A new survey by the Pew Research Center reveals that in 40 percent of all U.S. households with children under 18, the mother is the only or primary source of family income. The percentage in 1960 was 11 percent.

The survey also showed that Americans are still somewhat conflicted about mothers in the workplace. Nearly three-fourths say this has made raising children more difficult. But two-thirds say it's made it easier on families financially. And while 79 percent say they wouldn't want to see a return to traditional roles for women, there's some cognitive dissonance involved, since only 34 percent say children are just as well off if the mother works but 76 percent say the same about fathers. Pew states:



These “breadwinner moms” are made up of two very different groups: 5.1 million (37%) are married mothers who have a higher income than their husbands, and 8.6 million (63%) are single mothers. The income gap between the two groups is quite large. The median total family income of married mothers who earn more than their husbands was nearly $80,000 in 2011, well above the national median of $57,100 for all families with children, and nearly four times the $23,000 median for families led by a single mother. The groups differ in other ways as well. Compared with all mothers with children under age 18, married mothers who out-earn their husbands are slightly older, disproportionally white and college educated. Single mothers, by contrast, are younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to have a college degree.

Other findings:

• Forty-seven percent of the U.S. labor force today is women, and the employment rate of married mothers with children is now 65 percent compared with 37 percent in 1968.

• Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said the rising number of unmarried mothers is a "big problem." But Americans are sharply divided on this by age and partisan identification. Among those 18-29, only 42 percent think it is a big problem. Among Democrats, 51 percent think so; 78 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independent do. There is a smaller gap between blacks (56 percent) and whites (67 percent) on the matter.

• Total family income is higher when the mother in a two-parent family is the primary breadwinner. Median family income was nearly $80,000 in 2011 for couples in which wife is the primary breadwinner, about $2,000 more than for couples when the husband is.

• Married mothers are increasingly better educated than their husbands.

• Most people reject the idea that it is bad for a marriage if a wife out-earns her husband.

• Single mothers are much more likely to be never married than were single mothers in the past: four percent in 1960 vs. 44 percent in 2011.