Are stay-at-home moms going back to work?
My colleague Jill Rosen is investigating the notion that the rising cost of food, gas, and utilities are prompting stay-at-home parents to at least consider going back to work, part-time or full-time. Of course there aren't a lot of jobs out there, and some parents might end up doing the opposite -- staying home after cutbacks at their companies.
If the economy is changing the work-parenting balance at your house, and you'd be willing to talk about it for the story, please e-mail Jill. And please feel free to talk about it here, too.
Comments
I worked full time until after my son was born almost 2 1/2 yrs ago. Now I work 3 days a week. We managed to live well on my husband's FT salary and my PT salary, until very recently when our money has gotten pretty tight. We haven't been spending in an unusual way, so the only thing I can blame this on is rising costs of gas and groceries. Now, I am seriously considering going to 4 days a week. I don't want to but I kind of have to. I am going to see if I can make it the rest of the summer, and we're trying to pinch our pennies more. My son is old enough now that he enjoys "school" (daycare) and benefits from his time there, but I already feel guilty about the time the second baby we are planning on having soon will miss out on, which the older sibling had. To afford a second child I might even have to go back all 5 days, which would be really sad.
Posted by: SZ | June 24, 2008 12:01 PM
This has definitely been a tough year filled with difficult decisions for many families.
Everyone from stay-at-home moms, work-at-home-moms, work-outside-of-home-moms, and everyone in between is feeling the crunch.
These are difficult times, but things will get better.
Keep your heads up moms, we’re a resilient bunch.
Posted by: Allison | December 1, 2008 1:35 PM