This Trend Is Exploding With The Newest Generation Of Moms

In the last few generations, women have been plunged into the workforce due to the financial necessity of both parents working to support the family.

Millions of mothers work outside the home and dread the time when they have to return to work following the birth of their child.

In this digital age, and with the assault on traditional families coming from all sides, young mothers are making a conscious choice to have the best of both worlds.  How are they doing it?

Moms are finding a way to work from home, and they are not taking “no” for an answer.  Yes, most households require that both parents work, but that doesn’t mean that the newest generation of moms are going to miss out on time with their kids.

From starting their own businesses, to blogging, to telecommuting from the job they had before kids, there are lots of options for bringing in income while being with the kids.

Parenting.com reported:

“Over 90 percent of the moms we’ve interviewed said the desire for family flexibility is the number-one reason they work from home,” says Ellen Parlapiano, co-founder of mompreneursonline.com. “Another big change we’ve seen in the past 15 years is acceptance. In the past, moms have been reluctant to tell clients they work from home. Now it’s commonplace, even respectable.”

A 2007 Pew Research Center survey shows that more at-home moms today (48 percent) consider being home full time the ideal situation than they did 10 years ago (39 percent). Inversely, just 21 percent of working moms say working full time is ideal, down from 32 percent in 1997.

Many companies are recognizing the need to offer work at home options.  The online marketplace is ripe for emerging new businesses.  Blogging and freelance writing are extremely popular nowadays.  The opportunities are there, and new moms are taking advantage of this emerging world.

The current generation of new moms, the millennial generation, is looking at many factors that influenced their own childhoods when making the decision to do whatever they have to in order balance work and family.

The generations prior, “Baby Boomers” and “GenXers,” were often faced with placing their kids in full-time daycare, having “latch-key” kids who came home alone while parents worked late, and skyrocketing divorce rates due to the stress of overwhelming responsibilities.

This generation of moms are in essence creating an entirely new way to have a career and be present for their families.  By taking advantage of the internet and networking to find options, working at home is becoming commonplace.

Parenting.com continued:

“In my research, there seems to be a backlash among the millennial generation; in a sense, they’re modeling themselves after their grandmothers, not their mothers,” says Susan Shapiro Barash, a women’s issues expert.

Many of these young women look at their baby boomer moms and question why they’d want to be them. Some of those moms struggled in their marriages and had a tough time balancing work and family, she says. That doesn’t mean today’s SAHM has abandoned her career aspirations or traded her BlackBerry for an ironing board, just that she’s more concerned about living a balanced life than proving she’s Superwoman.

How do they make it all work?  They are, first and foremost, focused on achieving their goal of a work/family balance.  They plan and prioritize and find what works for their particular job and their unique family needs.  Parenting.com reported on some important factors to consider:

  • The right attitude – Working at home is still work, there’s just not someone else telling you what to do and when to do it. The key to success is being self-motivated.
  • A plan – Crossing your fingers and winging it is not enough. Plan your routine during the day down to the smallest detail to make things run smoothly.
  • A support system – Finding help in the form of husband, family, and friends when your workload is heavier is key to keeping your sanity.  And as hard as it sounds, it is vital to take some time for yourself, no matter how much you have to do.
  • Having a well-rounded life – Working at home and raising a family means finding what works for you.  Sometimes, being at home all day – where you work and live 24/7 – can cause overlap between your two worlds and can muddy the waters of what gets done when.  Set a schedule and stop working at a given time like women who work outside the home.  Otherwise, work can take over since it is “always there.”

Mothers are unique in that there is still so much expected of us.  We are typically the primary caregivers of our children, responsible for much of the day-to-day running of the home, and still want to feel fulfilled with a career and children.

With all the attacks on traditional values going on these days, it gives hope to see a new generation of moms who are finding a way to “keep the home fires burning” and “bring home the bacon!”

Mommy Underground previously reported on tips to make working at home a reality and will continue to bring you the support you need to bring balance to your busy life.

Are you a work at home mom?  What are some of your reasons for doing so?  Leave us your thoughts.