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If Money Weren’t An Issue, Would You Quit Your Job?
Have you fantasized about chucking your career and calling it quits to stay home with your kids? If so, you’re not alone.
According to a recent Ad Age white paper on working women, almost 65% of working women would rather stay home with their families full-time if money weren’t an issue.
Over at The Wall Street Journal’s “The Juggle” blog, Jennifer Merritt writes about a friend’s decision to quit her job to become a full-time stay-at-home mother to her almost 1 and 4-year-old kids. It sounds as if this mom wasn’t enjoying her job anymore and couldn’t justify spending most of her paycheck on childcare.
By cutting back on extraneous spending and dipping into savings, she and her husband felt they could make it worth financially with her at home. But most families these days don’t have this option — they simply can’t afford to live without two incomes. Then there are parents who hang on to their jobs simply so they can keep the health insurance.
When I left my full-time reporting job to stay home with my first daughter in 2002, I was so naive. I had this romantic notion that as soon as I was ready to go back to work, there would be a job waiting for me. Luckily, as a writer, I was able to stay at home and freelance. Still, I’m sure because I haven’t had a regular office gig, I have lost out on many opportunities and I know for a fact that my bank account has suffered. When was my husband was laid off, our financial future was that much less secure. If I had a regular job, that would have cushioned the blow.
Plus, with many careers, once you’ve taken time off to stay home, it’s difficult if not impossible to get back on track. There is no way to compensate for the money you lose by stepping off the career track. But, then again, your kids are only young once, so for some moms, staying home is worth the financial hit.
Merritt herself acknowledges that she has occasionally fantasized about quitting.
“It’s not just financial need that keeps me at work; more significant is my work as a journalist,” writes Merritt. Interestingly, when she does contemplate quitting, Merritt admits that it’s not because she wants to stay home with her kids. Instead, she dreams about pursuing something different or freelancing. But then, she writes, “I snap out of it. I thrive on the stimulation of an office and the pace of a newsroom.”
Some moms work simply for the money and others work because they find it satisfying. If money weren’t an issue, would you quit your job and stay home with your kids?
Photo: womenlifestyle.com
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anon commented on Jun 10 10 at 2:32 pmI do strongly believe that for children 0-3, absolutely, and 0-5, ideally, it is best for a mom to “stay home” with them (in varying capacities that would include preschool at an appropriate age, babysitters (NOT nannies) etc.) the point being that the mom is the most important influence in the child’s life and building the bond and making the attachment is critical for the child’s optimal development at this early stage of life. For me the question is not, if money weren’t an issue would I stay home…it’s whether I would have a child if I COULD NOT stay home and if I could live with myself if I had to put a young, young child in childcare. It is definitely worth the financial “hit” if one must speak in those terms.
MomofBeans commented on Jun 10 10 at 2:35 pmHell to the yes! If money (and health insurance) were not an issue, I would definitely stop working full time and stay home with my girls. I would probably continue to teach part-time online because I find it to be rewarding. I think I would enjoy it a lot more if I didn’t have to do it in addition to a full time job.
MomofBeans commented on Jun 10 10 at 2:37 pmAnd even though I have to work, I live with myself just fine.
Marie-Eve commented on Jun 10 10 at 3:24 pmI wouldn’t work full-time. I’d still work somehow.
jenny tries too hard commented on Jun 10 10 at 3:28 pmI’d work less, but I like what I do and like having a business that my kids may want one day…they’re weird, too, after all, they might be into this. As it is, I scaled back A LOT to be home this past year and I’m home even more now that school’s out. But any of the “jobs” rather than my career, like waiting tables and working in childcare I would’ve quit in a heartbeat.
Amy commented on Jun 10 10 at 4:49 pmYes yes yes! I do wait tables (and I’m a “professional” server, so I make a lot of money), and I would absolutely quit if I could. I would probably teach more (I just cut back on my dance teaching to work at the restaurant more because of, yes, money!)
Lindsay commented on Jun 10 10 at 11:15 pmYES. I love my job, but I love my baby even more!
Tanya commented on Jun 11 10 at 12:47 amI would have stayed home in a heartbeat, even though I love the work I do and the career I’ve chosen. They are only babies once. However, I had to take my husband’s job satisfaction into account too. He hated his job and I am not the kind of person that makes the love of her life work at a job he hates just because she’s the mommy and traditionally gets the option to stay home. I make less, and money’s tight, but he is making us a home for the first time ever, the boy is thriving, and I get to go use my talents to earn us money. Life is great! Maybe we’ll switch in a few years if we have another child. Maybe we’ll both work part-time (if we can resolve the health-insurance problem). Maybe we’ll keep doing this for another decade?
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