Career VS Family! More Hard Issues For Work From Home Parents

Is it possible to be both a great parent and a great employee? I think it's hard. Energy is limited especially with sleepless nights. And I guess most hiring managers would think so too.

For first time parents, this new dilemma of work or family will come hard and fast.

I guess more for mums than dads because mums are undoubtedly more irreplaceable at the newborn stage. 

That's me trying to help chip in baby care giving

Rise of "TWO Month" nanny

In my line of work, I've gotten to know in detail the financial backgrounds of many parents as well as their plans for newborn handling.

I can safely say that MOST (if not all) engage a confinement nanny or maid.

Confinement nannies come at a hefty price tag. Around $3,000?

Increasingly, most are paying to extend their stay to 2 months although tradition is 1month. Some mums still reply emails during confinement due to their work nature and a confinement nanny's help is indispensable.

Rise of "TWO maid families"

When I was growing up, my mum struggled to handle 4 children herself. She rejected the idea of employing a maid. Anyway, maids were far less common those days.

Fast forward to today, I know a few neighbours and friends who have TWO maids.

Seems like the taking care of children can be envisioned with a corporate mindset too. With a good enough income, pending $1,200 to $2,000 to get adequate help is well affordable for high flying working mums.

In any case, hiring a maid with total monthly cost of $600-$1000 each is far cheaper than an infant care which usually is more than $1,000.

Is working from home (Flexi-work) really beneficial to parents?

At the start of circuit breaker, childcare centres and schools were closed.

Many parents were stuck with new work from home routines and children at home. Me included.

Parenting needs a tremendous amount of patience, endurance, and calmness because there is no reasoning with a baby/toddler. And that is something hard to do with work on the line, virtual meetings to take and deadlines to meet.

This was LIVE on BBC news!

"Video bombing" by the interviewees girl, it was embarrassing haha =)

Many teams do virtual meetings in off working hours these days and personally, I think it blurs the "family/child only" time.

Could COVID-19 push "working from home mums" out of the workforce?

With covid-19, more are working from home and spending more time at home.

Unsurprisingly, household chores and responsibilities have increased.

In this study, women have taken more extra hours then men.

Is it the same for your household?

Will working mums feel a burn out having to manage so much more?

Previously, JobStreet.com had a survey that revealed 70% of working mothers would have originally thought of giving work up if they had the financial means to do so.

It is possible that some "working from home mums" who have enough financially already, may decide to take a step back from their careers with these changes.

Conclusion

In this discussion, Covid-19 has reshaped new demands onto working from home parents. Many families are dual income because raising a kid these days is costly.

There are of course merits to being at home more such as more meal family times and less travelling energy wasted...

What are your thoughts of more working from home arrangements?

If you are looking for some discussion and direction on family budgets, do watch

VIDEO sharing below on HOW MUCH I SPEND

Credits

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace#

https://www.jobstreet.com.sg/career-resources/jobstreet-com-survey-reveals-working-mothers-spend-less-two-hours-children-work-day/#.X-v41C2w1Bw