MOTHERS ARE BREADWINNERS IN 40% OF HOUSEHOLDS

A record 40% of households with children include “breadwinner moms,” according to a report out today.

These moms are the sole or primary source of income for households with children younger than 18, a Pew Research Center analysis finds. The analysis looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“The share of households with children where there is a mother who is the sole or primary breadwinner is up about fourfold from 1960, when it was only 11%,” said report coauthor Kim Parker, associate director of Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project.

These moms include two groups: 5.1 million (37%) are married mothers who have a higher income than their husbands, while 8.6 million (63%) are single mothers. The median family income for the first group was $79,800 in 2011, compared with $23,000 for the single mothers.

The growth of breadwinner moms is tied to women’s increased employment rate and rising education levels, Parker said. — Cathy Payne

LAWS ON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA SIGNED IN COLO.

A set of laws to govern how recreational marijuana should be grown, sold and taxed was signed into law Tuesday in Colorado, where Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper called the laws the state’s best attempt to navigate the uncharted territory of legalized recreational pot.

The laws cover how the drug should be raised and packaged, with purchasing limits for out-of-state visitors and a new marijuana driving limit as an analogy to blood-alcohol levels. Hickenlooper didn’t support marijuana legalization, but he praised the regulatory package as a good effort.

“Recreational marijuana is really a completely new entity,” Hickenlooper said, calling the pot rules “common-sense” oversight, such as required potency labeling and a requirement that marijuana is to be sold in child-proof, opaque packing with labels clearly stating the drug may not be safe.

Colorado voters approved recreational marijuana as a constitutional amendment last year. The state allows adults age 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of the drug. Adults can grow up to six plants or buy pot in retail stores, which are slated to open in January.