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with Nataly
Hi, I am Nataly and I am the co-founder of Work It, Mom!
I write the daily Work It, Mom! Blog where I talk about issues affecting working moms, goings on in our Work It, Mom! community, new site features, updates,and contests. I also share my own juggle between work and family and love to see members jump in with comments. Come and visit often!
Nataly's profile on Work It, Mom!
America’s working women need a raise and a vacation
Categories: Balancing Act, Career Talk, Money, Working Women Issues
The results of the Working America 2008 Ask a Working Woman survey came out recently and as I read through them, the first emotion I felt was sadness. According to the findings, 50% of women surveyed said they would take on a second job if they had a bit more time (vs 20% who would catch up on sleep). After work and household responsibilities, almost half the women surveyed have no time or less than 1/2 hour a day for themselves.
And 80% believe that having kids hurts their prospects for career success and finding good jobs.
Wow.
I have to be honest here — the second thing I felt was being lucky. I am exhausted, I work non-stop, I cook at midnight because it’s the only time I have and boy, do I need a break. But our family is able to handle my not making a lot of money right now, I get to the gym on most days, and while I think that having a child makes it difficult to get to the top of any career ladder I don’t think it’s impossible. I feel pretty privileged, actually, reading through the findings, and it makes my complaints about not having time to get a haircut or feel any semblance of balance in my life seem quite petty.
I’d love to see a similar survey of men because I am not sure many of them don’t share the same issues and concerns — except I doubt that many men would say that having kids hurts their career prospects.
Can you relate to the survey findings? If you had more time, would you take on a second job, sleep, exercise, catch up on chores, or something else? As a working woman, how do you feel about your prospects in the workplace?
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I wrote my MBA thesis on this very topic a few years ago. In 2002, the very few women who made it to the corner office of Fortune 500 companies did not have children of their own, either marrying men with children from previous marriages or choosing not to have children at all. In contrast, men in the corner office almost always had children (and wives who stayed at home). Additionally, women with children often have their dedication to their work questioned when they leave the office to attend functions or care for a sick child, whereas men are practically applauded when they leave the office to attend a sports match or school play.
My hypothesis when I began working on this project was that women in the workplace have it much easier now than they did 50 years ago. Sadly, after all my research, I concluded that my initial ideas were wrong: the workplace is just as difficult for women now (if not more so) as it has ever been, and the notion of successfully raising a family and landing that corner office executive position is still very much a pipe dream.
Eileen | June 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Great topic for a post! My husband says he helps, yet I earn the majority of our income with the added bonus of doing 90% of the school drop-offs and pick ups. My vacation days are used for family emergencies; his for golf. This clearly limits my career - as in a competitive workplace, there are all of these mysterious 4:30 PM meetings that pop up at the last minute when I can’t be there. I know my son will get older, and getting him a good start in life is the most important thing I can do. However, I dream of when he is old enough to not need someone around 24/7 - then I will sleep for more than 4 hours a night, excercise a bit more, lose the 15 pounds that I’ve gained since my son was two.
KC | June 28th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Can we choose them all? As a working mom with a 1 year old, I’m usually the first one up in the morning (gotta shower before the baby gets up) and the last to bed (how come laundry can only get done in the middle of the night?). My partner and I split the days off we need for sick baby days, but because I only have 5 vacation days and no sick time each year, I take the days unpaid while he can arrange to work from home. Luckily my son has just started sleeping through the night, so I’m working on catching up on the year of sleep I lost nursing him 2-3 times a night for the last year!
Gina Speer | July 1st, 2008 at 5:10 pm
[...] day job so they take on another. This appears to be a common trend: According to one recent survey 50% of moms said that if they had more time they would take on another job. While I work a lot and often late into the night my hat is off to these moms — I think your [...]
Working two job: Necessity or pursuing your passion? - Work It, Mom! Blog - Work It, Mom! | July 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm