The Working Mum's Juggle - proposed national child care reforms

The Working Mum's Juggle
Make It Easier On Yourself

Our recent survey revealed over 68% of women were so over the daily work & child care struggle, they were actively thinking about leaving work; setting up their own business or working from home in order to manage parenting and child care.

Despite the workforce being half female, more working women than ever before and an economy and country that needs both women in the workforce and an increase in fertility rate, it seems that the juggle of child care and work is getting worse, not better.

According to a recent sphinxx survey, 44% of women believed they had been turned down for promotion due to their sex; 35% had capped their career aspirations in order to make parenting easier and 88% said they had made personal sacrifices of various sorts to get ahead in their career – including parenting and time at home.

This has been a trend over the last few decades, so why aren't businesses, schools and other institutions making it easier for parents, and most particularly women who are still the ones who actually bear and nurture children for at least the first few months of their lives?

If the economy needs women to play a major part in business, what is business doing to encourage women to go to the effort of keeping their careers going instead of staying at home with their children? After all with the cost of child care, it's often not even financially viable to go back to work, so if mums don't feel they're getting support from employers, they will simply not bother going back.

Will there be a backlash in the next generation of women who just don't think a career is worth the heartache, expense and aggro? If so, the economy's going to get a nasty shock so what should employers, government, education and child care institutions be doing to help? The new Flexible Working Arrangements will hopefully go some what to helping parents and employers meet in the middle, but what else can working parents, and particularly mums, do to reduce the stress of the daily juggle?

What can employers do?
Recognise traditional working hours often just don't work for mums (or dads) – and implement more flexible working hours/core hours/part time/work from home arrangements and opportunities for job sharing where possible. The new legislations make it mandatory for employers to seriously consider all legitimate requests from parents and carers for flexible working arrangements.

Recognise that children do get sick and need to stay home. So provide Emergency Care options or let parents work from home. Parents should not be made to feel guilty if they're children are sick.

More large companies could introduce crèches or child care initiatives. A crèche is sure fire way of ensuring employees aren't late or have to leave early to get through the traffic to meet child care opening times.

What can parents do?
Ask for help and flexible working hours as outlined in the new NES Flexible Working Arrangements' guidelines (see above).
Share the load: When both parents work full time, they can both share pick up and drop off duties, school meetings, doctors' appointments, care of sick children and other unforeseeable issues that occur in a regular week! Try to negotiate work schedules where possible so that it's not just one person who's doing all the running around.

Say yes to friends and family: So many people hate asking for help or taking up offers of child care duties from friends and family. We've all become so independent and self sufficient that the sense of community has all but gone. If a family member or friend offers to fill in the gaps between work and school hours, say yes please and either pay them or pay them in kind or with treats or appointments at the local massage therapist!

Many people don't have family in the area, or indeed in the country, so make sure you build your own network of other parents in similar situations and share the load with them. Share after school care or pick ups and drop offs with other parents at your child's child care or school. As long as you pull your weight and are return the favour, it can be very helpful and you won't feel bad about it at all! And you'll also make some great friends and build a good local support network.

Stick to your guns and don't be bullied by employers: It's easy to get sucked into the working later or earlier than necessary and as research shows, working late is mainly unproductive and generally unnecessary. It's either done because an employee isn't coping with a job in normal hours (and should either ask for help or get out) or is just trying to score points for being the last one in the building…

Forget brownie points and make a pact to leave on time wherever possible.
Never schedule meetings at the end of the day and if possible never accept them, but try to change them to a more appropriate time if possible. Often people who schedule meetings at the end of the day are either bullies or control freaks and also trying to score brownie points.
Don't be bullied!

Look at alternatives, but do your research! There are lots of opportunities for working from home and setting up as a consultant or starting your own business and not all are risky.

But apply the three Rs before you leap:

Reason and rationale – what are the reasons for going it alone and what are your realistic goals for your future life and your business?
Research– look into every aspect of set up costs, operating expenses, competition, type of business and other liabilities and make sure that you have a genuine interest or passion for the business you choose.
Reality – the reality is you won't work less… you'll most likely work more to begin with – but you can build your day around your other commitments and be a lot more flexible with your time. Also know that it may be a while before you start to draw an income…

A few websites for inspiration!
www.theideasbook.com.au
www.workathomemums.com.au
www.careermums.com.au