It would depend on the circuмstances. Is her intention to abandon or neglect her home duties to acquire these skills?

If this is not the case, I see no reason why a woman shold not fit herself to support her family in the event of illness or death of her husband.

Quote from: Kephapaulos

It is indeed best that the wife stay home with the children, while husband works, but what is the best way of answering the objections that the wife should have a degree or career to back her up if her husband dies or is incapacitated?

It does not hurt for a woman to have a degree in case something should happen to her husband, but this should not be her primary concern...

It a single woman is waiting to find a good man to marry, for example, there is nothing wrong with getting a better education to become a nurse or enter upon another womanly field.

If the woman is already married, trusting in God is the best thing, and if needed, then God will help her to get a proper job.

Well said.

It shouldn't be her primary concern.

If she's already married, then it's time to trust in God and hope she won't need it.

If a woman is still single and looking, then "knock yourself out" as they say.  However, try to make sure that you don't become too dedicated, so if God sends the perfect man in your path, you have such blinders on for that degree that you won't give it up or pay attention to any men "before you graduate".

Also, you have to make sure you don't get too attached to that career. It's hard to work years for something and be completely detached at the same time, ready to give it up with no hard feelings.

And then there's the fact that a college education isn't free in most cases! Even if you wanted to drop your career for the man God sends you, you might not be able to if you have $15,000, $20,000 or $30,000 in student loans to pay back.

Aren't you going to dream a bit about that single, independent life you're going to have in a few years? All the freedom, respect from others (including worldlings, fallen-away relatives, as well as legit Catholics and family/friends), and pleasures that the money will bring? Or looking forward to the job itself? Helping heal people, teach children, rehabilitate the wounded, counsel those with psychological issues, etc.?

You might resent your husband for taking that away from you. Just be careful that doesn't happen. You pretty much have to ACTIVELY WILL that, as nature will dictate otherwise if you let it.

Just remember that women are affected by Original Sin as well. They like money, they like pleasure, they like the approval of those around them, and they like shiny things. Know thyself, and practice mortification. Men and women both need this advice.

This is what disability and life insurance is for.

Most jobs that can support a family will require some kind of active work through the years. It's not likely a fifty year old woman with no work history is going to get a job as a teacher.

What if there is no insurance, as would be the case if the man walked out on his family?

Why wouldn't a fifty year old woman be able to get a job?  People start new careers at all ages.

Quote from: Tiffany

This is what disability and life insurance is for.

Most jobs that can support a family will require some kind of active work through the years. It's not likely a fifty year old woman with no work history is going to get a job as a teacher.

What if there is no insurance, as would be the case if the man walked out on his family?

Why wouldn't a fifty year old woman be able to get a job?  People start new careers at all ages.

There is  a lot of of age discrimination going on. It's not uncommon, where I live, for even women  in the teaching profession to be forced out by a certain age (I knew several women at my former NO Church to whom this happened). Companies and schools no longer want to pay the salaries of highly experienced personnel, and because all of society has become hedonistic, vane, narcissistic, crass, and vulgar, the wisdom and dignity that old people have amassed simply isn't valued. Quite to the contrary, there is open disdain for wisdom and dignity.

~~~~~~

At the heart of this thread is an issue that people are forgetting: all social institutions in modern society have collapsed, including economic structures that would have made it unnecessary for women to work outside of the home.

It would seem that there are jobs that would make it possible for men to support a large family on a single income, but people forget that those jobs require either specialized skills or, quite literally, an IQ that would allow a man to complete an advanced degree in a highly competitive field (for instance, STEM fields); however, most people are simply average, and people with average intelligence are not able to complete certain courses of education, and the intellectual slant of professional jobs isn't congruent to the ethos of people coming from working class or working poor environments. There is actually nothing wrong with that: it is actually normal not to enjoy tasks that are too intellectually taxing . The problem is that the jobs upon which the masses depended and that were actually appropriate -- factory work, skilled trades, and in the very distant past, farming -- are gone because certain entities plotted and schemed to ship them overseas.

I live in the Southeast, one of the hardest hit regions in this recession, and if a man does not have a skilled trade or a competitive skill set in a STEM field, I would venture that it is practically impossible for him to earn higher than $12.00-$15.00/ hour, and companies are offering worse and worse benefits packages. The average rent in this state is around $800.00/month. It is extremely difficult to obtain loans for a small business with the credit crunch. If you consider that the #1 cause of bankruptcy in this country is serious illness, it would only take a heart attack to put that man's family in economic ruin.

To accept that kind of a life, a Catholic wife and mother would have to be extremely pious and see poverty as virtuous, and that is completely at odds with how the average "Catholic" views the world.