We aren’t all stay-at-home mothers or wives here. But I thought you all might be the group most likely to have thought about these things. We might also be entering a poor economy, and most of these benefits have to do with the inevitability of a SAHM’s or SAHW’s financial state. What have you discovered is an unexpected gift of being a full-time homemaker?

Possible benefits:

  • Simple pleasures are where you draw your fun. Contentment is higher. (A tidy room, a meal at the table, a walk in sunshine, a good used/library book, listening/dancing to music, etc.)
  • Solidarity with a majority of society. (Wealthy people are sometimes rejected or misunderstood by others. Not that it’s fair.)
  • You are possibly friends with women who share your values, which helps you to be more content as well with living minimally.
  • Less need to be dressed every single day in an expensive wardrobe that is new.
  • Living low on the hog. Building a habit for a lifetime, and certainly if she becomes a widow. You can manage your finances.
  • Less anxiety about losing your standard of living in case of sudden changes or emergencies.
  • Feeling capable during times of scarcity. You likely have skills to stretch a dollar.
  • Opportunity to build cooking skills on little money. Example: The French are regarded as a society who became adept at making cheaper food delicious because of necessity.
  • Focusing on the simple pleasures of a man, the things he desires after he comes home tired after work, or when he’s burned out from decades of a career with little recognition. (A good meal, affection from his woman, and a family who is glad to see him specifically come through the door.

The last one is what I have learned recently. What does a man want a majority of the time after working each day? It seems like they are simple things, and it’s been that way for centuries. A wife and mother who is able to be relaxed, contented, happy, with minimal anxiety for the future, and decent with money is likely to bring a man happiness. But who benefits from this more? His woman.

I get that there are definite drawbacks to being at home. Potential stress about money, feeling down or bored, feeling insecure about what you do not have, pressure from society or family or even your spouse to earn money. Probably more. I do understand these cons.

But we do not need excess in order to be happy in the moment. Most of us want these things too, whether we are men or women. It just means that women can provide these simple pleasures at home that are sustainable for several decades or more.