美國調查機構皮尤最近的一項調查顯示，美國有孩子的家庭中有四成家庭的主要或唯一經濟收入來自于孩子的母親。這其中37%為收入比丈夫高的已婚女性，另外63%為單親媽媽。這份調查報告指出，收入比丈夫高的已婚女性多半年齡較大、上過大學，而且是白人，她們的收入要明顯高于單親媽媽。相比而言，單親媽媽多數年紀較輕，受過高等教育的幾率也較低，且多數為非裔或西班牙裔。據研究數據顯示，美國已婚女性的就業率在1968年為37%， 而到2011年，這個比例上升到了65%。雖然工作女性為家庭帶來經濟收益，但有四分之三的人表示女性出去工作讓帶孩子這件事更加難辦，另外有一半人認為這種情況下女性出去工作可能會導致婚姻破裂。

A record 40% of US homes with children relied on mothers as their main or only source of income, a Pew survey found.

Mothers are increasingly the primary breadwinners in their families, a new report has found, marking a dramatic shift in US household finances.

A record 40% of US homes with children relied on mothers as their main or only source of income, a Pew survey found.

Of the women supporting their families, 37% were married women who earned more than their husbands, while 63% were single mothers, the report said.

In the 1960s, just 11% of families were supported primarily by mothers.

According to the Pew report, married women with a higher income than their husbands tended to be older, white and college-educated.

They were likely to earn much more than single mothers, who on average tended to be younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to have attended an institution of higher education.

For married women, the median total family income was almost $80,000 compared to the median income of $23,000 for the families of single mothers.

In the US about one-quarter of all households are headed by a single mother and women make up nearly half the national workforce.

According to the study, which was based on census data, the employment rate among married women rose from 37% in 1968 to 65% in 2011.

The authors of the Pew Research Center report said it was unclear if the financial crisis had an effect on the trends.

But the study noted that since 2007, more women have said they wanted to work full time and fewer said they would prefer not to work at all.

The study also said that women's growing role in the workforce remained divisive.

While women in the workforce bring clear financial benefits to their families, the study said three-quarters of adults said it was harder to raise children if their mothers worked, and half said it was harder for marriage to succeed under those circumstances.

Yet most Americans do not believe women should return to a traditional role in the home.

(Source: BBC News)

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）