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Americans have been obsessed with the Duggar clan since their TV show first aired on TLC in 2008. Back then, the show was called 17 Kids and Counting. Since then, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have had a few more kids, a handful of grandchildren, and a whole lot of scandals. 

However, one of the things that seem to intrigue viewers the most is the way the women in the family seem to be about a century behind the rest of the world when it comes to their role as both mother and wife. Many fans have commented on the fact the Duggar wives don’t have any form of college education and they also don’t seem to want to work outside of the home.

So, are the Duggar girls allowed to work, or are they forced to be homemakers once they get married and have a family of their own? Here is what we know about the rules that the Duggar wives have to follow.

The Duggars’ religious beliefs mean they have strict rules to follow

The Duggars are devout Independent Baptist. Between the rules that are set by their church and their other rules that they have set themselves, the Duggar children have a strict set of guidelines that they must follow. This includes things like no dancing, no dating without a chaperone, no wearing bathing suits or any other type of clothing that may give the opposite sex any impure thoughts. They also don’t believe in any method of preventing pregnancies. This could mean that once a Duggar daughter decides to get married, she could be spending the majority of her adult life pregnant.

The Duggars do normal family stuff

 Although most people see the Duggars as a very religious family with strict rules and morals, for the most part, they are just like any other family. They celebrate birthdays with fun family get-togethers, they go to football games, and they even do fun activities like rollerblading and swimming. 

One of the other things that make the Duggars stand out as “different” is the fact that they have homeschooled all 19 of their children, and so far, all of their grandchildren seem to be going the homeschool route as well. However, parents choosing to homeschool their kids is not that uncommon and is actually becoming a growing trend. The last survey that was taken showed that over 1.7 million children in the country are homeschooled and that number seems to be rising every year. So, it seems that the Duggars may be a little more normal than we had originally thought.

Are the Duggar women with kids allowed to work outside the home?

When it comes to working outside of the home, the Duggars seem to leave that to the men. Although Jill does have her midwife license and Jinger has been known to dabble in the world of photography, none of the Duggar daughters have actually made a full-time income from working outside of the home (unless you count their Counting On paychecks). So, at first glance, it certainly looks like the girls are not suppose to have any dreams and aspirations beyond raising children and cooking dinner. However, upon closer inspection, we think that may actually be their personal choice rather than an actual rule.

John David’s new wife, Abbie, is still currently working as a registered nurse. So far, both John David and his family are very supportive of her career. The young couple do not have any children of their own yet, so it is hard to tell if she would continue to work once they have a few kids, but being that she got married later in life than most of the other Duggar girls, it is possible that her independent nature would continue throughout motherhood.

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