Plan B(aby)

The Stay-at-Home Parenting Trend Is Growing

By Kris Berggren

You have a job. You have a baby. After your parental leave is up, you find daycare for your baby so you can go back to your job. That's "Plan A" and it's what everyone does, right?

Well, not exactly. "Plan B" – staying at home with your child – is a growing trend. While many parents return to their jobs for personal or financial reasons, others find a way to stay home for a few months, a few years or indefinitely. A 2001 report by the U.S. Census Bureau states that in 1998, 59 percent of mothers with infants worked full time. By 2000, only 55 percent of mothers with infants worked full time.

And it's not just moms with babies staying home. Today's two-parent families are exploring alternatives to the full-time, stay-at-home mom. Dads are staying home in some families, especially when Mom earns more money or has a more promising career. In other families, both parents work flexible schedules so the children are almost always in the care of one parent. And some parents of preteens are opting out of the workforce to reconnect with their young adolescents.

When making a childcare decision, these are the key considerations to make:

Can you live on less? Some parents wisely work out the books to see if they can accommodate a reduced-income budget. Kate and Dave, parents of two in San Francisco, Calif., tried living only on Dave's income for several months before they had kids to make sure it worked. Another advantage: They saved Kate's salary for a rainy day.

Are you willing and able to step off the career track? And if so, how can you keep your "finger in the pie" as Laurie, a Bellingham, Wash., lawyer, puts it? She decided to stay home with her three children for a few years but volunteers on a local government committee and does part-time consulting from home.

Want to see more?

• And What Do You Do? When Women Choose to Stay Home
• Easing the Transition After Maternity Leave
• Off to Work We Go? Two Dads Sound Off
• Wanting to Work: Do Stay-at-Home Moms Miss the Rat Race?
• Talk about it!