"Kids of working moms are ____."

(Image courtesy of https://www.ainnizisoka.wordpress.com.)

According to a recent CNN Money article, Harvard professor Kathleen McGinn claims that children of working moms are better off.

In the article, CNN Money author Ananya Bhattacharya states, "Daughters of working mothers grow up to be more successful in the workplace than their peers.  They earn more and are more likely to be bosses....  While daughters see the biggest tangible financial gains, sons of working moms are more likely to
grow up contributing to the childcare and household chores.  All over the world, children of working mothers are less likely to stick to traditional roles of male breadwinners and female homemakers."

The research by Harvard Business School studied 50,000 people from twenty-four different countries, and found that daughters of working mothers earned 23% more than daughters of stay-at-home mothers.

Furthermore, adult men who grew up with working mothers spent 7.5 more hours per week providing childcare than those who did not grow up with working mothers.  They spent more time doing household chores and usually married working women as well.

Bhattacharya concluded from the study that although "maternal instincts might make it hard for moms to leave their kids and go to work, [but] the research suggests that might be equally as good, if not better, for them."

The study concludes with the following remark by Professor McGinn: "It's hard to leave your kids for college, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't go; it doesn't mean that it's not good for them."

(You can read the article for yourself here.)

Thinking Critically
By divine intervention, I came across this article when searching for an entirely unrelated topic on Google this morning.  While the article may resound with some, it is a cause of concern to the Biblical family.

First of all, there is no argument that those who work will make more money than those who don't.  That is a given reality.  Know, though, that I am defining success not in terms of money, but on doing what is right.

In recent decades, there has definitely been a cultural shift in our understanding and views of gender roles.  Stay-at-home mothers are now "old-fashioned" and if a man gets paid more than a woman it is unfair.  Our culture demands equality at any cost.  (What is true equality anyway?)  To me, the shift has been harmful to the family.

We must not forget, fellow Christians, that our enemy is the devil and he comes for the sole purpose of killing, stealing, and destroying (I Peter 5:8, John 10:10).  He wants to destroy the family.  He wants to destroy marriage.  He wants to destroy anything and everything designated by God as holy and righteous.  Why?  It's his nature.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he speaks, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).

In the early part of John 8:44, Jesus calls the Pharisees (whom He is addressing) sons of the devil.  We must not forget that anyone not born of God is a son of the devil and will do and say what he does and says.  We who are born of God have a new Father, who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The family has been desecrated as of late.  Gender roles are now seen as harmful and degrading toward women.  Yet it is not the male chauvinist who is the main antagonizer of women - it is the feminist.  The feminist hates the way women are so they push for redefinition.  God, on the other hand, loves women and blesses them when they thrive in his purpose for them.

Christians, do not allow the world define who you are.  God has already defined who you are - now live in the knowledge of it!  God is not constraining you or holding you back - He is the life-giver and the sustainer of His original creation!

An Illustration
On a football team, there are many different roles that each person must perform.  Each has their role (position) and each must perform their responsibility.  An offensive lineman would not make a good quarterback in the same way a quarterback would not make a good offensive lineman.  If anyone were to argue differently, the argument would be demolished in an instant.  The fact is that quarterbacks are built differently than offensive lineman, and each has their strengths and skills at their specific position.

Why is it that when it comes to men and women our world thinks so illogically, then?

The Bible teaches specific gender roles.  In Genesis, God gives man the responsibility of stewardship over all of His creation.  Notice that God gave this responsibility of stewardship - planning and managing the care of nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, etc. - to Adam.  Eve, in fact, had not even been created yet.  Eve was created as a helper suitable to Adam.

From the beginning Adam and Eve's roles were very different.  These roles were not to limit Adam or Eve, but to provide individual purposes in which both could thrive, both independently and in unity together.

Adam and Eve - men and women - were created as a team.  Each have their specific roles on the team.  When the roles start changing, chaos ensues.  Imagine a 325 pound lineman playing quarterback while a 200 pound quarterback tried to block for him.  It would be chaotic on the football field.  The same is happening today.  Women are trying to play the part of man and man is trying to play the part of woman.  It creates chaos in the family and in society.

Brothers and sisters, let's get back to simpler things.  Let's get back to the basics of right living.  Let's get back to God.


"Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man" (Genesis 2:22).