Working Moms: Are We Merely Giving Our Kids Crumbs?

In a recent report from University College London in the United Kingdom led by researcher Dr. Anne McMunn, it was discovered that being a working mom is not "detrimental" to our children's wellbeing.  

However, there are some experts like Dr. Fran Walfish who make it clear they whole-heartedly disagree. In a conversation with FlexJobs,  Dr. Walfish begs the question of whether working moms are conditioning their children to simply seek out the "crumbs" in future relationships in adulthood versus the a whole "slice of pie" they deserve.

What they do agree on?  Flexible work arrangements for both parents are a great way to manage time dedicated to work and raising a family.

In our family, as of a month ago, both my husband and I now have flexible work arrangements because my husband's team at work now operate within a compressed work week.  Each member of his team works four days a week with longer days while rotating the days one gets off every week.  My schedule is flexible is well because I telecommute.  I am on the computer before 8:00am most weekdays and work until late afternoon when I pick up my son from camp, then it's back to work after dinner time.

Would this work for every family?  Maybe not.  Does every family have the ability to arrange a flexible work schedule with their employers?  No.  But I think we're moving in that direction.  Just because parents work doesn't mean our children are getting crumbs...it just means we work a little bit harder and smarter to make those slices of pie focused and present.

Here's more about the report's findings from The Telegraph

The latest report, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, suggested that parents who are struggling to combine paid work with family life need not fear that they are undermining their children’s emotional wellbeing.

Dr Anne McMunn, the lead researcher in the study, said mothers who worked full time were least likely to have children with emotional or behavioural problems, such as hyperactivity, aggression, tantrums or becoming worried or “clingy”.

“Some studies have suggested that whether or not mothers work in the first year of a child's life can be particularly important for later outcomes,” Dr McMunn said.

“In this study we did not see any evidence for a longer-term detrimental influence on child behaviour of mothers working during the child's first year of life.

“Children whose mothers were not working at all had the most behaviour difficulties, followed by children whose mothers were in part-time work,” she said.

The academics analysed results from the Millennium Cohort Study, which tracks the development of almost 19,000 children born in 2000 and 2001, to find the links between parents’ working patterns and children’s social wellbeing.

What about you?  How do you divide up your pie slices of work and life?

Co-Working at the Country Club? Yes!

Co-working is hot. 

Don't believe me? 

NextSpace, a co-working and alternative workspace with locations in California just received another round of funding...to the tune of $625k.

I can see why.  With more people telecommuting, working flexibly, and going the independent contractor route these co-working spaces are filling the gap that naturally happens when we work virtually...isolation.

I'm not going to lie.  I go a little batty working from my home office every day.  I don't mind going to the nearest Starbucks and Panera although sometimes you never know how loud or crowded it will be.

And while there are co-working spaces in the DC area, there aren't any that wouldn't require me to sit in some kind of traffic.

But I discovered something absolutely fantastic recently.  The country club near my house has wi-fi.  And a conference room.  And a fitness center.  And a swimming pool.

They also have great golf and tennis but I don't play either.  But as country clubs' members start to age and less people are picking up golf as their leisure sport of choice, the country club near my house (along with others) are now offering "social only" memberships for people like me.

My family signed up.  And while you may think that this would be a more expensive route than a co-working space, think again.  I actually compared prices of reserving a desk for everyday use at some co-working spaces to the cost of the social membership at the country club.  The country club was the better deal.

Now, not only do I have a nice quiet space to work when I my home office is giving me cabin fever, but our family has a great place to go to socialize and enjoy dinner prepared by an amazing chef, my son has a great swim team, and we have a means of making new friends as well.

Plus, because other members of the club are starting to work from the club during the day, they are upgrading the DSL for us. 

And having that fitness center in the same building is a great way to motivate me to exercise more.

What about you?  If you telecommute or work remotely have you checked out the options for a social membership at your club?

Working in the conference room at Norbeck Country Club