes, it means the difference between putting food on the table, having shelter and clothing and living in abject poverty.

I'm sorry to say that the issue is not as black and white as it should be.

Answer 9

There is no greater oppression than to think that the only way to make it in this world is to have two incomes. For a man to value the mother of his children as a wage earner is to devalue the role that God designed for her.
I was a college educated women who entrusted the raising of my children to daycare workers and organized sports. If I could do it again I would not make the same choice. I thought I was being progressive, seizing my options as an educated woman, being equal....biggest deception ever perpetrated by the Devil himself.
If you choose a career as your contribution to the world - GREAT! Thank you! But if you choose to raise children then it must come first for the sake of your children. No one can give them what you can..........

it has absolutely nothing to do with submission, and everything to do with understanding the true blessing of children and our awesome responsiblilty to that blessing.

Answer 10

Over the years, I've observed families from a few different perspectives.
My parents ran a day care for about 10 years. Loving parents would bring their kids over at 7am, asleep - and pick them up at 7pm, just in time to take them home and put them to bed. I was a juvenile probation officer for 9 years - seldom dealt with children of stay at home moms. As a Realtor for the past 15 years, I get to meet and interact with all types of families. BY FAR, the best behaved, adjusted kids are those of two-parent homes where one parent stays home (I've met two Mr. Moms)
My wife stays home with our kids. I like the results and would not trade it for dollars.