Are you a working mom with a part-time schedule? If so, 60% of employed moms regard your schedule as the best arrangement.
This is up from the 48% of women who said part-time was best a decade ago, according to a study cited in an article in last week's Washington Post.
Of course while 60% of working moms want a part-time schedule, only 24% have it.
What caused this change from 10 years ago? Some experts have offered that Generation X is more family-centric than the boomers before them. That may explain some of it, but the study also showed that 72% of dads still cited full-time work as ideal.
Most interesting to us was the fact that of the moms working full-time only 28% gave themselves the highest rating as a parent. This compared to 41% of part-time working moms and 43% of stay-at-home moms who marked themselves the highest.
Read the full article here. Do the survey results reflect how you feel?
(Photo of print by Robin Morris)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I work 24-30 hours a week and find it pretty ideal. It is enough time to keep my brain nimble and stay on top of developments in my field, while still allowing me to work at my daughter's co-op preschool once a week. Her Dad is the stay-at-home parent, so we get lots of time together. It isn't easy pulling it off in SF... but we're pretty frugal.
view MamaChilanga's profile
I definitely share the sentiment. I work full-time (albeit in a creative field which gives me some flexibility) and try to pretend I'm a stay at home mom (PTA board member, work in the classroom, etc.) and it's really hard. I think working part-time would let me do both jobs better...and have more time for blogging :)
view mommypoppins's profile
I was lucky enough to be full-time up until my daughter was born. Then, upon returning after leave, I was part-time. In addition, both my job and my husband's were very flexible in our scheduling, so I'm able to work mostly nights and weekends (I work for a public library and he works for a state university, so our pay is a bit on the low side, but the benefit is perks like a flexible schedule). I think our arrangement is ideal, because I love being home with my daughter. And when I go off to work, my husband is home with her, so we've eliminated the need for outside care (other than the occasional afternoon with auntie or grandma). Plus, it helps my husband and daughter have a very strong relationship. It can be a bit tiring, and my husband and I barely see each other during daytime hours, but I know my daughter benefits greatly, so it's worth it. Plus, working keeps me functioning in the adult world and allows me to keep my skills/learning up to date, so when I am ready to return full-time I won't have a lot of catch-up to do. Oh, and it makes paying the bills do-able!
view hs's profile