When is Too Soon to return to work - CareforKids.com.au®

Is There A "Too Soon"
When it comes to going back to work?

Recently the media was fleetingly up in arms over Jackie O's return to her breakfast show spot just a couple of months after having her baby. Pru Goward, former sex discrimination minister and champion of women's rights said that women were going back to work too soon.

In this year's annual child care and workforce participation survey 45% of working mums took less than six months maternity leave the last time they had a child. With financial necessity being the principal reason to return to work, and 25% going back for the necessity of "career progression" are we forcing mums back to work too early? Is there a "too soon" when it comes to going back to work?

Clearly going back full time in the first few months can be both mentally and physically difficult and medically there are definite reasons to wait for the body to recover. However many women can work part time or from home and ease back into work. It depends on the flexibility of your employer or your work circumstances.

Many women feel obliged or even bullied back to work at an early stage. Some women fear that if they take the time out their careers will take a downward dive and they won't be able to recover their pre-baby status. However many women simply love their jobs and want to go back.

There are many career women who have husbands who are happy to reverse roles and take some time as stay at home dad. These days it's often the case that the mother is paid more than the father. And it's simple common sense to swap roles. And with the paid paternity scheme coming in (apparently) in 2014 it will be made easier for the dad to take leave instead of the mum.

As employers get more behind parents with the parental leave scheme and flexible working options, and with the rising cost of living, women will most likely go back to work earlier and earlier – at least part time.

But while employers and working arrangements might be becoming more flexible, the system of child care benefit/rebate remains rigid. Registered Au Pairs and nannies are still not given the status of formal child care which usually exempts their employers from child care benefit or rebate.

So parents who rely on more flexible in home child care, particularly those with children who are in both school and pre-school (see our interview with Kellie Connolly below), for whom long day care is too expensive or difficult to manage, or who have children with special needs, are often the ones to lose out.

Going back to work is difficult at any time. The CareforKids Stay in Touch program for employers aims to make life easier for all concerned when it comes to the transition back to work. It offers useful advice and tips from the minute you go on maternity leave until you're fully integrated back into the workforce.

Below are some useful tips on making the transition. Anyway it's the age-old working mum's dilemma and it's not going to get any easier until men actually start giving birth!

Paid Parental Leave

Managing feelings of mother guilt

Sick Days & Emergency child care - What do you do with the kids when you are working?

Work & child care - things to consider

Returning to work – things to consider

Child care and other strategies for successfully working from home