The US Business Bureau of Labor Statistics says that while most mothers would love the opportunity to hold a part time job, only 24% of mothers actually do.
Part time employment affords numerous benefits to a mother. First, it allows a mother who wants to work the chance to work without having to go back to the office full time.
This works particularly well for mothers who just had new babies and are not ready to jump back in full force, or who want to remain at home part of the time to experience those first few months, or years, with the baby.
Remaining at home part of the time also cuts down on the amount of money a family must pay for daycare or preschool, as children can attend on a part time basis, which reduces the fee quite a bit.
Also, part time employment gives mothers the freedom of going out to work without the full time commitment. Face it, if you are a mother who enjoys working, giving up your job completely may be a really difficult thing to do. You’ll miss the day to day activities, the stress, the pressure, the highs, the accomplishments and probably even the socialization aspect that having a job affords.
When you are at home on a full time basis it is easy to end up doing things alone, with just the kids, too often. Many mothers who stay at home full time find that they become a bit lonely and isolated, and if they miss nothing else about the workforce they miss the friends and contacts they had.
Part time work creates a little additional income, which is always a boost to the family. Some families will require this money for living costs; others can use it is a fun money. Either way, earning a paycheck, regardless of how large or how small, often makes a new mother feel a sense of pride that is separate from the family, and that is never a bad thing.
Finally, part time work does give the mother something that is hers alone. By working part time she is able to separate herself from the family a few hours a week and create accomplishments, goals and benefit from excellent outcomes that are not available by remaining at home.
This is not to say that staying at home full time is not rewarding, challenging or exciting. It’s to say that working part time gives an additional layer, and some mothers need this layer to feel complete.
On the downside, not enough companies have great policies for part time workers. First, oftentimes part time hours are not as flexible. Working at night might be the best option for a mother since the spouse may be at home then to care for the family, but some jobs may not have night hours.
Benefits are generally scarce or not available at all in part time work, including health insurance and perks such as maternity leave. By working together with the companies in which we work, we can create these policies: It will just take enough mothers saying that they want to work part time but they need these perks in order to do so to make companies stop and take notice.
Lastly, the choice to work part time is just not readily available in many companies. In fact, it seems companies too often rely on contract workers before turning a full time employee to a part time employee. Again, if we want to have the possibility of working part time then we must begin to tell our companies that this is what we would like to do.