why do women want to be men?, page-133

There might be occasional times in the life of a working mother when she wants to slow down. A few women might even be happiest working at home if they have no other skills and lots of money.

However, with all my female friends who took some time out to have children, they were never happier overall than when they rejoined the workforce and were able to get out of the house again.

The ones who got into most strife were those who didn't have a life after their children left home. And it was even worse for many of those permanent stay at home mums when dad retired and was hanging around the house all day. (I'm only thinking of the wartime generation here - I don't know any permanent stay at home mums among baby boomers or younger.)