So you have just had a baby, you are bleary eyed, and massively sleep deprived to say the least. In the US, at about 6-weeks, your paid-maternity leave ends and its time for you to head or rather wander back to work. At this point, you really wish you had chosen one of the more ‘family friendly professions’. When thinking about a top profession for a mom, I would consider flexibility as a key factor.
According to the Solutions Journal (Feb 2011), in a post titled, a revolutionary change: Making the workplace more flexible, “ approximately four out of every ten mothers in the United States are primary breadwinners, and almost two-thirds are breadwinners or co-breadwinners. This dynamic has transformed American marriages and families, with couples working more collaboratively in order to juggle careers and caregiving.” As a result, of the demographic changes in the workplace, women and men value professions with flexibility more than ever. Telecommuting, ability to have short work weeks or set one’s own hours, and ease of finding contract work are some factors that enhance one’s job flexibility.
Here are some of the top family friendly professions for new moms. Average salaries are based on new york and were obtained from www.indeed.com.
1) Writing jobs ($65,000): a journalist ($53,000)
2) Sales jobs ($61,000): an executive recruiter ($102,000) or real estate broker ($121,000)
3) Web developers ($97,000)
4) Teachers ($65,000): this is great if you are a parent, since you keep the same hours as your children and your summers are off.
5) Healthcare jobs ($82,000) – For example, there is such a high demand for nurses ($80,000), so you may be able to get flexibility. Nursing though can be very demanding, especially if you are doing the all-night shifts, so you will certainly be trading off sleep for family time.
As new and existing moms evaluate firms for their longevity, flexibility will continue to be a determining factor. Here are a list of a few websites for parents looking for flexibility. Note even if you don’t use these sites, one can always use flexibility practices at other firms as a template to negotiate or create flexible policies at an existing firm.
