Another Eulogy for the Opt-Out Myth

It's been nearly five years since the New York Times magazine published an article titled ``The Opt-Out Revolution'' and reignited talk of a wave of highly educated women dropping out of the workforce to stay home with their babies. Almost as soon as the story appeared, researchers criticized the lack of hard data and the reliance on anecdote.

Now, a sociologist has crunched the Census numbers and found the opposite: steady growth in the number of women with young children who work full-time all year. While only a third of Baby Boomer moms worked while their children were younger than 6, more than three quarters of Generation X mothers do so. Looking at professional women, less than 8 percent born since 1956 stopped working for a year or more during their prime childbearing years, according to researcher Christine Percheski.

Appropriately enough, Percheski is a doctoral candidate at Princeton University, the alma mater of the women who were the focus of ``The Opt-Out Revolution’’ in 2003. Her study is a welcome addition to Pamela Stone’s analysis of the limited choices facing working moms in high-powered careers.

Credit: Betsie Van Der Meer/Getty Images

More:

• The Mommy Track: Will It Lead to Paradise or Career Purgatory?
• Returning to Work: Questions Stay-at-Home Parents Should Ask
• Is Working Worth It? Online Calculator and Other Resources