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'After adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the group most likely to attend selective colleges were students in male breadwinner-female homemaker families.'Teens whose mothers worked part-time or not outside the home were significantly more likely to be admitted to and attend a highly selective college or university than teens whose mothers worked full time, finds a study out today from the Institute for Family Studies. The study controlled for external factors including family income, parental education, the child’s sex, race, and family composition.“Students are more likely to be accepted by and attend highly competitive colleges when their mothers are at...

Blessed with children as well as a career outside the home, working mums may seem to have it all. But actually they suffer a double guilt burden—that they are bad mothers because they work and bad employees because they have a family, a study shows. Researchers found that working mothers agonized more about their job outside the office than fathers and had more negative thoughts about their family while at work. Both parents think about their families, but only for mothers is this type of thought associated with increased stress and negative emotions. …

In a trend accelerated by the recent recession and an increase in births to single mothers, nearly four in 10 families with children under the age of 18 are now headed by women who are the sole or primary breadwinners for their families, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. The report reveals a sweeping change in traditional gender roles and family life over a few short decades: The number of married mothers who out-earn their husbands has nearly quadrupled, from 4 percent in 1960 to 15 percent in 2011. Single mothers, who are sole providers...

Between 1991 and 2006, the numbers of unfaithful wives under 30 increased by 20% and husbands by a whopping 45%. These numbers come from a study conducted by David Atkins of the University of Washington Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors. ... Since 1950, the age of first marriage has risen to 25 from 20 for women and to 27 from 22 for men. "It's more common for people to be hooking up or having relationships with multiple partners" before marriage, says Prof. Laumann. Even young people who engage in monogamous relationships before marriage may be hurting...

LET'S talk Mommy Wars, double standards and the media elite. Last Friday, Howard Gutman, a member of the Obama campaign's National Finance Committee, attacked Sarah Palin's ability to be a good parent while having a high-powered public life. In a finger-wagging appearance on the Laura Ingraham radio show, the Obama operative scolded the GOP mother of five for not putting her professional career on hold. "Your responsibility is to put your family first," Gutman lectured as he singled out Palin's Down Syndrome baby and pregnant teenage daughter. "The proper attack is not that a woman shouldn't run for vice president...

For most working mothers, the third day after giving birth to a new baby is still a whirlwind of joy, sleep deprivation and recovery. For Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, it also was time to go back to work. Palin, who is now the Republican vice presidential candidate, returned to her job just a few days after giving birth last April to her fifth child, Trig, who has Down syndrome. She toted her newborn son to official events and nursed him during conference calls. Palin’s candidacy is shining the spotlight on countless issues surrounding working women, including the sticky topic of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At-work massages, take-home dinners and after-school programs for children are among the innovative benefits offered by firms on the just-released list of the 100 best U.S. companies for working mothers. The biggest trend in benefits is an awareness of the changing demands on parents as their children get older, said Jill Kirschenbaum, editor in chief of Working Mother magazine, which released its 18th list of best companies on Tuesday. "Even in a sluggish economy, companies recognize the needs of their working mothers," Kirschenbaum said by telephone, noting that meeting these needs can be effective in recruiting and...

Now that the initial wave of reactions to the controversial government-funded day-care study has run its course, time to take a step back. Why is day care a problem in this country? Why has this study ruffled so many feathers? Is it possible to speak truthfully about what's at stake in the day-care dispute? And what are the prospects for a solution? To answer these questions, we need to recognize that the greatest threat to day care is love. I know that sounds like old news — and totally smarmy to boot. But the challenge posed to day care by...