Is it wrong for a Catholic woman to work and have a family?

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WildCatholic

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I just wonder because a lot of times I hear how more traditional Catholics have families where the dad works and the mom stays at home. While think that stay at home moms are ridiculed in our society and should be WAY more appreciated, is it wrong for Catholic women to work and have a family, or am I just some flaming liberal here (BTW i’m hardly a womens rights type of guy, I just think if a wife has a family and wants to work, go ahead. In fact i’d probably rather have my wife work since i’m a teacher and I don’t make much money.) I just feel conflicted because i’m drawn more to traditional catholicism, but don’t necessarily want the housewife type of girl to marry.
 
Except for the two years between my youngest brother and sister, my mother worked for 35 years and raised 5 children (with the help of my sainted grandmother) and we all turned out just fine. If a woman wants to work and have children that is fine, if she wants to stay home and raise children that is fine too. This is a marriage issue that needs to be worked out between the couple before the wedding, with plenty of room for changing circumstances.
 
WildCatholic said:
I just wonder because a lot of times I hear how more traditional Catholics have families where the dad works and the mom stays at home. While think that stay at home moms are ridiculed in our society and should be WAY more appreciated, is it wrong for Catholic women to work and have a family, or am I just some flaming liberal here (BTW i’m hardly a womens rights type of guy, I just think if a wife has a family and wants to work, go ahead. In fact i’d probably rather have my wife work since i’m a teacher and I don’t make much money.) I just feel conflicted because i’m drawn more to traditional catholicism, but don’t necessarily want the housewife type of girl to marry.
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I have a family member who is: female, had a family of her own and her husband was a Deacon. The Pastor never said anything negative. No, you’re not an extreme liberal or anything of the sort.
 
Is it wrong for a Catholic woman to work and have a family?

Of course, absolutely not. By principle, that is not morally wrong.

A catholic woman can be or has the right to be a catholic wife ( the catholic lover, the catholic love, the catholic mistress, the catholic muse of her husband, a potential future mother, a catholic mother) and a catholic business woman.

The rules are the conjugal love, the moderation and the just balance.
 
This is a prudential matter to be decided through prayer and discernmnt between the couple. There is no objective right or wrong, it is not a matter of faith or morals.
 
There are a lot of awesome faithful Catholic mamas on here who work, just as there are a lot who stay home. However this is definitely something I think people should talk about before they get married and then revisited as they go along (because I know some moms who were sure they wanted to work until they had a little one and then having a baby completely changed their mind… and moms who thought they wanted to stay home until they had a little one and then completely changed their mind). In my family, me staying home is a very high priority. But that’s just our family. This isn’t a “right” or “wrong” answer and each family must come up with their own answer.
 
All Catholics (men and women) are suppose to do God’s will. I can not tell you if God’s will is for your future wife to work. For all I know God’s will is for you to be single.

Prayer in discernment are daily tasks
 
It is not a matter of faith or morals…but rather, personal preference. I used to be a stay at home mom and now I’m a full time working mom. I see benefits of each. I enjoyed the time with my children when I stayed home, but I believe I’m teaching them a lot of good values and skills as a working mom as well. Plus, I enjoy contributing to society as a school teacher as well as a mother. It’s kind of a toss-up for me…I valued both my sah and woh statuses.🙂
 
I think that as long as she doesn’t neglect her family, working is just fine. Then again, I think that holds true for the father as well.
 
Objectively and individually, of course not. But I do think we’ve got a disordered society in which career and money earning potential are regarded as much higher achievement than is child rearing, volunteerism and the sorts of community building that historically were the accomplishments of women.

If we understood the real value of work done, I think we’d find that the mom’s of history collectively did more important work than the lawyers, doctors, politicians or professors. That our society has derided those contributions in favor of careerism is a profound loss we will regret in the long term.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t criticize those women who choose to have a career. But I do think we all need to be more thankful to those who still sacrifice their own pursuits, interests and financial wellbeing to always be there for their kids in their formative years. God bless you ladies! 👍
 
It’s not wrong to be a working mother.

God bless both – working mothers and stay at home mothers.
 
Walking_Home said:
It’s not wrong to be a working mother.

God bless both – working mothers and stay at home mothers.
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Even the phrase “working mother” implies the non-career mom is at home eating bon-bons and watching soaps. News flash: moms work hard.
 
Walking_Home said:
Did not say they didn’t.
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I’m sure he knows that. He was just reiterating for everyone else.

I’m happy people here so far have informed the OP with the correct answer to his question.

If he were to have posted this in the traditionalist forum, I think he would have gotten a very different (incorrect) answer.
 
manualman said:
Even the phrase “working mother” implies the non-career mom is at home eating bon-bons and watching soaps. News flash: moms work hard.
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I hardly think this is the case. Stay at home moms work extremely hard. Harder than some mothers who actually have jobs. I meant this in the terms society uses. Trust me, I’ve never known a lazy stay at home mom
 
WildCatholic said:
I just feel conflicted because i’m drawn more to traditional catholicism, but don’t necessarily want the housewife type of girl to marry.
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I really don’t know what to make of these labels. Who comes up with that these days anyway? Last time I checked being a *faithful Catholic *meant doing God’s will, desiring holiness and picking up the cross along the way. Not sure where all this extra stuff about women and work comes in. I really don’t see why you should marry a housewofe type of girl if you don’t want to.
 
Debora123 said:
If he were to have posted this in the traditionalist forum, I think he would have gotten a very different (incorrect) answer.
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The traditionalist forum is about discussing traditions of the church - hence the name. Many of them have been neglected or forgotten. Us mad trads like to learn about them in order to enrich our faith life. Perhaps you could go over and check it out. All the weird threads about women tend to take place on this forum for some reason.
 
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