Poll: 'Traditional gender roles' changing

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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The "traditional family" with a stay-at-home mom and working dad is becoming less the norm than it was five years ago, a U.S. survey indicates.

Twenty-one percent of BabyCenter moms -- 2,000 BabyCenter.com moms completed the survey -- said stay-at-home moms were less accepted than they were five years ago, while stay-at-home dads and working moms were more accepted by society than they were five years ago.

"It's been a real eye-opener to see just how much 21st century parents share the burdens of earning money and caring for their children," Carmen Wong Ulrich, a BabyCenter.com financial contributor, said in a statement. "The days of separate gender roles are long gone."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently estimated a middle-income family could spend an average of $235,000 to raise a child from birth through age 17.

No matter what the cost of raising children, 95 percent of the mothers said the money they spend on their children was worth it, with 4-of-5 moms seeing it as an investment in their children's future.

"It's common to find parents who feel guilty about splurging on themselves but are willing to spend on their kids," Wong Ulrich said. "Parents often view spending on extras like sports, music, or entertainment for their kids as a solid investment that will positively benefit their children and hopefully lead them to success as adults."

No survey details were provided.