Working Mothers

Latter-day Counsel

We urge you to do all in your power to allow your wife to remain in the home, caring for the children while you provide for the family the best you can.
Pres. Howard W. Hunter (Gen Conf Oct 1994)

Marriage is disdained by an increasing number of couples, and many who marry choose to forgo children or place severe limits on their number. In recent years strong economic pressures in many nations have altered the traditional assumption of a single breadwinner per family. Increases in the number of working mothers of young children inevitably signal a reduced commitment of parental time to nurturing the young. The effect of these reductions is evident in the rising numbers of abortions, divorces, child neglect, and juvenile crime.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks (Gen Conf Oct 1993)

Working mothers and weekend fathers abdicate their parental responsibilities.
Bishop J. Richard Clarke (Gen Conf Apr 1977

Fathers and mothers, before you decide you need a second income and that mother must go to work out of the home, may I plead with you: first go to the Lord in prayer and receive his divine approbation. Be sure he says yes. Mothers with children and teenagers at home, before you go out of your homes to work, please count the cost as carefully as you count the profit. Earning a few dollars more for luxuries cloaked in the masquerade of necessity--or a so-called opportunity for self-development of talents in the business world, a chance to get away from the mundane responsibilities of the home these are all satanic substitutes for clear thinking. They are counterfeit thoughts that subvert the responsibilities of motherhood. As you count the costs of mother working out of the home, please consider the following:
Elder H. Burke Peterson (Gen Conf Apr 1974)