Female activists of the 19th Century tried for decades to have Mother's Day declared in the U.S. Originally conceived as a holiday of peace and a call to disarm, poet Julia Ward Howe, (author, "Battle Hymn of the Republic,") wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870.
An excerpt goes as follows:
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace ...
It wasn't until 1914, six years before women "suffragettes" got the vote that Congress dedicated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Since then, the holiday has become simply a day to recognize and appreciate the often unsung heroes of the hearth and home -- moms.
Stay-at-home Moms
There were approximately 5.6 million stay-at-home moms in 2004.
Salary.com recently made headlines by figuring the value of the stay-at-home mom. The company says that using today's skills in the marketplace, Mom is worth a salary of about $134,471 annually.
Working Moms
What if Mom is bringing home a paycheck? According to Cigna Healthcare's Tips For Working Women , "In 1948, only 11 percent of married women with children under the age of 6 worked outside the home. Today, more than 60 percent of married women with young children work outside the home, and 39 percent work in full-time jobs."
Over half of working moms, 51 percent, gave birth to their first child and returned to work within four months. Working moms pay an average of $92 weekly for child care for at least one of their children.
Many moms are single. According to the 2000 Census there are 6.5 million single working mothers in America. The number of single moms living with children under 18 years old is about 10 million, up from 3 million in 1970.
The U.S. Census says that there are 80.5 million mothers of all ages in the United States. Fifty-five percent of women aged 15 to 44 are mothers in the U.S. From age 40 to 44, 81 percent of U.S. women are mothers, down from 1976 when 90 percent of women aged 40 to 44 were mothers . On average, women are 25.2 years old when they give birth for the first time -- a record high, says the Census.
Every year, about four million women across the country have babies. Forty percent of births are the mother's first , while 32 percent are second-borns, 17 percent, third-borns and 11 percent are fourth-borns or more.
Most U.S. women have 2.0 children in their lifetimes, while the average number in Utah is 2.6. Birth rates drop in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont where the average is 1.7 births. In 2004, about 1.2 million births were nonmarital.
Most mothers are remembered with flowers and cards. According to Hallmark research, more than 152 million Mother's Day cards were given last year in the U.S.
Happy Mother's Day, from Realty Times.
