<p>Justamom:</p>
<p>I believe it is you who is making a lot of assumptions. The OP only said that now the kids are grown, it would be fine to get a job, except that it would reduce finaid. The OP specified that the presence of the mother is not needed at home. The OP did not say that the family has elderly parents. Please do not introduce red herrings.</p>
<p>I’m not even starting on the issue of single earners. There was an article in the Daily Beast about women who’d left high paying jobs to stay home. When their husbands lost their jobs, the women tried to get back in the job market and found that they were no longer competitive against new hires or that they were offered jobs well below what they used to earn. If I had chosen to stay home while my children were growing, my family, too, would have been hit by my husband’s several job losses and I would certainly have not reached my current income level.<br>
I totally respect the choice women make to stay home until their children are grown. But it is a totally different calculus from deciding not to work in order to qualify for more aid. Sorry, that calculus is about wanting someone else to pay for yout free lunch.</p>