By Leslie Brody, McClatchy-Tribune Newspapers
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Many mothers who planned to stay home to raise
children say the recession has pushed them to work — or hunt for work —
much sooner than expected.
At play groups, employment firms,
nanny agencies, therapists' offices and online discussion forums,
married women are saying that a husband's layoff, fear of downsizing or
tighter household budgets have forced them to update resumes they
thought they had put to rest until their kids went to school.
It's
too early to find current data specifically on moms, but numbers on
women from the Bureau of Labor Statistics back up anecdotal evidence of
the trend. The percentage of women ages 24 to 44 who are in the labor
force — meaning they have jobs or want them — has grown during the
recession, to 75.7 percent last month, up from 75.3 percent in December
2007. Steve Hipple, an economist at the bureau, called that increase
small but noteworthy. More HERE
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