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Any one else chuckle or shake their head at some comments by stay at home moms about keeping their skills up by doing the household finances or volunteering for community groups -- or even serving on a company board.
I'll see, hear or read comments about how they've keep their skill current by doing those things (VERY part-time), so they can re-enter the job market -- after being OUT of the market for 5 or ten years.
My first thought is that just by saying you think THAT keeps your 'skills' 'up to date' shows how out of it they are.
MAYBE if a person had a real work-place part-time job I could accept the comments a little better. But I want to say, honey, (no offense intended) doing the family budget or volunteering for the PTA....while better than NOTHING I guess, doesn't mean your job skills are up to date.
Being out of the job market, I wonder if they really know how hard it can be to find a job -- when you HAVE one, let alone you've been out of the market.
And 2) maybe the kind of entry level job a housewife of ten years would get...you wouldn't need a whole lot of skills for anyway. But even then they'd be up against 100 other people for that job.
The answer to your question is yes.
Serving on the PTA Executive board is a great deal of work. Serving as President of that board or many others - is almost a full time job; takes a great deal of leadership and organizing; and certainly puts the person in front of a whole lot of people.
There's a big difference between volunteering and serving on a board - from what I could see from my lofty perch as a working mom. Sarcasm button ON.
It's still hard for many women to re-enter the workforce but that doesn't necessarily mean they were stagnant for years.
I continue to believe that for most families - minus those where the woman's earning potential is so low that she is better off at home anyway - choosing the SAHM route is simply a luxury.
....
That's partially true and depends on location too. I'm now a SAHM, because after making all the numbers (3 kids) for daycare, commute, taxes, and so on, it was actually cheaper for me not to work. We live in the northeast so daycare is really expensive, maybe in some other places the numbers would be different. BTW I was making more than 60K when we decided for me to stay home. So it's not only an issue of low earning potential, but of high cost of living too.
That's partially true and depends on location too. I'm now a SAHM, because after making all the numbers (3 kids) for daycare, commute, taxes, and so on, it was actually cheaper for me not to work. We live in the northeast so daycare is really expensive, maybe in some other places the numbers would be different. BTW I was making more than 60K when we decided for me to stay home. So it's not only an issue of low earning potential, but of high cost of living too.
Right, it's not all/always about "luxury." For some, once they do the math, it becomes a calculated quality of life issue. I know a couple of SAHMs who were making <$70K, but were bringing home only about half after commute costs, afterschool care, taxes and incidental convenience expenses, like takeout or "guilt" treats for the kids. When they stepped back, the husbands stepped up and were able to bring home that additional $30K, leaving them in a near-equivalent financial position, but with much less of the household stress.
That's partially true and depends on location too. I'm now a SAHM, because after making all the numbers (3 kids) for daycare, commute, taxes, and so on, it was actually cheaper for me not to work. We live in the northeast so daycare is really expensive, maybe in some other places the numbers would be different. BTW I was making more than 60K when we decided for me to stay home. So it's not only an issue of low earning potential, but of high cost of living too.
I know quite a few women who have more than 1 kids and make less than $70k and have to go out to work. Imo, doesn't make sense because with 1-2 kids that need daycare or nanny. It may cost you $15-20k per kid so with 2 kids you maybe paying $30-40k a year. $70k salary after tax is about $45-50k depends where you live.
So that leaves you with an annual take home pay of $10-15k after child care? Do the math, is it worth going out to work and only take home about $10-15k.
I know quite a few women who have more than 1 kids and make less than $70k and have to go out to work. Imo, doesn't make sense because with 1-2 kids that need daycare or nanny. It may cost you $15-20k per kid so with 2 kids you maybe paying $30-40k a year. $70k salary after tax is about $45-50k depends where you live.
So that leaves you with an annual take home pay of $10-15k after child care? Do the math, is it worth going out to work and only take home about $10-15k.
Some daycares discount after the first kid, plus the working mom now at say 70k, will likely be making 85k+ inside 5 years. The SAHM mom, with the same background outside those five years, will be hard pressed to even get the 70k in 5 years. That means, looking at the longer term, these working women you know have made sound , at least, financial decisions.
Like anyone who makes a sweeping generalization, yes, you are being a little too judgmental. Let me start by saying, I am a SAHM. I have been out of the paid workforce for four years now (got laid of before I had my first child, and in that job market no one was going to hire a pregnant woman if I had wanted to continue working). I am college educated and was in the professional workforce for over 15 years before I decided to have children and stay home to raise them.
I have no illusions that my maintaining a house, taking care of the children, scheduling their events, or managing a budget make me qualified to waltz back into the workforce, especially not at the level I left. I think that you are underestimating the type of volunteer work educated SAHM, who was professional might do. I am not currently a PTA member, but the higher level work some of them do, would help to support their skills. My previous experience was in marketing and events. I currently volunteer with a start up not for profit organizations, helping them plan events ( the first one had attendance of over 200 people), and am using it to learn how to navigate and use a lot of the social media that was just coming into use when I was employed.
Not everyone things being a Daisy Scout leader is going to get them a job when they want one. I know when I choose to return to work, it will be challenging. It is a challenge I have faced based on the economy before. I also know that if someone like you is the interviewer I stand little chance.
As for the average stay at home mom, many may not have worked professionally for very long, so they did not reach the higher levels of their profession, so yes, it would be unrealistic for them to expect to go back to working where they left off. Don't dilude yourself though, there are many people who are working that do far less in a day, and have far less skills than a SAHM.
What's really sad is that this post has become a place for several women to stereotype other women who have made different choices than they have. Who needs sexist men when we are so much better at stereotyping ourselves?
EVERYONE is stereotyped in one way or another. Getting hired can mean figuring out what stereotypes you may be put under and how to beat them. Even men get stereotyped, sometimes as sexists.
That's partially true and depends on location too. I'm now a SAHM, because after making all the numbers (3 kids) for daycare, commute, taxes, and so on, it was actually cheaper for me not to work. We live in the northeast so daycare is really expensive, maybe in some other places the numbers would be different. BTW I was making more than 60K when we decided for me to stay home. So it's not only an issue of low earning potential, but of high cost of living too.
Actually that would be a good way to explain an employment gap. Nothing defensive, nothing that might put someone off, nothing that looks like excuses or covering up.
That's partially true and depends on location too. I'm now a SAHM, because after making all the numbers (3 kids) for daycare, commute, taxes, and so on, it was actually cheaper for me not to work. We live in the northeast so daycare is really expensive, maybe in some other places the numbers would be different. BTW I was making more than 60K when we decided for me to stay home. So it's not only an issue of low earning potential, but of high cost of living too.
This only takes into account the short term. Long term, it might not make financial sense once children are past the age of daycare.
This only takes into account the short term. Long term, it might not make financial sense once children are past the age of daycare.
Maybe. Maybe not. I do agree people should take the long term into account before they make that decision. The SAHM is likely going to lose income for years to come, not just the years she is home.
I think there are some people who can't justify working because their spouse makes plenty of money. I mean, how can you really justify it if one parent makes a ton of money? If we won the lottery tomorrow, one of us would quit. It might be my husband. He's under more stress than I am.
A lot of SAHM's I know do it because their husbands travel. It is a juggling act to get kids to activities, get their homework done, and get everyone fed even with both parents home at a decent hour. With one parent out of town, forget it.
In any case, it is none of anyone else's business why they do what they do. They have their reasons, and that's all that matters.
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) doing the family budget or volunteering for the PTA....while better than NOTHING I guess, doesn't mean your job skills are up to date.
