Work and Womanhood: The Balancing Act of Kids and Career
In some countries, women still can’t vote, drive, even leave their home without a male chaperone. Thanks to the work of incredible equal rights campaigners in years gone by, this can seem crazy to us in the western world as we live in a much fairer society- however things still aren’t perfect. In many ways, the patriarchy does still exist which we can observe through things like unequal pay. High flying woman such as politicians and SEOs can be judged on their appearance and if they have children, and the fact that traditional gender roles mean that we as women are usually the primary caregivers when we have kids- our careers can sometimes suffer as a result. But things are getting better, and these days it’s seen as perfectly acceptable for a woman to have children while still maintaining a great career or going to work. And while it’s hard, we do have options available. Maybe you don’t want to fall behind in the career you’ve worked so hard to achieve, or perhaps your financial situation means you can’t afford to be a stay at home mom. Either way, here are some ideas for how you can juggle kids and career.
Work Part Time Hours
By working part time, you can earn some money and maintain your career while still being around as much as possible for your children. It means you can keep your skills topped up and don’t have gaps in your employment history, and when you do want to return to work full time later on it’s not as much of a shock to the system. This could be a case of returning to your original job after having a baby and asking if you can do reduced hours. Or perhaps just finding a simple, local job that you can do to earn some extra cash. In many ways it gives you the best of both worlds.
Work a Flexible Mobile Role
If you have a skill or are experienced in a certain area, working mobile for yourself could be an option. Whether it’s as a makeup artist, hairdresser, photographer, cleaner or something else entirely- why not set up your own mobile business? Because you work for yourself you can choose the hours that you’re available which can take a lot of pressure off. You could work around your child’s education hours and it can get you out of the house too which some moms might find very beneficial. Have a web design company set you up a good website and work with a marketing agency to promote this to the right people. It can take a while to get started but once you have regular clients it’s a great source of income and you get to work in a flexible way.
Work From Home
If you don’t have a driving license, a car or the inclination to work mobile- there are plenty of home based jobs you could do. You could work freelance, or as a blogger. You could set up your own home business, either selling items you’ve made yourself or buying and selling for a profit. Again these things can take time to get set up, but if you know you want children later down the line you could do this part time for now and get established. Later on, it could become a good source of income that you can work around your family.