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Increase In Stay-at-Home Moms Hits Restaurant Traffic

The steady increase of working women has been a boon to restaurants for five decades, but that growth has been leveling off since 1999, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The result is less money in the family budget, more time for women to cook, and less trips to restaurants.

Indeed, the number of restaurant visits that Americans make annually has flattened out, and consumers have increased the number of meals they make at home. Last year, 207 restaurant meals were purchased per person, down from a peak of 211 in 2001, according to NPD Group. Meanwhile, Americans prepared 861 meals at home in 2007, compared with 817 in 2002, NPD says.

Another small but striking shift is that men are whipping up more suppers. They prepared 18% of at-home dinners in 2007, compared with 14% in 2003, according to NPD. The growing popularity of fancy home grills may be linked to that increase.

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