Why Mothers Work: The Benefits of Balancing Career and Family

Originally Published on 24th April 2019

There are different reasons as to why mothers work but I can personally think of the three most common reasons why: to reduce the financial stress within the family, independence, and self-fulfillment. Let’s quickly break down these three to better understand these reasons.

Reduce Financial Stress

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, “the percentage of parent couples with children under 18 years where both partners work is increasing steadily, from 53% in 1996 to 61% in 2016. There has been a corresponding decrease in the percentage of stay-at-home mums.”

If you have kids, you and your partner are more likely to be paying more money in food, clothes, and other living expenses than those who do not have kids. The stress in finances, therefore, is real. Unless both you and your husband are working, you will have a hard time paying the bills and as you may already know, bills do not care whether you’re earning money or not – they will keep on coming.

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The study I cited above clearly tells me that parents in Australia are working hard to reduce the financial stress within the family and how stay-at-home mums changed the game by joining the workforce, contributing to the family’s financial security and living a work-life balance all at the same time.

Independence

Independence is another main reason why mothers work. I think all mums can agree, there is nothing better than being able to make decisions with what to do with the money you worked hard for, without needing your partner’s approval on how you want to spend it. Aside from contributing to the family’s savings, it feels great to be able to treat the family to dinner at a nice restaurant, go on vacations to places you’ve always wanted to go to, buy your kids gifts during special occasions, or even indulge in purchasing a nice dress – without feeling guilty or worrying how it might negatively affect your family’s financial standing. Although, I’m not saying working mums such as myself just carelessly spend money without restrictions. What I’m emphasizing is that when we make our own money, we at least have a say on how to handle the money we worked so hard to earn.

Self-fulfillment

Our mental health is just as important as having a physically fit body to perform our daily routines as working mums. When we accomplish our daily tasks we have for the day, when we like our job and the people that we work with, when we get to do something outside being a mum, when we feel that we work with our partners as a team, when our minds are stimulated by resolving problems in our businesses or at work, when we succeed in our chosen career/business while juggling motherhood – we get to retain our sanity and feel a sense of accomplishment. This not only brings out the best version of ourselves but also empowers us to be even better mothers to our children..

Challenges Australian Mums Face In The Workforce

As much as greatly admire the resilience of working moms for their dedication to pursuing careers and taking on a very important role of raising our kids, there are much bigger challenges we face in the workforce for many years now that we still haven’t overcome. It’s not that we don’t know about it – numerous studies conducted on gender equality, the pay gap and other related research clearly show the problem. It’s just that we still need to work even harder to strengthen gender equality and be recognized for the immense value we bring to our workplace every day. The first step in finding a solution is to dig deeper and identify the exact challenges working mums face every day in Australia.

Australian Human Rights Commission

1. Workplace Discrimination. As a result of their pregnancy, parental leave or on return to work, 1 in 2 mothers reported experiencing workplace discrimination while 1 in 5 mothers indicated that they were made redundant, restructured, or their contract wasn’t renewed.

2. Unpaid Care Work Gap. Women are performing almost twice as many hours each day in unpaid care work to men. The total workday for women is 64.4% while men only have 36.1% of workday.

3. Superannuation Balance Gap. Women aged 60-64 only have a superannuation balance of 58% which is just over half of the men. The average super payout for men is $270,710 while women only have $157,050.

4. Less Participation In Political Positions. Australia ranks 48th in the world in terms of women representation in politics. The rank went down to 32nd in 2006.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency

1. Missing Women in Power. Only 17.1% of CEOs or heads of business are women. The current rate of the process doesn’t show parity at this level until the year 2100. Furthermore, 30.5% of key management personnel positions are held by women, 35.2% of boards have no female directors, and 43.4% of manager appointments in 2017-18 went to women.

2. Lack of Flexibility. Only 48% of non-public-sector organizations with more than 100 employees have a formal policy in place on flexible working arrangements.

The Solution: Provide Workplace Flexibility for Women

In an article published by Bain and Company, it was clear that not only the women today are desperate to find flexibility at work, but also millennials in general. The company conducted surveys that showed how flexibility can overcome barriers to women’s progression into leadership roles. Their research specifically highlighted women in junior and middle management positions who take advantage of flexibility at work to juggle their career advancement with their family aspirations.

In the same article, the lack of affordable, flexible, accessible or tax-deductible childcare in Australia was also mentioned. The percentage of men and women who said that the lack of suitable childcare childcare limited their ability to work full-time after parental leave is 35% while those who said that the availability of flexible options was important once they return to work is 22%.

It would be greatly beneficial for working mothers if childcare options are bolstered as well as if we are offered with flexible work options. These changes could significantly impact the level of employee retention and improve the overall productivity of Australia’s workforce. I have thankfully found the support that works for me and they are my Aupairs. Aside from the cultural exchange program I fully support and enjoy, I also get the flexibility that I need. My village of support allowed me to pursue my career and become an even better mum to my children. I could go on and on about how much I love being a host-mum to my Aupairs, but I don’t want to miss this chance to let my fellow working mums know that there is a flexible childcare option out there in the form of Aupairs that are just waiting for you to discover. To know more about Aupairs, visit our website at 99aupairs.au to register and find your flexible help!