With regard to your question whether mothers should work
outside the home, it is helpful to consider the matter from the perspective of
the concept of a Bahá'í family. This concept is based on the principle that the
man has primary responsibility for the financial support of the family, and the
woman is the chief and primary educator of the children. This by no means
implies that these functions are inflexibly fixed and cannot be changed and
adjusted to suit particular family situations, nor does it mean that the place
of the woman is confined to the home. Rather, while primary responsibility is
assigned, it is anticipated that fathers would play a significant role in the
education of the children and women could also be breadwinners. As you rightly
indicated, 'Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged women to "participate fully and equally
in the affairs of the world".In relation to your specific queries, the decision concerning the amount of time a mother may spend in working outside the home depends on circumstances existing within the home, which may vary from time to time. Family consultation will help to provide the answers.... (From a letter dated 9 August 1984 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)
