advantages and disadvantages of working mothers essay

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Top 20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Mothers

Working mothers definition.

Working mothers are the ones who move out of the house for the purpose of earning money and also maintain household chores. The trend of being a housewife is now changing with the change and need of the time.

Working Mothers Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year . It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.

Every single woman prefers to work as they have the capability to balance both the work and family . It is now very rare that a girl does not prefer to work and chooses to remain at home as a housewife.

Working Mother Quotes from Most Powerful Women in the World

Former first lady of the united states – michelle obama :.

“ For me, being a mother made me a better professional, because coming home every night to my girls reminded me what I was working for. And being a professional made me a better mother because by pursuing my dreams, I was modelling for my girls how to pursue their dreams .”

YouTube CEO- Susan Wojcicki :

“ People assume it’s hard to have a child with the job I have, but my energy level is high. I also have a lot of resources at home and at work, not to mention the skills to run a big organization .”

Facebook COO and Lean In author Sheryl Sandberg :

“ When a couple announces that they are having a baby, everyone says ‘Congratulations!’ to the man and ‘Congratulations! What are you planning on doing about work?’ to the woman. The broadly held assumption is that raising their child is her responsibility. In more than thirty years, this perception has changed very little .”

Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi :

“ You will look back and it will hurt like hell .”

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington :

“ I think while all mothers deal with guilt, working mothers are plagued by guilt on steroids. ”

Working Women Statistics & Survey

Source: bls.gov

Top 10 Best Companies for Working Mothers

• Bank of America
• Ernst & Young LLP
• Johnson & Johnson
• McKinsey & Co
• Prudential Financial

Working Mothers Research Papers

Here you can find the list of Research Papers that are related to the working mothers.

• Working Mothers vs Stay at Home Mothers: The Impact On Children
• The Effects of the Mother’s Employment on the Family and the Child
• Working mothers – Australian Institute of Family Studies

As a coin has two sides, the concept of the working woman also has many advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Working Mothers:

Here we are mentioning you a few positive effects and negative effects of working mothers. They are

1. Working Mother Children are Smart:

The children of working mothers become smart and active as compared to the children of non-working mothers. This is because of the fact that the mothers being working have to move out of the house leaving all the household chores intact.

The children behind understand their responsibilities and manage to do all their tasks without being dependent on others, thus become smart and active enough.

Mothers working from Home: Top alternatives to 9-5 Jobs

2. Independent:

The children become independent as they don’t find their mother at home all day long and thus they are left with no other option than doing their homework, breakfast, packing bags for school, preparing uniforms and all such things of their own.

Doing all those little tasks that a child can do on his own makes him independent and responsible. He or she no longer depend on others for their work and become co-operative to their mothers.

3. Inculcate good habits:

The working mothers are nowadays helped by their spouse in household chores after returning from work.

By seeing the fathers being a helping hand to mothers, children learn good habits and inculcate manners of helping others as well as their mothers, thus in this way good habits are inculcated in them.

4. Mothers shower more love:

The mothers who are working ought to remain away from home and their children for long hours and could not devote quality time with them.

But the other way is good as well as when mothers are back from work and spend less time with their kids, they show all their love and affection for them. So this is also one of the advantages of being a working mother.

5. Financial help:

A working mother also adds to the advantage of helping the family financially. It is beneficial as a woman becomes a helping hand to the husband in terms of money. Apart from this they also are gaining important life skills .

This way family runs in a very smooth way without any financial difficulty and the kids also get the best as parents are able to afford due to a good income level.

6. Kids get all facilities:

The woman when works, will be able to help her spouse in money matters. This further helps in giving their children world-class facilities as they are not short of money in any way. The kids are able to join extra classes and other activities also.

In this way, they become intelligent and spontaneous in their working. Those children stand different than the children of non-working mothers.

7. Inspiration for kids:

The mothers when work, become an inspiration for their kids as they look up to their mom and say that they aspire to be like their moms in the near future.

Working moms not only work but also look after their children without any difficulty. So such kids need to look at others for inspiration, but they get to see inspiration at home only. This way, they also learn to do hard work in their life.

8. Life becomes exciting:

Non-working mothers remain at home and are not more outgoing. This way they are not able to have or expand their friend circle, but the working mothers are able to do so and take their children out for outing whenever gets time. So that is the reason why every woman should work. 

In this way, the children also learn socializing, communicating and behaving in front of others.

9. Good standard of living:

A person can give his or her family a high standard of living and makes sure that no financial problem arises.

The kids also live life in a healthy and comfortable manner as all the comforts are provided by mom and dad.

This is not exactly the case with a non-working woman and their kids might remain aloof of all pleasures and comforts the children need in today’s era.

10. No dependence on the husband:

The working woman does not have to depend on the husband for money or any other thing.

She becomes independent and earns her own without relying on a husband. She is able to fulfil all her wants and needs without being accountable to anyone in the family.

Gender Equality at the Workplace:

Disadvantages of Working Mothers:

1. tiredness:.

After working for 10 hours continuously in office creates fatigue and tiredness. The activeness vanishes the moment the mother reaches home. This affects the whole family, including children, husband and the others in case of joint family.

Tiredness does not let the woman have an eye on her kids and this way kids may remain aloof for the whole day. Thus affecting the family life badly.

2. Health issues may arise:

A working mother has to manage both house and office both at an equal level that too on a daily basis.

Having the same routine regularly without any rest may lead to health issues and other problems which also ruins the family life.

If the mother becomes ill, the kids and the husband both are affected and this creates tension in one’s life.

3. Children may feel alone and fall into a bad company:

Children get freedom in excess when they don’t see mothers around to stop them from vices. This way they may fall into bad company and inculcate vices in them.

Not only this, they might feel alone and find for the company as mothers are not available for kids due to work.

4. Mothers are not able to attend important school meetings of kids:

Due to office work, working mothers are not able to attend the school meetings, functions etc. which may develop feelings of inferiority and guilt in them.

Such cases may end children going into depression, thus affecting their health to a larger extent.

5. Less time for kids:

A working woman is not able to devote quality time to their kids. This way the kids are not able to share their feelings and remain quite over the important matters. This makes them introvert and are not able to express their feeling with parents. But this problem can be solved if they gain time management skills .

6. Children are kept in child care centres:

Mothers have to keep their kids in childcare centres as there is no one to take care of them. Those kids remain void of love and motherly affection.

In such cases, the mother feels guilty for not sparing quality time to raise her kids and have to compromise in the development of the kids.

7. Missing out first words, first steps of kids:

The mothers who work i.e. are working have to compromise in terms of motherly emotions and miss all the first words, steps and activities for kids. This way she has to end up with all her feeling just to earn a little more for her kids and family.

8. No helping hand:

If the husband is not helping the wife in household chores, it may cause difficulty for her as she then has to work 24 hours all alone without any help, it may affect co-operation and husband-wife relationship, resulting in the end of such a pious relation.

This way the whole family gets destroyed and even the future of children is affected.

9. Suffering harassment at workplace:

Working women often have to suffer harassment like eve-teasing to even sexual harassment. Many women had to go through all such on a daily basis. Whereas non-working woman does not have to face all this.

10. Conclusion:

So, above are the advantages and disadvantages of being a working mother. Nowadays due to inflation and other economic problems it has become vital to make more efforts for good earning. So for such a thing, a woman has to earn and understand the responsibilities of her family.

Keeping aside the disadvantages of being a working mother, one should be positive and strive to see the advantages it offers a family. A working mother should feel proud of herself as she has the power to give best to her family at the same time not forgetting her responsibilities. One thing a woman should keep in mind is that she should not get angry or irritated over kids rather should try and tackle kids with love, affection and patience.

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• Family Life

Stay-at-Home Moms Vs Working Moms: Here's Looking At The Advantages And Disadvantages

Struggling to decide whether to rejoin work after pregnancy or be a stay-at-home mom? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of working mothers versus looking after the baby at home

This has to be one of the most debated topics of all time. Should I stay at home or resume work after the arrival of the baby? Women face many challenges in both scenarios and are often caught in the dilemma of what to do post-delivery. As all mothers know, it is not an easy decision.

Barring a few exceptions, the concept of working moms, or even working women for that matter, was not very prevalent in the early ages. But as many women came out of the confines of their homes during the struggle for India's freedom, they also started to look for opportunities to work.

For ages, few women in our country defied norms to join the workforce. Most led a routine and domesticated life confined to their houses with minimal interaction with the outside world. But this entire scenario has witnessed a change in the last few decades, with almost every sector now being represented by women.

Change in workplace dynamics

Moreover, with industrialization and globalization, India saw a drastic change in workplace dynamics. Not only did it create employment and job opportunities, but it also helped in changing the mindset of the people. It was a new ray of hope for women who wanted to showcase their skills and expertise, attaining financial independence in the process.

Lack of a support system

Though there has been a lot of changes when it comes to working women, there are still some impediments when new mothers want to go back to work, after giving birth to a baby. A woman's career inevitably takes a back seat after motherhood.

This is not because the woman is less interested in pursuing her career but because she lacks a support system that would allow her to go to work without worrying about her child or looking after the needs of the family. These include a dearth of child care facilities and daycare centers closer to her workplace, the fact that she cannot get enough help from the family, lack of reliable babysitters, and so on.

Motherhood is a blessing. However, being a working mother has to be one of the toughest jobs. Also, due to many constraints, women prefer to be stay-at-home moms.

However, there are pros and cons in both scenarios and mothers should follow whatever is best for them, based on their specific situation.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Stay-at-Home Moms

Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Mothers

These days, there are many work options that allow you to use your free time by taking up work-from-home assignments. But you have to strike a smart balance to avoid a burn-out

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a working mom, both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Hence, a smarter and feasible option can be jobs that allow you to work from home for some time - like when the baby's asleep.

This is less daunting as compared to a regular office job and moreover, you can dedicate your time to taking care of your child. If you decide to be a working mother, make sure you have a good support system in place, to avoid getting stressed. In both scenarios, allow yourself to enjoy once in a while and allocate some time to relax on your own.

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Essay on Working Mothers

Students are often asked to write an essay on Working Mothers in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Working Mothers

The importance of working mothers.

Working mothers play a pivotal role in our society. They not only contribute to the family’s income but also serve as role models for their children. They teach important values like hard work, independence, and resilience.

Challenges Faced by Working Mothers

The impact on children.

Children of working mothers learn to be independent and responsible from an early age. They get inspired to pursue their dreams and ambitions, seeing their mothers’ dedication and commitment.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Working Mothers

Introduction, the evolution of working mothers.

Historically, mothers were confined to the domestic sphere, responsible for nurturing the family. The feminist movement, however, challenged this traditional view, advocating for women’s rights to work and contribute economically. The rise of working mothers since then represents a significant shift in societal structures.

Impact on Family Dynamics

Working mothers have redefined family dynamics. They have proven that it is possible to raise children while pursuing a career, thereby debunking the myth of the ‘ideal’ mother being confined to the home. This shift has also led to a more equitable distribution of household chores, promoting gender equality.

Economic Implications

Working mothers contribute significantly to the economy. They not only support their families financially but also add to the national income. This economic independence further empowers them, allowing them to make decisions about their lives and families.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite the progress, working mothers face numerous challenges, including societal judgment, work-life balance issues, and lack of support. Addressing these issues requires societal change, flexible work policies, and robust support systems.

500 Words Essay on Working Mothers

Historically, societal norms and expectations confined women to domestic roles. However, the rise of feminism and women’s rights movements in the 20th century led to a paradigm shift, encouraging women to step out of their homes and pursue careers. Today, working mothers are prevalent across various sectors, from science and technology to arts and humanities.

The Balancing Act

The life of a working mother is a delicate balance between work and home. They often face the “double burden” of managing household chores and professional tasks, leading to a phenomenon known as “time poverty.” Despite these challenges, many working mothers successfully navigate this complex terrain through effective time management, family support, and flexible work arrangements.

Impact on Children and Society

The role of employers and policy makers.

Employers and policy makers play a crucial role in facilitating the journey of working mothers. Workplaces need to offer flexible hours, remote work options, and family-friendly policies. On the policy front, governments should ensure equal pay, provide affordable childcare, and enforce maternity and paternity leave laws.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Happy studying!

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Being a Working Mother

Today, we no longer see a woman as a stay-at-home mother with stereotyped tasks. In the past, we used to define motherhood that involves lifelong goals of taking care of children and doing household chores alone. That all changed when people worldwide fought for the freedom we enjoy today. Women now play a vital role to contribute to the economy, thus proving they can compete in the job market. Still, some believe mothers should be staying home and tend to their children’s needs. However, women of today beg to differ. So, what are the pros and cons of being working moms?

Pros of Being a Working Mother

Even if they can’t attend to their children full-time, working mothers experience various benefits with their living status. We listed some of these advantages below.

1. Working moms become positive role models.

Children should know women shouldn’t be just domestic servants. Instead, a woman can be someone who works outside the home and pursue a professional career. This instills in children the idea that a woman’s role can include a thriving career apart from domestic tasks. Working for a living knows no gender—and working moms are a living proof of that.

2. They raise more independent children.

Children of working mothers tend to become more independent. Since working moms need to teach kids how to do chores on their own, they develop a strong sense of responsibility at an early age.

3. Working moms are less prone to depression.

According to Robert Locke, health expert and contributor in Lifehack , stay-at-home mothers are likely to suffer from depression. This finding may negatively contribute to childcare. So, as a working mom, it’s a good thing you can fight depression and anxiety in your own way.

4. They have stories to tell outside their personal life.

Aside from their family life, working parents have the opportunity to extend their circle with their colleagues. This also lets them go on work outings and bring along their children. That’s quality time with their family and colleagues in one.

Cons of Being a Working Mother

While it has its fair share of upsides, being a working mom also has its downsides. Here are some of them.

1. Working moms are more tired and stressed.

Just imagine working for nine hours, suffering through the traffic while driving home, and going home to restless children who need a parent’s attention. Working moms go through these almost every day, along with other matters they need to attend to.

2. They are also prone to health issues.

What happens when you involve working mothers with stress? Health issues. Having the same daily routine with little to no rest can put a mother’s health at risk, which can result to more problems.

3. They may miss out on the lives of their kids.

Some working moms miss out on the opportunity to witness their child’s first word, first step, and other priceless moments. Thus, it’s a drawback faced by a working mom supporting her family.

4. Working moms may also have less time for their family.

At times, they can’t attend family events due to their busy schedules. Also, some working moms tend to dedicate most of their time in their careers, so they may have less attention to family matters.

Work-Life Balance for Working Moms

Aside from knowing the pros and cons of being a working mom, read about helpful tips how one can juggle the joys of life and stresses of work.

While having to provide for their family financially, working women can take steps helping them achieve a more worthwhile work-life balance. With that, heed these pieces of advice.

1. Accept help whenever you can get it.

From babysitting, cleaning the house, cooking dinner, or even doing the laundry, let your family, friends, and colleagues help you. If they initiate to offer a helping hand, take it. It’s a win-win situation.

2. Surround yourself with supportive people.

Don’t be afraid to ask for support especially during tough times. Surrounding yourself with people who trust you and will help you through thick and thin helps you manage your life better.

3. Learn self-care.

Yes, you may be providing for your family while making your career worthwhile; but it doesn’t mean leaving yourself out. Meditate, exercise, go shopping, get your hair and nails done, or get a massage. Self-care helps us become less susceptible to depression, anxiety, stress, and other emotional health issues.

4. Make mornings easier.

Organize your chores the night before. Avoid a frenzied morning by doing this. Pack your kids’ lunches, iron their clothes, and decide what you want to make for breakfast.

5. Limit distractions.

Children are dependent on their parent’s attention. Their emotional development and well-being depend on how much time you spend with them. So discipline yourself and set a time limit when checking your phone or watching TV.

Be bold in discovering new opportunities to provide for your family. So if you’re a stay-at-home mom thinking of pursuing a career, be practical and smart in acing your job hunt. Start with a compelling resume written by the experts! Best 10 Resume Writers reviewed the best resume writing companies who offer various services tailored for your job search needs. Read our resume writing services reviews now and be ready to enjoy the wonders of being a working mom!

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Working Mothers: How Much Working, How Much Mothers, And Where Is The Womanhood?

Jayita poduval.

* Assistant Professor, Department of ENT, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

Murali Poduval

** Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedics, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

Motherhood confers upon a woman the responsibility of raising a child. This process also changes the way in which she is perceived in society and at her workplace. It can necessitate her to take more than available leave options, and job security can be at risk. Significant social and personal adjustments are necessary to cope with such a situation. A working mother, especially one who has the good fortune to be able to balance her home and work, enjoys the stimulation that a job or career provides. She develops the ability of raising a useful member of society and at the same time gains financial independence. Along with motherhood, work adds to the completeness of being a woman.

Introduction

“ I am relieved if, rather than sex bias; the reason why more women are not breaking through the glass ceiling of academic medicine is because their children are hanging on the tails of their white coats. Most of us are happy to have them there, and academic medicine offers a level of professional fulfillment, financial stability, and geographic flexibility that is well worth the juggle ” (Laine, 1998)

“ First, from the early 1950s, many employed mothers began to challenge, although not overturn, the dominant discourse of the ideal mother as exclusively bound to the home. The simple fact that so many women were drawn to work outside the home despite criticism demonstrates the monetary and psychological importance of employment for women ” (Wilson, 2006)

Both quotes above reflect the unique life situation of working mothers, who are now a visible part of the workforce in almost all professions. Many working women start their families while they are working, and some others may find the need to return to work sooner than expected in the postpartum period. The working mother is an institution in her own right, one who combines a successful career giving her financial independence, with an effective motherhood raising a child. It is important to understand that both these jobs are extremely demanding, and to do justice to each without neglecting the other is a formidable task.

In this article, we shall try to clarify the difficulties a working mother may have on functioning with such dual responsibility.

Working and Motherhood

One could define a working mother as a woman with the ability to combine a career with the added responsibility of raising a child. Within this broad term may be encompassed two different categories of working women: the stay at home mother who works from home and the woman who works away from home while managing to fulfill her maternal duties.

Material aspirations and the necessities of daily life often compel both parents to work. A qualified woman may insist on working to maintain an effective career and be financially independent. The single working mother is a combination of these entities, working not only to run the family, but also maintaining her position as a financially independent head of the family.

Some of the points we must try to address include the following:

• a) Does motherhood affect productivity at the workplace?
• b) Does motherhood incite subconscious gender discrimination at the workplace?
• c) Does motherhood imply that the employee be given special privileges beyond possible entitlements, say maternity leave?
• d) Do special policies exist regarding leave benefits and special entitlements that may be needed by working mothers, say sudden sickness of the child?
• e) Is flexible working desirable? Can it be taken undue advantage of by the employee?

In this context, some of the issues that come into play include the following:

• a) Employer issues–maternity, compensated working hours, childcare facilities at the workplace, gender discrimination of working parents, especially in the academic field
• b) Employee issues–fatigue, spousal support, parental support system, child care issues, child health issues (e.g., do children of working mothers have more health problems?)

Working and Mothers: Some Common Issues

The Department of Labour of the United States of America, in The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (1993), clearly recognizes the needs of working parents. According to this statute:

“The number of single-parent households and two-parent households in which the single parent or both parents work is increasing significantly. It is important for the development of children and the family unit that fathers and mothers are able to participate in early childrearing .The lack of employment policies to accommodate working parents can force individuals to choose between job security and parenting. Due to the nature of the roles of men and women in our society, the primary responsibility for family caretaking often falls on women, and such responsibility affects the working lives of women more than it affects the working lives of men. Employment standards that apply to one gender only have serious potential for encouraging employers to discriminate against employees and applicants for employment who are of that gender [The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (1993)]” .

Therefore, the need to support a working mother is well recognized. It has also been explicitly mentioned that the dominant role in childcare is recognized and assumed to be that of the mother and that this responsibility affects the working life of women more than that of men.

Certain common problems plague most working women. The Better Health Channelon the Web, ratified by the Government of Australia, states some of the common issues that may concern working mothers (Better Health Channel, 2008). Foremost amongst these are income difficulties. If the mother works, childcare support is essential and can be quite expensive. It may actually offset the financial benefits of both the parents working.

In Asian countries, and in many joint family systems, grandparents and other nonworking family members fulfill the need for childcare–they take over the job of childcare when the mother is at work. This very important benefit (of readily available child support from the family members themselves) in joint families not only recognizes that the working mother is an important member of the family, but also provides her the necessary support to be able to perform her dual role efficiently.

Stress loads can be quite high amongst working mothers and these may often reflect in their relationships at home. She is stressed to reach work on time, to send her child to school and to reach all the children's deadlines on time including food and dress, and she is also pressed for time to look after her home simultaneously.

Housework is still considered the woman's domain. Working women shoulder additional responsibility of the work place as well as at their domestic front.

Unexpected sickness of children is a calamity that can be difficult to handle. There often is need to use and avail of unpaid leave and unexpected absences from work. Few employers would consider the needs of sudden leave requirements in women with young children. Even in double-income families, it is still the woman who is expected to take care of a sick child (ibid).

Sexual relationships can also be quite strained in working mothers. Much of it can be attributed to lack of time and to fatigue, especially where both partners have long working hours (ibid).

Nutritional requirements may be neglected in the quest to complete and meet all targets at home as well as at work (Finn, 2000). These women, whom Finn calls Everyday Heroes , use everything from the dashboard to the desktop as a dining table. The result is an amazing variety of nutritional deficiencies, ranging from iron and vitamins to proteins. Despite confiding in their physicians many just do not get the support they need.

Mothers and Employment

The rush of married women into the workforce runs against traditional thinking that women must choose between family and career. Many observers condemned working mothers as selfish, unnatural and even dangerous to their children and society (Wilson, 2006). It was complained that the rise in juvenile delinquency could also be attributed to women who are working mothers, but needs and requirements of the family unit will always supersede ill-defined logic. Women, motherhood or not, continue to work. The reasons are, more often than not, aspirational. Many of these mothers are young and have spent years developing their careers. When both spouses work it may be necessary for the mother to retain her job if she has insurance benefits, and if she wants to retire with better retirement benefits (Edelman, 2002). Many of these women find the need to maintain a parallel source of income a social security and a sign of independence.

A mother may work out of a financial compulsion, a desire to fulfill herself, or to supplement the family income. In all of these three instances, she is a working mother, but the implications of her situation are different.

As Wilson (2006) says “ many working women said that they worked because they ‘needed’ the money and which they defined as specific material goods-an extra lesson, additional clothes, a vacation, furniture, owning a home, car or even just a television-arguing their work was bringing a rise in the family's standard of living .” Both men and women had material and emotional expectations for better standards of living and a working wife could add considerably to achieving those goals (Wilson, 2006).

A financial compulsion could be a less competent spouse with an inadequate income, or a single mother who is dependent on her earnings for survival. A second income from the mother adds to better living conditions and eases the stresses of struggling for a comfortable life. However, when the mother is returning to work purely to maintain and advance a career that satisfies her and keeps her independent, she comes under scrutiny and criticism (Heilman and Okimoto, 2008).

The working mother has to keep the convincing stance that she is working not just for her own sustenance, but also for the betterment of the family. Something like, “a working woman who put herself out for the kid's sake” (Wilson, 2006). Working women changed the image of a good mother from one who stayed at home to one who also took on extra burden for her family's benefit. This would however not recognize the working mother as an important member of the workforce and an important worker in her own right! It is possible for a working mother to defend her right to work in a number of ways. A less affluent member of society would simply say it brings in much needed extra money. A woman from a better class of living would say she has more money to spare and is utilizing her talents and skills to the best effect. In either case, the most important aspect is that it shouldn‘t affect the health and well being of their children in any way. In any case, “having to work” takes away much of the problems a working mother has to face (Wilson, 2006).

Employer's Perceptions of Efficiency and Relationships of Motherhood to the Working Environment

A working mother's ability to deliver is considered with trepidation. Having decided to work, will the working mother be able to deliver efficiently at the work place?

Motherhood leads to a definite bias in employment for women seeking a job in traditionally male settings (Heilman and Okimoto, 2008). In general, for both men and women, parenthood changes the way in which both men and women are viewed in terms of expected work focus, especially producing expectations of undependability. The authors also add that there are possible heightened associations with gender stereotypes that occur when women are mothers; this may lead to heightened performance expectations that predispose greater negativity to be directed at mothers than at non mothers when career advancement decisions are made (Heilman and Okimoto, 2008). They also noted that employment bias occurred against mothers irrespective of whether they were students or working people, and that women suffer definite disadvantages when at the workplace, a problem that has been called the Maternal Wall by Williams (Heilman and Okimoto, 2008; Williams, 2001).

It is well known that employment has positive effects on the mother (Barnett, 2004). There is an underlying assumption that the roles of mother and wife have relatively less stress, as they are natural roles, whereas the role of employee, being unnatural, is therefore highly demanding. This may question the ability of a woman to handle multiple roles without significant ill effects. There is also considerable rhetoric on the relationship of this unnatural employment to many social evils including juvenile delinquency and drug addiction (Barnett, 2004).

Regardless of the reasons, a young mother chooses to work, the workplace and work environment as a whole continue to be hostile. Shouldering dual responsibilities may actually decrease productivity at the work place. Some of the research done has focused on mothers who are working in the academic field, and slower academic progress has been attributed to working mothers in academic medicine (Carr et al ., 1998). They attributed a definite relation between family responsibilities and gender to academic productivity. Having identified 1979 full-time academic faculty from 24 medical schools across the country, a 177-point questionnaire was administered with the aim of describing dependent responsibilities by gender and to identify their relation to the aspirations, goals, rate of progress, academic productivity, and career satisfaction of male and female medical school faculty. In this study, the authors noted that women with children published less even after controlling for variables such as years as a faculty member, number of hours worked per week, and hours of dependent responsibilities (as noted from the peer reviewed publications); they had slower self-perceived career progress and were less satisfied with their careers. The difference seen between the genders was less apparent for faculty without children.

Carr et al . also noted that women faculty with children had less institutional support than men with children. They specially commented that, “In a group less able to expand working hours because of dependent responsibilities; however, institutional support may be especially critical for maintaining productivity.” It was noted here that familial responsibilities with special reference to child bearing disproportionately affected the careers of female faculty. They recommended special attention by scheduling fewer departmental meetings after working hours and making part-time tenures available for faculty (Carr et al ., 1998)

Maternity Leave and Benefits for Working Mothers

Women's recovery from childbirth and their resumption of work and family commitments are likely to be influenced by such personal factors as preexisting health status, parity, breastfeeding, the availability of social support from family and friends and work-related factors, e.g., the timing of return to work, job stress, and workplace support.

Can a working mother do justice to both her work and her motherhood? The answers vary from a firm yes to a vehement no, and, more often than not, the answer lies not in the ability or competence of the woman as much as it does on her support system. The question of a support system is very relevant because traditionally all support systems have revolved around men ever since the times when women were believed to be capable of only “kuche, kirche und kinder” [German for kitchen, church, and children]. A woman who was working before marriage will more often than not opt to take a protracted leave of absence to fully immerse herself in her motherhood. Some would even think of giving up their careers for good.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 states that it is necessary to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, to promote the stability and economic security of families, and to promote national interests in preserving family integrity; to entitle employees to take reasonable leave for medical reasons, for the birth or adoption of a child, and for the care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition, and to promote the goal of equal employment opportunity for women and men.

Most of these summarize succinctly the needs of a mother who is working. Working mothers’ needs are to be served in the interest of preserving the family unit as a healthy foundation for society. Caring for a child has the fundamental value of a serious health condition and has been valued as such, deserving that the parent be allowed to take time off for caring for the child. This means that caring for a child is an essential duty that the parent has to perform and that cannot be substituted for in any other way. This is especially true in cases where the child is one with special needs (Thyen et al ., 1999; Yantzi et al ., 2007). Family support is highest among employed mothers and lowest in mothers who were employed neither currently nor before the child's illness, or who had quit employment to care for the child (Thyen et al , 1999). Caring for a child assisted by technology seems to create barriers to maternal employment diminishing family resources at a time when financial needs actually may increase. Lack of family support and child care services increase the likelihood that mothers of children cared for assisted by technology will stay out of the labour force. Remaining employed buffers the negative effects of care at home on maternal mental health (Yantzi et al , 2007).

Breastfeeding

Maternity leave provisions are essential for a working woman to effectively complete the transition from pregnancy to motherhood. Premature termination or too short a maternity leave may have undesirable consequences. Studies often cite early return to work as one of the reasons for premature termination of breastfeeding. Shorter maternity leaves were associated with less sensitivity in interaction with the infant and more maternal depressive symptoms (Clark et al ., 1997; Ryan et al ., 2006).

One-third of mothers return to work within 3 months of giving birth, and two-thirds return within 6 months. Mothers who are not employed are more likely to initiate breastfeeding than those who are employed full time. At 6 months after delivery, full-time employment has a significant effect on breastfeeding. Much less of the employed mothers continue breastfeeding as compared to the mothers employed part time or unemployed mothers (Ryan et al , 2006).

In order to comply with workplace requirements, mothers in a study focusing on educated mothers in managerial and/or professional occupations noted that mothers were obliged either to cease breastfeeding or to conceal breastfeeding activities when employed. Breastfeeding duration rates among professionally employed mothers can only be improved if negative attitudes about maternal bodies and employment are challenged and if employers, as well as mothers, are the focus of health initiatives aimed at promoting breastfeeding (Gattrell, 2007).

With the implications that this may have on neonatal well being, it may be necessary to have labour policies, including job-protected leaves from employment after birth, and labour standards that facilitate breastfeeding or the expression of breast milk at work (Baker and Milligan, 2008). The authors noted an increase in maternity leave entitlements in Canada, rising from 6 months in the year 2000 to almost one year for mothers who gave birth after 31 December 2000. This includes job protected leave and entitlement for maternity benefits. This led to a large increase in the amount of time before mothers returned to work post birth. An attempt at systematic review to assess whether interventions at the workplace help breastfeeding elicited no suitable trials (Abdulwadud and Snow, 2007).

A study of 360 mothers (Hansen et al ., 1993) analyzed the utilization of maternity leave by parents and mothers’ resumption of work after delivery in addition of duration of breastfeeding in correlation to mothers’ resumption of work. Almost all families utilized the maternity leave, with the majority utilizing the full duration of 24 weeks, many electing to prolong the leave with their holiday and often beyond that period. At one year after delivery, significantly more mothers were housewives than before. They recommended that maternity leave be extended. A positive association has been shown between maternal health and duration of breastfeeding with the length of maternity leave (Staehelin et al ., 2007). The authors found that longer maternity leaves were associated with lower perinatal, neonatal, and postnatal mortalities.

Thus, maternity and child care leave provisions are essential for every working mother. It enables her to nurture the young child efficiently and thus decreases morbidity. The durations of these absences are variable and can depend on so many factors that it may be difficult to fix a uniform period for maternity leave. It may be a function of social circumstance as much as a regional preference. A working mother from a joint family may need much less leave than a single mother, or a woman from a nuclear family and with no child support systems in the family. Often provisions of child care in the office itself in the form of a nursery helps the mother resume work more seamlessly. Part-time work at the office and working from home may also help ease the stress. Part-time work allows women to cultivate outside interests, earn money, and have a defense from criticism of neglecting her children (Wilson, 2006)

Can Working Mothers Take Undue Advantage of Employer Benefits and Social Sentiments, and are They a Drain on Resources?

A woman may keep a job just to keep the home fi res burning, while another may fight against all odds to pursue her career. In the interests of working mothers in both these situations, a solid support system needs to exist, and the prerogative to work or not should lie entirely with the worker, as would be in the case of an ordinary working male. Parties concerned can exploit this situation, that is, a working mother may not be extended an adequate support system, or conversely, she may try to extract special concessions from her employer[s] at the cost of work ethics. Maternity leave, flexible working hours, child-friendly workplace sound extremely good, but what about the flip side? Maternity leave is known to be extended, sometimes indefinitely. Often, the mother quits work altogether. Flexible working hours might adversely affect other employees, and would definitely require their cooperation. As for creating a workplace with childcare facilities, a sufficient number of female employees are desirable. An employer who has a larger number of female employees is likely to be more proactive in providing child care and nursing facilities at the workplace for the working mother. Provisions for part-time employment and work at home opportunities are also easier to provide when the number of female employees, and thus the demand for such a facility, is greater.

The cost-benefit ratio of these privileges needs to be examined. The scale and size of the employer, the health conditions of the mother and child, social support, all play important roles. Definitely, guidelines need to exist and would vary across occupations. A working mother may work for pleasure or compulsion, but work ethics and professionalism must have their place. These in turn will generate more empathy towards working mothers from all quarters -- the employer, the spouse, the family and finally, society. In short, good employees would generate more empathy and better co-operation from their employers. And an understanding and co-operative employer would be able to extract the best from his employee without misuse of the benefits given to them.

Maternal health has been found to be negatively related to employment dissatisfaction. Studies (Romito et al , 2007; Glezer 1988) looked at women in employment before the birth of the first child. Three fourth of women were in the workforce and of these a third did not take maternity leave despite being eligible for the same, and about a quarter (24%) were ineligible for maternity leave for various reasons. Public sector employees availed of most of the maternity leave. As much as half of the women who did not take maternity leave in the private sector were actually unaware of these options. Working in the public sector, a strong attachment to the workforce, trade union memberships, and education were some factors that affected leave taking amongst working mothers (Glezer, 1988).

Working Mothers and Child Development

A woman has the privilege to actually choose between work and motherhood. Social conditioning entails that the woman put home before career even though no expense has been spared in her education and upbringing towards being independent. The equation in a household where both partners are employed changes with the arrival of a child. Maternal instinct ensures that in the initial crucial weeks; the baby is mostly, if not entirely, in the mother's care. During this period mother-child bonding becomes very strong and sees many women happily opting out of pursuing a career. Later on, financial implications of living on a single income and economic aspirations compel a majority of women to get back to work. Career ambitions are also a big driving force for a mother choosing to work, especially one who is well qualified. Women who resume work after a few months are torn between career ambitions and natural childrearing instincts. Even in households where grandparents, relatives or babysitters attend to the child, a working mother still feels ridden with guilt. In families where both the mother and father are equally involved in child rearing, the woman is able to experience less guilt and more satisfaction while being a working mother. Mutual understanding between spouses ensures that along with bringing in the income, both parents not only share the responsibilities of childcare and the immense fulfillment that comes with it, but also continue to enjoy each other's company as partners.

These attitudes and values are then propagated through the generations. That is why we do see many families where the working mother is not considered an anomaly but a welcome entity. This means that gender sensitivity must be cultivated at both the individual and social level so that as working parents, each partner has an equal responsibility towards the children, not merely by the ability to earn money but also by the inclination and commitment to be involved in the process of child rearing.

The effects of maternal employment on children are sometimes positive and sometimes negative (Youngblut et al ., 1998). Parents in non-employed mother families were more satisfied with their families at 18 months than parents in employed mother families (Youngblut et al ., 1994).Curiously it was also found that the infant's motor development was positively correlated with number of hours employed per week and degree of choice for the employed mother families, but negatively correlated with choice for the non-employed mother families. These results suggest that maternal employment may not be detrimental for infants born prior to term. Indeed, it may be beneficial, especially if the mother has a choice in the matter (Youngblut et al ., 1991). For preschoolers, neither mothers’ employment transitions nor their welfare transitions appear to be problematic or beneficial for cognitive achievement or behaviour problems (Chase-Lansdale et al ., 2003). Adolescents whose mothers began working reported statistically significant declines in psychological distress. This pattern was strongest for their symptoms of anxiety.

Employed mothers’ positive motivation for working, low role conflicts and gains in self worth were associated with their favourable descriptions of their children (Alvarez, 1985; Chase-Lansdale et al ., 2003)

Mothers’ employed status benefits children by improving family income, better disciplined work behaviour and better structure of family routines .Studies (Chase-Lansdale et al ., 2003; Alvarez, 1985) have noted that maternal higher education was found to be a powerful mitigator of possible negative consequences for children whose mothers were working from financial necessity or were experiencing role conflict. Youngblut et al ., (1998) explored differences in parent-child and family relationships for employed and non-employed single mothers of low birth-weight and full-term preschool children. They found that employed mothers had more positive perceptions and provided more enriching home environments for their children. They noted that in single-parent families, employment and consistency are positive influences on the mother-child relationship.

The answer to whether work pays as far as parenting is concerned is believed to be complex (Raver, 2003). Women who held lower rung jobs experience much more negativity in their parenting styles. Considering that income increase is a really positive factor that leads to better mental health of the family unit in the long term, low wage jobs may not benefit the family unit materially or economically. These factors can have an effect on the parenting style in working mothers (Raver, 2003). The families’ emotional climate and mothers’ mental health are both important factors that determine the effect of employment of mothers on the family unit.

Preschoolers experience a significant decline in time spent with their mothers when their mothers go to work and total time spent with the child has shown to decrease by as much as 2 hours per day. A trade off is found between time and money, as family income increases whereas mother's time with child decreases. Hence these two may offset each other. Mothers may often compensate for this by decreasing social, educational and personal activities that do not involve the children (Chase-Lansdale et al ., 2003).

The incidence of childhood obesity was found to increase with increases in maternal employment as the number of hours spent with the child decrease, thus decreasing access to healthy food and increasing dependence on junk food (Hawkins et al ., 2008). The Millennium Cohort Study Child Health Group stated that long hours of maternal employment, rather than lack of money, may impede young children's access to healthy foods and physical activity (ibid). Children were more likely to be overweight for every ten hours a mother worked per week and this relationship was significant for children from households with a higher annual income (ibid).

In contrast, it was noted that, for pre-adolescent children (Greenberger and O’Neill, 1992), maternal employment (typically, conditioned by mothers’ level of education and child gender) was more strongly associated with fathers’ and teachers’ perceptions of children than with mothers’ perceptions, and, in some cases, especially with fathers’ and teachers’ perceptions of daughters. Fathers perceived their 5-6-year-olds as having more problem behaviours when mothers were currently employed full time. Fathers and teachers viewed children's behaviour as more problematic when less educated mothers had been employed during more years of the child's lifetime.

Mothers’ transitions into employment were related to improvements in adolescents’ mental health. Adolescents whose mothers began working reported statistically significant declines in psychological distress (Chase-Lansdale et al ., 2003). The effect of maternal employment on adolescent daughters was studied by Jensen and Borges and they noted that daughters of non-employed mothers had a closer relationship with their fathers, perceived them as happier and friendlier, and experienced less anger and tension in the home (Jensen and Borges, 1986). With adolescents and teenagers an improvement in their mental health was found in correlation with increased incomes in the family. Depressive and aggressive symptoms increased with mothers’ exit from employment. It appears that when mothers of adolescents entered the labour force, they compensated for time away from their young teenagers by cutting down on time apart when they were not on the job (Chase Lansdale et al ., 2003).

Contrary to popular belief, a working mother can have a positive impact on her growing children but many variables need to be considered. The most important is obviously the availability of child-care facilities.

Where Is The Womanhood?

Women's movements have proved that a woman is no less than a man in every sphere of life, and women can take upon themselves to go a step further and prove that what a man can do, a woman can do better. So if a man could work to earn money, a woman could work, earn money and look after the kid[s] as well. Of course, a little help is always welcome, but we see scores of women who juggle all the three beautifully, and still do not complain.

Who does? The husband, the in-laws, some friends, and the conscience of the woman, who still think she is not doing a good-enough job.

Is it a question raised on her womanhood?

In society, womanhood continues to be described from an essentially male viewpoint. This can be especially true of societies in third world countries like India. Adjectives used to describe a woman may vary from feminine to tender, motherly, etc. A woman is all this and more. As a working mother, she is independent and empowered, especially if she is from a low socio-economic background. And that is the essence of her womanhood. Financial independence gives a sense of empowerment, and the additional income that the family gets, improves the family's standard of living and these together constitute a very essential upgrade for families with low socioeconomic background.

While there is no clear-cut relationship of the term manhood to nurturing a child, except for the capacity to procreate, womanhood carries with it the onus of a deep, strong instinct and inclination to nurture. Indeed, a woman feels, or is expected to feel, incomplete without being a mother, either as a biological trait or because of social conditioning. While the professional aspirations of the modern working woman continue to soar, as soon as she becomes a mother her priorities often change. A working woman is expected to be a good wife and mother before anything else, never mind her professional status or skills. Many women themselves put a premium on being a good mother at the cost of their work or career. Society does not look kindly upon a woman who attains great success at work and has little time to devote to her home. It is as though womanhood is at stake if being a wife and mother does not take first place in the life of a woman, contrary to what it would be in the case of a man.

Stereotypes rule and strong beliefs persist about the negative effects of maternal employment on women, their marriages, and their children, despite systematic evidence to the contrary.

It is also assumed that a mother's being at work leads to social ills like school dropouts, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, and divorce.

The argument that working mothers have little time to spare for their family, does not take into account the hours of unpaid housework and domestic chores of a full-time housewife. Working mothers put aside quality time to spend with their family and can contribute to a more cheerful and positive family environment. By efficient and effective time management, a working mother is able to allocate time to her various roles as well as appreciate her own worth and importance.

Conclusions

In short, it is possible to be a woman, a mother, and an achiever. Many have done it with help from society, and others have battled endless odds to prove the same. In today's world it is both desirable and incumbent upon mothers to be working, like their spouses. We, in the developing world, and still in the throes of a culture and tradition of a male-oriented society, should acknowledge that, contrary to traditional belief that a working mother is not a good mother, a working mother can, in fact, be a better mother.

A working mother, especially the one who has the good fortune to be able to balance her home and work, thanks to all the factors mentioned above, enjoys the stimulation that a job or career provides. She not only feels better about herself but is also forced to take better care of herself in order to make an impression. Along with motherhood, a successful career adds to the completeness of being a woman. The major stresses of being a working mother remain lack of time, and a feeling of guilt, due to perceived neglect of the parenting role. The rewards are many, including personal benefits, financial rewards, and improved family life.

To enable this, considerable adjustments are necessary at the individual level and at the workplace, which help the mother to fulfill the dual responsibilities of career and motherhood.

Take Home Message

The working mother epitomizes modern womanhood. The modern work environment needs to consider the special needs of this working population, changing its orientation from male dominance to gender neutrality and parenting friendly behaviour. The joint family and the nuclear family unit both need to adjust to the needs of the working mother so as to allow a healthier family to develop.

Questions That This Paper Raises

• 1) Is the profile of a working woman conducive to raising a healthy child as well as functioning adequately at the place of work?
• 2) Is a working woman a norm and the housewife slowly becoming a rarity?
• 3) Are radical reforms required to help a working woman cope with the dual stresses of motherhood and a career?
• 4) Are more studies required to assess the impact of motherhood on proficiency in careers?

About the Author

Dr Jayita Poduval is an alumnus of the Sir JJ Hospital and Grant Medical College Mumbai, and the Seth GS Medical College Mumbai. She is a practicing consultant ENT Surgeon at the Manipal teaching Hospital, Pokhara Nepal, and Assistant Professor at the Department of ENT at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences at Pokhara in Nepal .

Dr Murali Poduval is an alumnus of the Sir JJ Hospital and Grant Medical College Mumbai, and the Seth GS Medical College Mumbai. Formerly, he was lecturer at the Department of Orthopedics at the KEM Hospital Mumbai. He is a practicing consultant Orthopedic Surgeon at the Manipal teaching Hospital, Pokhara Nepal, and Associate Professor at the Department of Orthopedics at the Manipal college of Medical Sciences at Pokhara in Nepal. He edits the Asian Journal of Orthopedics and Rheumatology .

Conflict of Interest: We declare no conflicts of interest, commercial or otherwise, in relation to the matter published in this article. As co-authors we share equal responsibility for the contents and views presented as part of this article.

Declaration: This is an original work and has not been submitted to any other journal for publication. It is not under consideration at any other journal.

CITATION: Jayita P., Murali P., (2009), Working Mothers: How Much Working, How Much Mothers, and Where Is the Womanhood?. In: Some Issues in Women's studies, and Other Essays (A.R. Singh and S.A. Singh eds.), MSM , 7, Jan - Dec 2009, p63-79.

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Working Women and Motherhood -A Review

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Women at Work

Mounting Evidence of Advantages for Children of Working Mothers

By Claire Cain Miller

• May 15, 2015

Nearly three-quarters of American mothers with children at home are employed. That fact doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for mothers to drop a toddler at day care or miss school plays. The mommy wars might seem like a relic of the 1990s, but 41 percent of adults say the increase in working mothers is bad for society, while just 22 percent say it is good, according to the Pew Research Center.

Yet evidence is mounting that having a working mother has some economic, educational and social benefits for children of both sexes. That is not to say that children do not also benefit when their parents spend more time with them — they do . But we make trade-offs in how we spend our time, and research shows that children of working parents also accrue benefits.

In a new study of 50,000 adults in 25 countries, daughters of working mothers completed more years of education, were more likely to be employed and in supervisory roles and earned higher incomes. Having a working mother didn’t influence the careers of sons, which researchers said was unsurprising because men were generally expected to work — but sons of working mothers did spend more time on child care and housework.

Some of these effects were strong in the United States. Here, daughters of working mothers earned 23 percent more than daughters of stay-at-home mothers, after controlling for demographic factors, and sons spent seven and a half more hours a week on child care and 25 more minutes on housework.

“Part of this working mothers’ guilt has been, ‘Oh, my kids are going to be so much better off if I stay home,’ but what we’re finding in adult outcomes is kids will be so much better off if women spend some time at work,” said Kathleen McGinn, a professor at Harvard Business School and an author of the study, which is part of the school’s new gender initiative, to be announced Monday, for researching and discussing gender issues.

“This is as close to a silver bullet as you can find in terms of helping reduce gender inequalities, both in the workplace and at home,” she said.

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How Biases About Motherhood Impact All Women at Work

• Leanne M. Dzubinski

Research shows the maternal wall is an obstacle regardless of whether women plan to have children or not.

Women’s experiences as parents in the workplace are completely different from men’s. Men get a “fatherhood wage premium,” while mothers encounter a “motherhood penalty” in wages and advancement opportunities. One might think that women without children have workplace advantages on a par with their male counterparts. But they don’t. The maternal wall hinders all women’s careers, whether they plan to have children or not.

Women without children face four biases. First, they face the “maybe baby” bias, when women ae not hired or promoted due to an assumption that they would become mothers. They also experience a “do more” bias, where women with no children found that they were expected to work longer and harder than their peers with children. Third, they face a “pay less” bias, where they are seen as less deserving financially because they were “not working to support a family.” Finally, there is a “never quite right” bias, where women are perceived as less worthy of positions, promotions, and earnings than their male colleagues, whether women want or have children, or not.

In our book Glass Walls , we tell the story of a newspaper employee whose publisher asked her if she planned to have kids. She replied, “Someday.” The publisher responded, “That will be your career.”  Subsequently, the publisher moved her around the newsroom, never gave her a promotion, and assigned her to the night shift. She quit. While this employee had no children, her employer upended her job due to her aspiration to have children in the future.

• Amy Diehl , PhD is chief information officer at Wilson College and a gender equity researcher and speaker. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work (Rowman & Littlefield). Find her on LinkedIn at Amy-Diehl , X/Twitter @amydiehl , and visit her website at amy-diehl.com .
• LD Leanne M. Dzubinski , PhD is professor of leadership and director of the Beeson International Center at Asbury Seminary, and a prominent researcher on women in leadership. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work (Rowman & Littlefield).

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Differences Between Children Raised by Stay-at-home Mothers and Working Mothers

• Categories: Children Mother Motherhood

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Words: 1978 |

10 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1978 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, children raised by stay at home moms, children brought up by working mothers, more care for stay at home mothers’ children, personality of children whose mothers stay at home, advantages and disadvantages of stay at home moms, care given to the children of working mothers, personalities of working moms’ children, advantages and disadvantages of working mothers, social discrimination.

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Decoding the ‘Working Mothers are Better Mothers’ Argument

Advantages and Disadvantages of being a Working Mom

Advantages and disadvantages of being a stay at home mom, so… what’s the verdict.

It’s now increasingly being felt that working mothers end up having children who are more socially adept and independent. There are several arguments that lend credence to the fact that working women are better mothers and it’s worthwhile to try and comprehend them.

The debate about whether working women make better mothers has been going on since time immemorial and probably won’t end any time soon. While at the end of the day, this boils down to a personal choice, let’s try and decode the reasons in favour of working moms.Any rational adult will agree that for any choice we make – you win some you lose some. So there is no one straight answer to the question ‘who is a better mom’. So let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of being a working mother and a stay at home mom.

Let us take a look at the different aspects of being a working mom, and how they affect different areas of your life.

Personal Premise

Jobs present a unique opportunity for growth and exposure to a wide spectrum of people and situations that just won’t be possible if you are a stay at home mom. In turn, this can lead to overall personality development (yes, personality development is not just limited to college kids!). The financial stability and independence that a career and job bring can also prove important in times of crisis for the family.

However, having the same things expected of you as are expected of a single woman or a male colleague can take its toll on your health. While working moms are full-time employees they are also full-time mothers, and if due consideration is not given to this aspect, then life as the employee of an organisation can become quite stressful. Add to this the fact that, once you are home, your attention will immediately be called upon by your family and your baby, which leaves you very little time to relax and pamper yourself, or do things that make you happy.

Family Front

Spending an average of 9 out of 16 waking hours in an office (and 2 hours on an average commuting to and from office) means your family only gets about 5 hours with you… which is not a very big number. Factor in your daily and monthly chores, keeping the house in order, and there is almost no time left for your husband and your baby.

One can choose to look at this situation in a positive light too: an additional source of income means your children can go to a better school, you can provide for them beter, maybe even buy that dream house you and your husband wanted in 3 years instead of 5… all of which is for the benefit of the family, no doubt. But it cannot be ignored that all these things come at a very heavy price.

Relationship

It is not unheard of partners getting competitive with each other when they are both working. While most men and women consciously try and accomodate each other’s work now more than in the old days, they often don’t quite know a way to make it work. Things can get especially messy when one partner is doing better at work than the other – leading to feelings of resentment. What couples need to realise that at the end of the day, they are both on the same side, they are on the same team. Hell, they ARE a team. But this is easier said than done.

However, there are also brilliant example of ‘power couples’ that both understand and respect each other’s work and profession, and in a way this brings the couple much closer to each other. They see each other as two equals, who are both committed to the relationship, the house, and the kids, and out of this realisation comes mutual respect, love, and a bond that is unbreakable.

This is perhaps the biggest pain point for any working mom – not being able to spend enough time with her child or children. We always want to say and do so much when it comes to our children, isn’t it? And this makes the working moms vs. stay at home moms debate even more painful.

As working moms, you can imbibe your children with a lot of precious values – independence, confidence, commitment, discipline, being organised and focused. What’s more, you can do this by yourself becoming an embodiment of these values, by becoming the perfect role-model fo your child.

However, it is undeniable that this comes at the price of not actually spending that much time with your child. A mother’s care is irreplacable, and a lot of factors of your child’s overall development and growth depend on how much quality time you spend with them, such as their sense of security, their performance at school, their social skills, etc.

Now, let’s take a look at what it means to be a stay at home mom, and the advantages and disadvantages of the situation.

Definitely a stay at home mom (SAHM) gets more time to look after herself. With 9 extra hours to herself (as compared to a working mom), the sky is the limit to what an SAHM can achieve. She can chalk out enough time for her baby, the household chores, and her hobbies and ‘me’-time, while also managing to make time to be spent with her husband.

Unfortunately though, somehow SAHMs end up spending all their time just tending to the house and their children! Talk to any SAHM and the first thing she’ll probably say is that there’s never enough time!

Being always present ‘at home’ can mean a stay at home mother gets a lot of time to spend with her family. She can develop close bonds with just about everyone in the family, while also stay in touch better with her maiden family. However, always ‘being available’ also means SAHMs get taken advantage of a lot. There is a general notion among a lot of people that stay at home moms do not need to hire a maid. This kind of thinking overburdens a stay at home mom to the point that somehow she always become responsible for everything.

While we all love our husbands, stay at home moms make for the most conspicuously caring partners because they can actually demonstrate it through their actions. A working mom may want to cook a fancy dinner for her husband but not be able to do it, but a stay at home mom actually can! Making plans is easier because only one of the partner’s schedule needs to be taken into consideration since the other partner is relatively free. This gives the couple more time and opportunities to do things together, bringing them closer.

However, there can be a situation where the husband does not feel understood because the wife has no context or perspective of what it’s like to hold down a job and deal with the challenges that come with it. A lot of times this can lead to feelings of disappointment that can be enough to wedge a rift between the couple.

The biggest upside of being a stay at home mom is the fact that the children always have their mother around. The constant presence of the primary caregiver goes a long way in making children socially well-adjusted. It is very important for children to feel loved, cared for, and heard. Being able to see their mother as soon as they come home from school every single day, when they are bursting with stories to relay, boosts not only their confidence but also emotional stability.

The flip side of the situation is that children sometimes get too attached to their mother, and may take longer to become independent and self-sufficient.

Well, it’s simple – moms are awesome! That’s the final verdict.

No matter how you choose to work it out, you know – and so do we – that you are doing it all for the love of your child, your husband, and your family. As with any other situation, there are a lot of gains and losses on either side of the debate, and what you choose to prioritise is completely your decision.

However, it would be advisable to be aware and alert of the ‘cons’ of your side, and try your best to not let them get in the way of you being an awesome mom! Make your husband your best friend, and enrol his help and co-operation in whatever you choose to do. Do not brand your family as ‘uncooperative’, try your best to make them see your choices.

While there is no right or wrong choice, every woman should make a decision based on her circumstances and the support infrastructure available to her. However, it definitely is true that children of working mothers exhibit certain advantages over kids of stay-at-home moms.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Women Essay

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Introduction

Disadvantages.

Many families hire housemaids to assist them in doing house chores. Families with many members or working mothers need assistance, without which they become overwhelmed by responsibilities. A housemaid cleans the house, cooks, takes care of children, and buys groceries. There are advantages and disadvantages of hiring a maid.

Advantages of hiring housemaids include better time management for family members, improved performance at work, and the creation of an opportunity for women to work. Maids do house chores such as cooking, laundry, washing children, and buying groceries. This gives other family members a chance to manage their time by dedicating it to other tasks and activities. Hiring a maid provides the woman with an opportunity to find a job because the maid takes care of the children and does all the responsibilities that are carried out by mothers. Finally, maids enable working parents to improve their performance at work because they dedicate more time to doing their jobs.

Disadvantages of having housemaids include negative influence on children’s behaviors, influence children’s development, and inflated financial costs. The maids may influence the children negatively because they spend a lot of time together. In addition, they affect the normal development of children because the children do not learn how to do chores like washing clothes on their own. They become overly dependent on their maids. Finally, paying a maid can affect the finances of the family because of the introduction of additional costs that increase spending.

Many families hire housemaids to help them handle house chores and take care of their children. They give mothers an opportunity to pursue their careers and concentrate on their works. However, they influence children’s behaviors and mannerisms. In addition, they affect the finances of families that hire them because of their salaries that create additional expenses.

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Advantages of Being a Working Mother

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Another eternal question that raises so many debates in terms of what is best for your child: having a home-stay mom for the first 5 years of his life or a mom who started to work at the age of two? Well, there are certain advantages of being a working mother and a home-stay mom too.

The answer is simple – do what is best for you and your family.

We undergo so many changes and stages during our children’s first years of life. Every situation is purely individual. I guess an important thing to learn is how to balance work and family. Some parents will have to come back to work very early, but they will have their parents to help them; some parents have only themselves but will have a possibility to stay with their child for a bit longer. The understanding of how to work full-time and be a mom comes with practice, and totally worth it.

Our decisions are based on many factors in life and all of them have their pros and cons of working mothers and home-stay moms. In the end, this is how we keep our life so balanced.

Read More: 19 Tricks Of Working From Home With Toddlers

What are the advantages of being a working mother?

According to research by Kathleen McGinn in 2015 at Harvard Business School, one of the greatest benefits of working mothers is that women whose moms worked outside the home are more likely to

• Have jobs themselves;
• Hold supervisory responsibility at those jobs;
• Earn higher wages than women whose mothers were full-time moms staying at home.

Men raised by a hard-working mother are more likely to

• Contribute to household chores and
• Spend more time caring for family members.

Logically, our children are our copy. We take our life patterns from our childhood, this is why the first six years of life are crucial for every single child in this world.

To become a full-time working mom does not only benefit you but your child and your partner.

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More quality time spent with your baby

Believe it or not, one of the major advantages of working mothers is that you actually start spending quality time with your baby.

The first thing I have noticed after my first month of work is that I spent more time with my son. I am talking about quality time only! While staying close to him side-by-side 24 hours a day 7 days a week for as long as 20 months with no break, I have learned that quality time is all that matters. I instantly felt myself in my husband’s shoes where all I wanted after a long day at work is to play and discover new things with my boy. Life didn’t seem as routine covered in hundreds of daily chores as it was. Besides, I was excited and had the energy to give more to my son. All of a sudden, working mom’s life became so meaningful and exciting.

The bottom line is that working moms spend quality time with their kids to compensate for the amount of time they do not spend together. Kids also look forward to spending time with their parents. They do not take their mother’s attention for granted. Children of stay-at-home mom might get used to their mom’s attention round the clock and fail to acknowledge her efforts.

The majority of chores are done for you

Continuing the previous point, there is major help from the nursery, childminder, or nanny too. Working mothers are not involved in so many chores anymore. They pick up their child clean, rested, fed, and happy.

There are options to pass through the park, stop by a grocery store, or even make a short ride to some activity after a long day of work. The majority of moms feel full of energy to spend quality time with their babies and make it very special. It is not considered as another chore but a very special bonding time. Besides, weekends become the best part of spending family quality time.

Another important thing is that as long as moms start working, lots of house chores are being automatically distributed between two parents so that working mom doesn’t feel as much pressure to cook or clean every day. And this is extremely important for the child to observe because this is exactly the way how he learns good habits and inculcates manners of helping others as well as his mother.

Your child gets more independent and social

It can’t be stressed more than that: your child needs his own social life. In our century, the most important skill is considered to be socializing. Little humans have to make friends, learn how to share and support each other; how interact with their own peers and solve problems – these are all crucial aspects of their development, and the nursery is the one that teaches them. Spending time at home with a mother won’t let your child learn the interaction he needs.

There are 11 important reasons why you should send your child to nursery.

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Of course, in some countries, such as the UK, you have got amazing options to visit children’s centers and get involved in numerous free activities with your child to socialize too.

• The Ultimate Guide To Children’s Centers And The Best Free Baby Activities In London
• All you should know about childcare options in London

The bottom line is that your child gets his independence and freedom. He is able to make new connections rather than having just you 24/7. He develops new skills, works on projects on his own, and learns to take care of himself. These are all very important things to learn in life.

More quality time spent with your partner

One point that is rarely discussed but yet remains one of the most important factors of keeping family together – is the relationship between you and your partner.

After the first week of work, my husband told me I have changed, which made me feel surprised. It turned out I became more relaxed and was able to talk about different topics rather than only discussing the baby’s daily activities. This is where I realized how important it is to be able to give your time and attention to your partner, which appears to be an option as you become a full-time working mom.

And yet, this is so true to say that work enriches your marriage. It is important and so much fun to share your day with your partner. But it will be so more interesting and intelligent if you discuss other topics rather than changing diapers, nap time, daily activities, and cooking challenges. Sure, kids do say the darndest things, but not enough to keep a couple’s intimacy going. When your husband comes home from work armed with tales of office intrigue, now being a working mom, you have your own stories too. That only brings a spark and energy to your married life.

Find a perfect balance between work and family

If you think that a working mom struggles to find the time for work and family, you are most likely correct. But this is why organizing and structuring the working mom schedule comes in handy.

Regardless of the fact that being a full-time working mom is not as easy because now you need to find out how to balance work and family juggling multiple tasks of being a successful businesswoman, a happy wife, and a full-time mom. This is exactly what makes your life so charming. You have got it all: a perfect child, loving partner, successful career, friends, and hundreds of thousands of goals to achieve.

Succeed in your desired career and pursue your dreams

There are tons of advantages of being a working mother. It is simple as it is: a stay-at-home mom who is unhappy with her life cannot have a positive influence on her kids’ lives. A working mom with some sense of accomplishment and satisfaction can serve as a good role model for her kids. Children can get inspired to pursue their dreams and ambition too.

Besides, moms who effectively manage and balance work and family can instill good work ethics into their kids.

Statistics show that a stay-at-home mom is more likely to suffer from depression, which in turn can take its toll on her child. A child can never really benefit from having a frustrated and depressed mother around him. 

Different communication level

Speaking of communication, a working mom has the luxury to engage with numerous different people on a daily basis and talk about everything. It is not limited to mom’s chats in the park anymore. The working mom’s daily schedule is filled with exciting tasks and activities as you become a professional that is required you to be updated on important topics.

There is an incredible amount of joy and tons of laughs working moms get from just having a quick conversation with their colleague who doesn’t have children just yet. On the other hand, there is a huge amount of support coming from the ones who have children and understand what it is like to balance your life from the beginning.

Taking care of yourself and keeping a part of yourself unique

Some people say that a working mom’s life is so hard because apart from all things they are responsible now for, they also have to make themselves look good. But isn’t making ourselves look good is something that makes us feel good?

Undoubtedly, it takes away from you extra 10 minutes every morning if we are talking about make-up, or 30 to 60 minutes three times a week if we are talking about hitting the gym.

See a full-time working mom’s routine schedule here.

But all these components fill us with more energy, joy, and happiness, not to say they make us way much stronger and healthier too.

Surely, getting outside the house makes every mom dress up, put make-up on, get fit, or join some new activities and overall start taking care of herself and her needs.

Taking a break

There are lots of jokes about the working mom closing the door and leaving all the chaos behind, not too worried about the fact that the caregiver may or may not cope!

The real benefits are that a working mom can be fulfilled and can have a break from family pressures and demanding children. This is one of the working mom hacks that help us survive.

Making new friends and getting adult interaction

Of course, making new friends is inevitable. By default, a working mom slowly gets further from mom’s loop and closer to people with no children or other family couples. The whole new world is opened and this is where all fun begins.

Financial Benefit

Silly not to mention that with both parents working family gets more stable financially and is able to pursue its dreams, travel the world, save money for big purchases and do whatever it wants. Of course, you will need to pay for the nursery which gets quite expensive in some countries (learn the cost of nurseries around London ), but the end result is more positive rather than having one breadwinner in the family, and the child also gets the best as parents are able to afford due to a good income level.

Not depending on the partner

A Working mom does not need to depend on her husband’s salary. Although it is considered to be family money for common use, still having your own income brings some difference and a portion of freedom into a woman’s life.

The advantages of being a working mother are limitless! Enjoy! Grow! Balance!

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1st essay in 13 years. Disadvantages that working mothers give to their children

EF_Simone 2 / 1985   Jun 25, 2009   #2 The negative impacts of working mothers on their children , what are they? That fix cleans up the punctuation, but the lead is still weak. Extensive research and data collection points to an agreement that a child's behavior, a child's learning capabilities, and a child's development and fostering of peer relationships are all negatively affected by his or her mother's working outside of the home. Hmm... How is data collection different than research? Also, I think that statement's not quite true. Scanning your references, I see one 26 year old book, one newspaper article, and one 38 year old scholarly study of a measure -- a research tool -- that doesn't even directly address your thesis. This hardly adds up to sufficient support for such a strong statement. I'm relatively certain that the overall trend of the research is against your thesis but some small subset of the research supports your thesis. When arguing a position supported by only a small subset of the relative research, it's unwise and possibly unethical to suggest that a vast body of research supports you. Better to frame your argument very carefully, stating exactly and only what you can prove. Even better would be to acknowledge that yours is the minority position and explain why you believe the larger and more recent body of research ought be ignored in favor of your viewpoint. Are the outdated studies you cite stronger methodologically than more recent studies with opposite findings?

Notoman 20 / 419   Jun 26, 2009   #3 First, best of luck with your return to the academic world. Don't take any criticism I offer here personally . . . I am just giving my impressions. You start off with an awful lot of questions. I thought that it was the prompt I was reading at first. When you begin with so many questions, you are allowing the reader to come up with their own answers. With a persuasive essay, you don't want the reader forming opinions before you have even started. Tell the reader what you think, support your opinion, offer up what the opposition says, refute or deflate the opposition's position, then reiterate your own opinion. Bring the reader to your side. Persuade the reader. Although some believe there to be hundreds, and some believe there to be none, I will point out three major negative impacts that I see that a mothers working has on her child (ren). This sentence is awkward. Generally speaking, you won't use the first or second person in an essay. Think about the way you see newspaper and magazine articles . . . the writers don't use the word "I" or "we" (unless it is a humor or editorial piece). The "child (ren)" is awkward as well. It would be best to reword a sentence like that so that you didn't need to include any oddly-formatted words. "A mothers working" should have an apostrophe, but I am not going to get too nitty gritty on the grammar when some rewriting is in order. Extensive research and data collection points to an agreement that a child's behavior, a child's learning capabilities, and a child's development and fostering of peer relationships are all negatively affected by his or her mother's working outside of the home. I know that Simone has already commented on this sentence, but I wanted to point something else out to you that has more to do with style than content. The use of "a child's" gets repetitive here and adds unnecessary words. This sentence could be rewritten to something like: Research indicates that children's behavior, learning capabilities, development, and fostering of peer relationships are negatively affected by mothers working outside of the home. Your second paragraph starts out pretty weak. Remember that you want to persuade people to your side . . . not offend them if they are a working mother, have a working mother, or are married to a working mother. There's a big difference between being an involved and attentive parent and a disinterested parent, but whether or not a mother works isn't necessarily a indication of her level of involvement with her children. A parent who stays home and parks a kid in front of Barney all day can spend less time engaged with a child than a working mom who is home by 3:30 (I made my mom in this scenario a teacher for argument's sake) and then spends the next five hours before bedtime actively engaged with her child. Many people do see work as stressing, but others find enjoyment in their chosen occupation. My mom is a professional photographer and is happiest when she is on a shoot. Instead of enervating her, my mom's work invigorates her. Honestly, I don't think she would be the same person or have the same vitality if she were just a domestic servant with my brother and me in charge. Perhaps if you softened the blow by acknowledging that working is not a black and white decision, you would be able to put your reader off of the defensive and keep them reading along. (Daniels and Moos, 1988; Grossman, Pollack, and Golding, 1988; Piotrkowski and Katz, 1983; Repetti, 1987). Are these sources that you haven't yet included in your bibliography? I am confused. these parents', who are authoritative I have noticed some issues with apostrophes in your writing. There are times when you need one and don't use it and other times when there are there without serving a purpose. Here are a couple of links to help you refresh apostrophe use: grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/ family "unit". The punctuation goes inside quotation marks. to complete the not so immediate situations. They aren't completing the situations . . . to contend with not-so-immediate situations. Studies show that the sooner a mother goes to work after giving birth [,] the greater the likelihood of those children not doing as well in school-readiness testing when they are three years old. I am still not crazy about this sentence, but I am not sure how to fix it. their counterparts [,] " r eported Jeanne Brooks-Gun Also in other studies, it's been proven that those negative effects of early full time maternal employment persist among children who are 7 or 8 years old (Lewin, T). Other studies show that negative effects of early, full-time maternal employment persist among seven and eight-year old children. No one will do the job of nurturing and upbringing with the same level of commitment and investment as one's own mother. No one? What about the dad? The grandmother? What if the mother is addicted meth? This is a broad statement. As a reader, I found myself trying to conjure exceptions instead of being persuaded. I am going to stop there. You have probably had enough of me by now anyway. I will either wait for a rewrite or let someone else pick up the last couple of paragraphs.

EF_Sean 6 / 3489   Jun 26, 2009   #4 I'm relatively certain that the overall trend of the research is against your thesis but some small subset of the research supports your thesis. When arguing a position supported by only a small subset of the relative research, it's unwise and possibly unethical to suggest that a vast body of research supports you. Better to frame your argument very carefully, stating exactly and only what you can prove. I'm going to sort of disagree here, in that, while I have no idea of how the studies add up pro and con for your position, I am positive that there are an awful lot of studies out there that do support your position, enough for you to make the claim you do. You do have to track those studies down, though. And then you should evaluate their methodology, and read opposing studies, and evaluate their's, as you should do when researching for any persuasive essay. To that end, try doing a Google search for "working mothers effect on children." You won't find too many studies directly, but you will find several articles that reference studies, which you can then track down. For instance: Ones that agree with you lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jul/02071807.html guardian.co.uk/money/2003/nov/14/workandcareers independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/working-mo thers-affect-exams-690254.html sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W MC-4SNWW1X-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_do canchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=940469039&_rerunOrigin=google&_ acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2fc3 2e844af552da5b1e741fdd2b8751 Ones that disagree with you jiskha.com/social_studies/psychology/working_moms.html parenthood.library.wisc.edu/Hoffman/Hoffman.html news-medical.net/news/2005/03/29/8777.aspx One of the advantages of doing this sort of research is that it makes you aware of nuances to the debate. For instance, a working mother who flips burgers at McDonalds and a working mother who is a supreme court justice possibly have enough differences that the effects of their being at work on their children are different too. Likewise, a working single mother is clearly not in the same situation as a married working mother who can (hopefully) rely on her husband to cover at least some of the child rearing responsibilities. Still, I'd say you are arguing the easier side, here, as most people instinctively believe that mothers are important, and that their presence in a child's life is a positive for the child's development.

EF_Simone 2 / 1985   Jun 26, 2009   #5 Googling popular press articles is not going to resolve the question, as cultural and political factors strongly influence which studies are reported. You'll have to query an academic database, such as PsychNet, or find a recent book (published by a reputable scholarly press, such as SAGE) that includes a review of relevant literature. Why recent? Because times change. Studies done before the widespread availability of high-quality daycare and after school programs, for example, will tend to differ from those done when working mothers had to rely exclusively on neighbors and family or just give their children a latch-key!

EF_Sean 6 / 3489   Jun 26, 2009   #6 Googling popular press articles is not going to resolve the question, as cultural and political factors strongly influence which studies are reported This seems like a non-sequitur. Cultural and political factors influence the studies themselves, from the research question to the methodology chosen to try to answer it. They also affect the likelihood of academic journals being willing to publish any given study, or of literature reviews being willing to refer to it. If one wishes to overcome such biases, it is best to cast a wide net, as by searching the entire Internet, rather than relying on a single literature review. In any event, the studies reported online are both academic and contemporary, which is what the author needs, and so will form a solid starting point for her research. Also, you will note that each of the seven articles refers to a different study, so it is not that one outlier study is receiving more attention than mainstream ones. In fact, given that this is meant as a persuasive essay, presumably for a writing course (I don't know of any other type of course that assigns "persuasive essays" rather than specific topics) and not a research paper, a quick Internet search seems fairly appropriate. You'll have to query an academic database, such as PsychNet, or find a recent book (published by a reputable scholarly press, such as SAGE) that includes a review of relevant literature. This is also a good idea, no disagreement there. The more perspectives and sources the better. Google can be useful even here, though, as both Google Scholar and Google Books can be used to find the sort of sources you mention.

OP dhachem 1 / 1   Jul 7, 2009   #7 Thank you all for all of those great pointers. I am lost at writing and hoping to gain some knowledge soon, and I have thanks to you all. Remember that you want to persuade people to your side . . . not offend them if they are a working mother, have a working mother, or are married to a working mother. There's a big difference between being an involved and attentive parent and a disinterested parent, but whether or not a mother works isn't necessarily a indication of her level of involvement with her children. A parent who stays home and parks a kid in front of Barney all day can spend less time engaged with a child than a working mom who is home by 3:30 (I made my mom in this scenario a teacher for argument's sake) and then spends the next five hours before bedtime actively engaged with her child. I am a mother to 3 children. This past schoolyear was my first year working in 10 years. I work in a school the same hours as my children attend school, and even though I love what I do and am furthering my education so that I can attain title of Lead Teacher, I am exhausted when we get home at 4:00. Dinner and homework are about all we do before showers and bed @ 8:00. Anyway, I guess what I was trying to do was persuade, not offend. Thank you all again, so much. I'm going to print out everyones comments. Diana

john6503 9 / 27   Jul 8, 2009   #8 wow, first in 13years. But you essay seems good

EF_Sean 6 / 3489   Jul 8, 2009   #9 Your essay wasn't offensive per se. It was, however written on a topic that was likely to provoke strong responses from people who were ideologically inclined to disagree with your conclusion. Persuasive pieces are argumentative pieces aimed at those who do not already have hardened opinions on the subject matter. As such, they often will offend those who for whatever reason are emotionally invested in believing the opposing view. You can soften the negative responses by including the sort of caveats you mentioned in your last post in the body of your essay, but you have to accept that when writing on very controversial topics, there will be some people who fall outside of your intended audience by virtue of not being open to any form of persuasion.

EF_Simone 2 / 1985   Jul 8, 2009   #10 The problem is that this is a politically fraught topic, and one that has been deployed in hurtful ways. In the past, and still, unfounded assertions that working outside the home hurts children have been used to emotionally terrorize mothers into staying out of the public sphere and, therefore, under the control of the men on whom they must necessarily depend for economic support. (Anybody who's ever worked at a domestic violence shelter or hotline knows how often "you're hurting the kids" is used by batterers to keep their victims under control.) In my view, the knowledge that such arguments have been and are still deployed oppressively means that one is ethically obliged to be especially careful when arguing that working outside the home has hurtful effects on children. One must be sure that the facts really do support the argument and also take care to acknowledge any ambiguity in findings that seem to support the argument. For example, if one study shows one negative effect on one group of children, and it turns out that the mothers in question didn't have access to daycare, then it would be important not to generalize that to a blanket statement that children are disadvantaged when their mothers work outside the home.

EF_Sean 6 / 3489   Jul 8, 2009   #11 This discussion I would say shows very clearly how a reader's level of emotional investment in a topic will affect his or her response to it. You recognized in your essay that some women had no choice but to work, but you also realized that this didn't automatically mean that doing so would not have negative impacts on their kids. The only question you really asked yourself was "Is it true that children may be adversely impacted by not having their mothers around?" You quite reasonably concluded that the answer was probably yes (and in a different context, the assertion wouldn't have provoked anywhere near as strong a response, I imagine). For someone coming from a strongly feminist perspective, though, the question is different -- it becomes something more like "can we allow this to be true?" The first question is objective, the second subjective, and a person for whom the answer to the second question is "no" will never, ever agree that the answer to the first question is "yes," howsoever well-argued your paper is.

Notoman 20 / 419   Jul 9, 2009   #12 Anyway, I guess what I was trying to do was persuade, not offend. I wasn't offended by your essay. I was trying to point out that it is not a black and white issue. When you want to persuade people sometimes the best way is to lead them gently. It is an emotional issue. You have seen both sides of the stay-at-home/working-mom debate and I imagine that even your feelings on the subject are mixed. Wishing you the best and hoping that you find your balance with work and home life.

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While initially a necessity during the widespread pandemic shutdowns, remote work is here to stay. More and more law firms are getting on board and embracing remote work — even as far as entirely virtual offices — but with certain disadvantages of remote working, it’s not for everyone.

Discover the advantages and disadvantages of remote work at law firms, including the  major challenges  and solutions to create a well-oiled remote machine.

Why More Firms Are Working Remotely

The legal industry has long been one of the most resistant to the changing landscape of the workforce, including remote work. But once the pandemic forced businesses to adapt to remote work practically overnight, more law firms and lawyers saw the benefits of incorporating remote work into their practice.

Why Do Law Firms Struggle with Remote Work?

Law firms face heavy compliance rules and confidential data that creates additional challenges in supporting remote staff. Law firms are taking a more customized approach, such as a hybrid model with partial remote and in-office work or a completely  virtual firm  with no physical office.

Collaboration is another sticking point, as it’s crucial to the day-to-day operations in most law firms. This is particularly apparent with older lawyers that are more accustomed to in-person meetings and interactions with clients and support staff.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Remote Work for Law Firms

Remote work isn’t ideal for every firm. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of remote work for law firms.

Increased Flexibility and Work-Life Integration

One of the biggest benefits of remote work is the flexibility in schedule. Lawyers and staff can manage their schedules at the times that work best to balance the responsibilities in their personal lives, leading to better work-life integration.

Expanded Talent Pool and Access to Remote Expertise

Talent is hard to come by, especially if location is an issue. Allowing remote work significantly expands your talent pool and gives you an opportunity to recruit the best and brightest for your firm, rather than relying on who’s in the immediate area.

Cost Savings and Reduced Overhead Expenses

Virtual law firms often go without a physical office or significantly reduce office hours. While this doesn’t work for every firm, having less in-office time means fewer overhead expenses and operational costs.

Disadvantages

Potential impact on teamwork and collaborative dynamics.

Remote work limits face-to-face interactions between staff members and clients, taking a toll on communication and teamwork. While virtual communication tools can help, more traditional lawyers and clients who prefer in-person interactions may struggle with the change.

Difficulty in Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Some remote employees feel like they never clock out and suffer from the blurred lines between work and home.  Work-life balance  is tough enough to achieve in law, let alone with a remote work schedule and no clear separation between work time and leisure time.

Limited Access to Physical Resources and Facilities

Not everyone is technologically sophisticated. It’s easy for staff working remotely to miss communications or struggle with the technology to support remote work. For example, a VPN may limit access to a matter, creating security risks or limitations on staff.

Tips to Optimize How Your Firm Works Remotely

Considering remote work for your law firm? Follow these tips to optimize your remote processes:

Establish Clear Communication Channels and Protocols

Clear and consistent communication is essential when working remotely. Establish communication channels like email, messaging, and video conferencing with clearly defined expectations for response times and availability.

Implement Effective Project and Task Management Systems

Software tools designed for remote collaboration and task tracking are crucial to keeping your team on track. Implement systems to assign and track work, set deadlines, monitor project progress, and enable communication between staff.

Foster a Culture of Trust and Accountability

It takes dedication and autonomy to thrive without the direct supervision of an in-office environment. Foster a culture that values trust and encourages staff to take ownership of their work. Once you set clear expectations for performance and provide feedback, entrust your staff to manage time and meet deadlines.

Prioritize Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Cybersecurity risks are one of the challenges for remote work in the legal industry. You need robust cybersecurity measures in place to protect sensitive client information and confidential data, including secure internet connections, strong password policies, regular software updates, and regular staff training. Your team should have VPNs and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for an added layer of security.

Encourage Regular Check-Ins and Virtual Team-Building Activities

Teamwork and collaboration are important for a productive remote environment. Encourage periodic check-ins with one-on-one meetings or team video conferencing to provide support and facilitate camaraderie. Virtual team activities, such as online games and happy hours, help staff bond and boost morale in a remote environment.  

Finding the Best Tools to Work Remotely

Remote work is the new normal, even for the legal industry, but it’s important to have tools to support lawyers working from home – including legal practice management software.

For example, time tracking, which is already a challenge in the office, can be more difficult for remote teams. Automated timekeeping with legal practice management software saves time with inputting and minimizes errors while providing clear, seamless communication about the time spent on cases and legal billing. 

Working remotely as a lawyer presents challenges with document management, but cloud-based documents allow all pertinent staff to see updates and make changes as needed to keep work flowing. With tools like access control, you can restrict access to documents to “need to know” only. Document management with Bill4Time also integrates with your current tools, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Another important tool is a communication and collaboration platform. Once remote staff has clear expectations, a centralized communication platform helps lawyers and support staff feel more connected and simulates an in-office environment. It also sets clear boundaries with availability for better work-life balance.

For client communication, a client portal enables secure, rapid communication between lawyers and clients. All conversations can be connected to a client’s account or case to ensure nothing is lost in the shuffle.

Final Thoughts on Remote Work

There are pros and cons to remote work – for both the firm and the staff. If you’re considering remote work for your firm, it’s important to have a plan and systems in place, including legal practice management tools, to provide support and encourage accountability and productivity.

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