Census Bureau Reports "More Moms Staying Home" (and more homeschooling,too)

ABERDEEN (AP) -- Andrew Rohrbach greets visitors by introducing some of the members of his family.

"This is my Jessica," the 3-year-old says, throwing his arms around his older sister. "This is my Joy," Andrew says, pointing at an infant crawling on the floor. "And this is my mom."

Andrew's mother, Vickie Rohrbach, and her husband John have chosen a traditional route in raising their seven children -- 14-year-old twins Michael and David, 11-year-old Jordan, 9-year-old Matthew, 6-year-old Jessica, Andrew and Joy. John works at Student Loan Finance Corp. during the day while Vickie is a stay-at-home mom.

"One of the greatest things about being a mom is seeing how my kids react with each other every day," Rohrbach said. "I'm happy I'm home to do so."

Rohrbach, 41, has her hands full, but she is not alone.

Almost 5.5 million parents -- 5.4 million moms and 98,000 dads -- chose to stay home in 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And 88 percent of them do so primarily to care for their children, according to the bureau's report.

The Census Bureau says it's a growing trend, based on the increasing number of children who live in such households. In 2002, there were 10.6 million children with stay-at-home moms -- or about one-fourth of all U.S. kids. That's a 13 percent increase over eight years.