According to Hays, there are four historical stages of development in the cultural notions of appropriate mothering in America in 17-20th centuries. In the middle ages, children were viewed as demonic and mothering was viewed as affection mixed with aggression and fear, with mutual obligations mixed with the pursuit of personal advantage. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a value was placed on children, with an emphasis on their innocence, manifested by the separate spaces and activities provided solely for them. This change occurred only in Europe though, as in New England it was believed that mothering should be guided by the Bible, and that children should be shaped by punishment, religious instruction and work. By the 19th century, mothering was influenced by the revolutionary era, and it was believed that mothers should be educated for their role and be "scientifically trained" in reason and overcoming passion, and thus her natural instinct as a woman was no longer adequate for mothering. The last stage, through the early 20th century, shed the idea of rigid scheduling and training, and instead placed emphasis on developing the child's inherent goodness. Mothering focused on developing the child and fulfilling the child's desires.
In Crittenden's view, the main indicators that mothering is devalued in the United States are that stay-at-home mothers are viewed as doing nothing all day long, and their hard work is dismissed as a job in itself. Further, the traditional economic thinking of our society dismisses a housewife's work as she does not bring in any capital, and in every major institution, caregiving on a resume is in fact penalized. Thus, America's business, government and law do not reflect the proclaimed value of child rearing and motherhood. I agree with Crittenden's view that mothering is highly devalued in the US. Mothers who make the sacrifice of quitting their jobs in order to raise a child are later given less societal respect because they "don't work" and "do nothing". While US morals claim to place a huge importance on family values and mothering, the women who do stay at home are seen as inferior to those with jobs that bring money into the home.
According to Collins, the two types of mothering that Black women tend to display are the controlling type and the expressive type. In relation to "motherhood as a symbol of power", the first views motherhood as burdensome and believes it makes them partners in their own oppression by stifling their creativity and ability to work. The latter sees motherhood as a form of self-actualization, and see the values of mothering as a means toward social activism.
According to Edin and Kefalas, the poor women's attitudes on and experiences with marriage and childbearing are that one should wait until they have completed their education and have a job before getting married and especially before having children, with a stress on economic independence as a factor in saving a marriage. However, some of the young poor mothers expressed childrearing as providing them with a sense of purpose in their already spiraling, volatile adolescent lives. Edin and Kefalas state that society must provide these young women with more access to jobs that provide economic independence to lower the rate of teen pregnancy amongst the poor and lift them out of poverty. I agree with this statement, for the lives of these young mothers must be straightened out long before they even become pregnant. None of them wished to have a baby so young, and thus the education system must be fixed, and the women must see their futures as hopeful, with the possibility of acquiring a rewarding job, in order to keep them on track and avoid falling into drugs and early sexual relationships.