The manufacturing and construction sectors took a huge hit during the recession and forced many men out of work, which left many women as the sole breadwinners in their households.

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This is just one of the reasons more and more new mothers are heading back to work only a couple of weeks after having a baby.

"There are a lot of pressures in the workplace for women to make sure that they stay connected and the systems that are in place in many companies are not supportive of that, so many women feel that they have to go back in order to maintain the career trajectory that they had been on or to make sure that they are bringing in the income that is desperately needed because of their status in the household as breadwinner," said Terri Boyer, executive director at the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University.

There has been a large shift in the economic spectrum.

"More women have college degrees, many women are bringing in more money than their significant others and there are more single mothers who are the only ones bringing money into their households," said Boyer. "So, they need to make sure that they keep that foothold in the workplace because there is no one else to fall back on if they lose that job or if they aren't bringing in the income that they had before. Typically, women who decide to have babies on their own later in life are accustomed to certain salaries and their children are relying solely on them for economic security, which makes it all that more important to make sure that money is coming in."

But, it's not always the healthiest decision to go back to work too soon.

"Research shows that mothers who go back to work too soon are less likely to keep up with their well-baby visits. Women who go back earlier are also less likely to breast feed and they are also less likely to go back for their own health follow up check ups after having the baby," said Boyer.

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