Mothers who work at home (or Wahms) are a growing population of working America. Increasingly, more and more women want to spend time with their children and need to bring in an income, thus there has been a boom in the work at home industry.
Making the decision to work at home is not always an easy one. Before you decide that being a Work at home mom (Wahm) is right for you, you need to take a few things into account.
First of all, you’ll need to decide if being a Wahm is right for you AND your family. There are many benefits to working at home as compared with outside the home. You can set your own hours, you don’t have to commute to work, and you can be there for your kids when they need you.
However, there are some downsides as well. The isolation of working at home can be an issue for some women. There are also challenges related to juggling work time and family time, and clearly drawing the line between both.
You willl also have to look at the impact that working from home will have on your family’s financial situation. If you are moving from a high-paying full-time job, to working part-time from home while you care for your child or children, there will definitely be some financial adjustments that will have to be made.
However, whatever your cut in pay will be, you have to weigh that versus the costs going to work commuting and so forth, for example, and above all, of putting your child into daycare full-time, which can certainly be price-y these days.
Although it may seem like your work at home pay will be much smaller compared to your full-time outside of the home job, you need to consider that your housekeeping chores are of value, and keep in mind the high cost of daycare.
If you can make an equal amount of money or more by working part-time from home and taking care of your child yourself, it is well worth it financially to stay at home.
If you also see that you will save money on your commute, lunches, work clothes, and so forth, then being a WAHM would seem to be right for you.
In fact, many women see that raising their child without the use of daycare, whether or not they make a significant income, is the real benefit of being a Wahm. The perks of raising your own child, while still bringing in money for the family, are many. Children are only young once, and being able to stay at home with them is one of the top reasons that women choose a Wahm career.
Continued in Making the Decision to Work at Home Part 2
