The Workforce

As I heard someone mention to me, since the recession and the extreme financial situation that the American public finds itself in, those women who might have stayed at home and never used their degrees that they worked hard to pursue, might have to leave their house and join the workforce.

Some girls, despite the fact that they get their 'degree' (sometimes an easy CLEP degree, or one in a field they never plan to go further in- like Humanities, or Psychology) in order to make their parents happy, or to have something to do, all they really want to do is be a mommy and stay at home with their kids and house.

Is that wrong? I wouldn't advocate it for myself, as I would probably go out of my mind with boredom, but for these women, their home is a full time job- and that is true. Raising one's children can be a full time job, if one dedicates themselves to it wholeheartedly. According to ABC News- a stay at home mom should get paid at least $138,646 per year. The numbers were based upon a mom doing 92 hours of work per week. That's a lot of work!!!

In Israel- it seems that many girls embark on the vocational track of things without a degree, or they use their degree almost as soon as they get it. But there are still some who would gladly stay home full time, but because of the economic situation that their family is in, they feel obligated to help in the support of their home.

How can one balance both home and job? Well-that's a major question, one that many find very hard to answer.
Either you trust your children into the care of a babysitter, which is never a perfect substitute for Mom, or you somehow spend your days dashing from home to work to home again- an exhausting lifestyle.

My own mother, while raising my siblings, found herself subbing in the morning while they had school, studying for her classes while driving them to and from school, and taking care of them till they were asleep, after which she would attend her own grad school at night, and then do the whole day over again. Exhausting- no?

Working at home is sometimes an option- what SecretariesinIsrael tries to do for those in Israel who don't mind burning the midnight oil- literally. They work from 4-12- the American hours. And, there are medical secretaries, proofreaders and editors, and Internet jobs. Computer jobs oftentimes have a work at home option, as does graphic design, bookkeeping, or other alternatives.

The choice comes into play when you look at that child's precious face and say- how can I ever leave? It's a tough choice to make.