Why are some women afraid to work?

[futureshock]

For example:

In some discussions about the economy I have seen several women write about the difficulty their husbands/boyfriends are having getting/keeping jobs.  They mention the financial hardship they are going through because of the employment problems of the men, yet they neglect to mention why they, themselves, are not seeking employment.  This is not about women who already have jobs, and this scenario is only one example. 

There are other scenarios that make one wonder why the women involved aren't working. For example there are women with men in their lives who do work, full time in fact, yet they are still living below the poverty line.  Some of these women also never think of getting a job to help out financially.  (Save the daycare excuse, I don't want to bog this thread down with that discussion.) 

The point of this discussion is women who do not work because they do not want to work, even though their family would benefit by the additional income.  Why don't they want to work?

[futureshock]

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[eema.gray]

Fear of change.

ALL humans are oriented towards avoiding change.  Most of us learn how to conquer that fear to one degree or another.  But when change is already happening, i.e. husband is struggling with finding/keeping work, MORE change, i.e. going to work myself, is so completely overwhelming they run the other way.

[momalee40]

Some, like my dh's ex are just too lazy to work. She has always been the princess at home and eveni now will is use any possible excuse. She is on FS, PA, bums money and is always asking for extra CS.

[Debmomto2girls]

 I have no clue.  It wouldn't be me.

I have a friend who won't work and they struggle.

Everyone is different.  I wouldn't want my dd's to think it is ok not to work and take money for assistance. Or make my dh work 2 jobs while I sit at home. It is a horrible example.

[purpleducky]

For me it is due to fear of an outburst but I am still looking for employment.

[ladysamanda]

Lazy? Dont wont to better themselves? Dont want to get off the benefits? Loser? I don't know.......

[Susan0805]

I agree in some ways, i would work two jobs before I let my kids go hungry or needed welfare.
However, the economy stinks in some areas. I could not find a job for a year in my area, a job in my career field I should say. I could have worked at McDs or the gas station if we really needed it though, And I would if I had to. I can understand the difficulty.

[stacymomof2]

I don't think you can have this discussion without factoring in the costs of daycare.  How many women who are struggling financially would be able to land a job that pays more than the $200 per kid per week it costs to put a kid in daycare?  Even after school daycare is $125/week.

It's not very likely in this job market that you can get a job making more than it would actually cost to get to that job.

I think the number of women who could afford daycare and could get a well paying job and who refuse to work when their family is struggling financially is a small fraction, tiny, even, of mothers.

[LoveTragedyFun]

lazy, they feel entitled to stay home, they think they HAVE to stay home with their kids, had kids with a man with little work ethic/no drive.

[Ktina11]

Sorry Mama. Daycare is NOT an excuse, it is a reality for many families. I am thankful I work from home because there is no way to afford it.