Friday, November 11, 2005
Working Moms
*sigh* I've been having to leave the kids with a childcare provider full-time for the last couple of weeks since Tim is in the States (wah! Come home soon!!), and it has become increasingly hard to drop off my precious little babies with someone else. Don't get me wrong, I really love our provider. I spend a lot of time over there since I usually stop by for my lunch hour to feed Jocelyn, and she is a really great lady. In fact, she started her own day care specifically so she could stay home with her kids, so she can sympathize with my feelings. I never expected to feel this strongly about it. Of course, part of it might be that I really detest my job right no, get absolutely zero satisfaction out of it, and my boss is a big jerk-face, all of which just adds to the immense feelings of guilt and jealousy at having to leave my baby with someone else who then gets to experience all her little smiles and coos. But, I also just saw this piece on the news about working moms who take a few years off to stay home with their kids. Mainly it was about a study which showed that out of 100+ Wharton MBA women who took time off after haing kids, every single one of those who returned to the workforce had lower paying, non-managerial jobs that were less prestigious than their old jobs. They also found it harder to get promoted once they were hired by a company. That is so depressing! I would really like to take a break from working for a while and stay home, especially when we have another baby, but I don't want to completely de-rail all of my professional dreams. Why does it have to be this hard!!??
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5 comments:
OH my gosh!!! I don't have kids (of course you know this) but I'm already thinking of what it'll do to my career!!!! I hate not having good options.
I think it's up to the women of our generation to make our own way... the women before us had to choose family or career--I say why not have both? I think many more women are realizing now that even though they don't want to be stay-at-home-moms for the rest of their lives, they also can't be completely fulfilled if they work all the time and never see their kids. It's up to us to change things! Maybe I'll just start my own company and I can make all the rules...
How I would kill to even have the option to stay at home!
Having just talked to your husband about this- I know he wants you to be able to do it if you want.
Have you ever visited workingmother.com? It lists a lot of companies that are trying to help out moms.
Statistically, women still don't even make as much money as men. So there's lots of room for improvement. You may be able to keep your hand in by working part-time or doing something from home.
It is possible to "have it all" but it seems reasonable that something has to give. I will never be able to give everything I have to my job. And it makes sense to me that someone who only lives for their work should reap those benefits- they are missing out on the benefits of having a family.
You have to make choices and find the balance that works for you. What limitations and rewards you are willing to make compromises for and what you are not.
I watch both of my older sisters going through this and it makes me wonder what decisions I would/will make in the same situation.
As for that study, I would be very interested in seeing the same stats for the re-hiring trends of people who have taken time off for other reasons. Is it really the act of taking off time for children that keeps employers from hiring women? Do men and women who have to temporarily exit the work force experience the same set backs.
It could be just getting out of the job flow period that sets you back, although doing it for maternal reasons probably doesn't improve your odds.
http://finslippy.typepad.com/finslippy/2005/11/i_was_reluctant.html#more
read this. it is a birth story on one of my favorite blogs. i thought it might inspire you to share yours...
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