Mompreneurs (stay at home moms who start their own home-based businesses) and WAHMs (work at home moms) are becoming more and more common -- they’ve even got their own lingo and acronyms. Many stay-at-home moms are transitioning into being working moms, and thanks to the Internet they don’t even have to leave their own homes to do it. It’s clear that moms who work at home represent a growing number of workers…but just what those numbers are remains somewhat uncertain.
How Many Moms?
Exact data for work at home moms is difficult to find. Most surveys on professionals who work from home don’t explore all the different subsets that fall under the heading of self-employment. There’s no way to calculate exactly how many work at home moms there are earning money in the United States, but evidence suggests that more women are opening up to the idea of working while they take care of the kids. A study conducted in 2007 shows that more moms are looking for ways to stay at home full-time with the kids.
Two surveys conducted by Pew Research Center shows a 9% rise in the last decade among moms who would prefer being home full-time. It’s a significant rise from 1997’s survey, conducted only 10 years earlier.
Working at Home
More moms want to work at home and stay with their kids, and more opportunities are becoming available all the time. Site like Etsy allow crafty moms to sell candies, wedding items, clothing, artwork, jewelry -- the list of handcrafted items Etsy accepts is limitless. Auction sites like eBay allow moms to earn extra income without having a yard sale every weekend (eBay is like one huge online yard sale that's always open). Other sites, like Craigslist and WAHM, make it easier for moms to find work at home jobs and opportunities in their local area.
Finding work at home opportunities and making money takes a lot of time and effort, but so does raising kids. Moms have to learn how to balance work and family simultaneously. It’s a good idea to put some rules in place when working with kids in the house. Show the kids where mom’s work space is, and explain that just because mom is home it doesn’t mean she’s available. Work at home requires discipline, but kids need that, too. By establishing rules and sticking to them, moms can get their work tasks done even when the kids are in the house.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
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