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Mommy s away . . .
Is this a man’s place? “House husbands” are not uncommon in these changing times.
by Lauren Naylor
Right now, as students, your
biggest concern may be the calculus
test you have on Tuesday or who will
win the football game this weekend.
But, in a relatively short period of
time, as mothers or fathers, you may
be faced with a more significant
problem.
Every day throughout the United
States, 5 to 12 million children
between the ages of 5 and 13 are at
home alone, according to an article in
the Dallas Morning News.
They are called “latchkey kids. ”
The article says the term was coined in
the early 1800s to describe children
who wore their house keys on strings
around their necks.
Currently, their numbers are
growing.
Dr. Finlay, assistant professor of
sociology at Texas A&M, says the
increase in the number of latchkey
kids is the result of a changing
economy.
‘“Latchkey kid’ doesn’t
automatically mean divorce
anymore,” she says. “In fact, since
about the mid-60s there has been a
big increase in women going to work.
“And, somewhere in the early 80s it
passed 50 percent of married women
in the work force.
“It’s just economic change. We’ve
had a lot of inflation, and wages
haven’t kept up with that. So, for the
average family now to own a house
and to own cars and to live the lifestyle
they want to live, they have to have
two incomes instead of just one. ”
Finlay says another reason for the
increase is that more young women
want to use the degree they worked
for in college.
“A lot of young women are wanting
to work, ” she says. “They see that as
part of their life, having a job and a
career as well as a family.
“So, for most people, it’s not a
choice of career vs. family anymore.
They want to combine both. ”
But one question that has been
bothering psychologists and
sociologists for years is this: Can a
child be brought up properly as a
latchkey kid?
“A lot of studies have tried to
compare children of working mothers
and children of non-working
mothers,” Finlay says. “Some of the
earlier ones showed problems in
children of working mothers.
“However, most of these studies
didn’t really compare equivalent
groups. Working mothers used to be
primarily from poor families or one-
parent families.
“So you were comparing kids from
families, where there really wasn’t
enough to go around, with middle
class families where the mothers
weren’t working.
“When you compare equivalent
levels of society, there’s really not that
much difference in the outcome of the