Moms are bringing home the bacon.
According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, a record number of mothers are the breadwinners in U.S. households.
Based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Pew found that 40 percent of households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who provide the sole or primary source of income for the family, up from just 11 percent in 1960. They attribute this growth to the increasing number of women in the workforce.
And the majority of these breadwinning moms are single parents: 63 percent -- or 8.6 million -- are single mothers, and 37 percent (5.1 million) are married mothers who out-earn their husbands.
However, the two groups differ greatly in income; the median total family income for homes with married mother breadwinners was nearly $80,000 in 2011, compared to $23,000 for families led by a single mother.
Pew also found that married mothers who out-earn their husbands tend to be older, white and college educated, while single mothers are more likely to be younger, black or Hispanic and less likely to have a college degree.
Not all are happy about the strides women have made in the workplace; Pew surveyed 1,003 people and found that many are worried about how this will impact families. Seventy-four percent of those polled said that women's increased presence in the workforce has made it harder for parents to raise children, and half said that it makes it harder for marriages to be successful.
The public is also divided about single mothers: 64 percent of those surveyed said that the increasing number of single mothers in the U.S. is a "big problem," though that percentage is down from 71 percent in 2007. And young adults are less concerned about single moms than older adults; 42 percent of adults under 30 view the growing number of single moms as a big problem, compared to 65 percent of adults in their 30s and 40s and 74 percent of adults aged 50 and older. Republicans (78 percent) are also more likely than Democrats (51 percent) to view this trend as a big problem.
Are you surprised by these findings? Let us know in the comments, then click through the slideshow below for celebrity single moms we love.
