New Moms Returning to Work

Costs of working, stresses of staying home

Your pregnancy is over, and it seems as if most of the hard work is done. Yet you must still deal with childcare arrangements if you choose to return to work. You'll soon realize that balancing a family and a career requires organization and flexibility.

Whether to continue working outside the home after the baby's birth is one decision that many mothers wish they didn't have to make. However, due to financial necessity, staying home is not an option for many women.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, few women with children under the age of 6 worked outside the home. Today, a woman's salary may not be expendable. Returning to work after having a baby is as common as staying home.

The Cost of Working: Is It Worth It?
Add up the following to find your total "working cost":

• cost of childcare
• cost of formula, if you will not continue breastfeeding when you return to work
• cost of duplicate equipment between home and childcare
• increase in taxes due to second income
• cost of travel to and from work
• cost of meals eaten out
• cost of extras, such as dry cleaning, clothing, other things you need if you work
• cost of any "treats" you reward yourself with, such as eating out, buying convenience foods, having someone clean the house for you

Follow steps 1-3 to determine what you are really earning. The bottom-line figure could surprise you.

1. Add together your take-home pay and benefits.
2. Deduct total working costs that you determined from the list above.
3. Divide this number by the total number of hours you spend away from home. This gives you a figure that represents how much you are making for each hour you are away from home and baby.

About 60% of all mothers work outside the home. Returning to work is more common than staying home.

If You Decide To Stay At Home
You may decide to stay home with your baby. If you do, the change from going out each day to work to staying at home can be traumatic. You may find staying at home isn't as easy as you thought it would be. It's true you won't have to worry about going to work or coming home to fix meals and do housework, but you may find staying home means less companionship, less money and the loss of your daily work routine.

If you have worked full time, you may not have met many people in your area. It's hard to make friends in your own neighborhood when you work all day. You may find your community soon becomes a substitute for your workplace. Don't bury yourself in motherhood and exclude all other activities. Make an effort to get out, meet people and get involved in new experiences with your baby.

Studies have shown that some women who left jobs to stay at home with baby were more distressed than new mothers who returned to work. Staying home may not be as easy as you think!

Stay in touch with your colleagues at work. Drop in to see them, or go out to lunch with a group. Call them, and stay on top of what is happening in your field.

More on: Working Mothers