What is a Wife Worth?
It is an age-old question - “What Is a Wife Worth?” Put another way, is a stay at home mom entitled to half the family’s worth when the marriage dissolves? We take up that question in this episode of Stories and Strategies for Women with Author Ann Crittenden and her highly researched, best-selling book, The Price of Motherhood. The Price of Motherhoodpublished in 2001 and was hailed as a “landmark book” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Ms Crittenden, former NY Times reporter and a Pulitzer Prize nominee, tackles the subjects of “equitable” and "equal” when it comes to divorce settlements but the book is so much more. Through researched stories the book chronicles the truth about the price of motherhood. Specifically, the financial risk a women takes who decides to sacrifice a career to be a full-time mom as well as how she is treated by society in her new role.
Did COVID Change Some Minds on the Work That is Stay at Home Parenting?
With Covid over the last two years, BOTH parents were working AND taking care of their children together, many times at home. For the first time in our history in the United States, maybe, both parents were stay at home parents and saw first-hand how difficult it is to raise kids. Instead of assuming that a stay at home mom’s job is easy and she is "lucky" to do it, the reality of the challenge and sacrifice of stay at home parenting is clear. In the case of a divorce, therefore, the VALUE of the contribution of the stay at home parent MUST be more equal to the earning parent than it has been in the past.
Please enjoy this thought-provoking interview on this fascinating and important subject. I also add some personal thoughts where I try to eradicate the word “lucky” when describing stay at home parenting. I include a personal story with an excerpt from my book, It Gets Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Moms.
I would love to hear what YOU think and hear YOUR story. Did you leave a career to stay at home? How was your transition? Did you feel respected as an equal with your partner? Did you feel respected in society? Please leave a comment at my blog post Claudinewolk.com, my Instagram post on the episode, or my Facebook page.
Claudine Wolk Blog - https://www.claudinewolk.com/blog
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