As society leans more and more to a dependency on a double income household, women are feeling the pressure to balance being a mother and being an employee. Today’s mother is expected to hold a number of demanding responsibilities, which primarily include working and raising children. The struggle between providing for the family and being present in children’s lives is the working mothers greatest dilemma. Although many companies are making adjustments to support working moms by allowing flexible, part-time hours or the ability to work from home, there are some companies hesitant to provide these opportunities.
Working from home can save gas, commute time, and offer flexibility, but telecommuting is still stereotyped by some managers as insufficient to actually being in the office. Instead, the more prominent theme prevalent in the workplace today are flexible working hours. Part-time working mothers are able to feel connected to their fellow employees and work in the physical office with the team, but also have time to spend with their kids during crucial hours of the day.
If finding a flexible full-time position is not possible for a working mother, most women will end up taking a position that is lower than what they are capable of in order to be able to handle the demands of their family life along with their career. With women receiving more prominent degrees than ever before and making a very real impact in the working world, companies need to make a very real effort to provide flexible work arrangements to working mothers so they may reap the benefits so many of these employees provide.
