We live in a world where women have become empowered and are relentlessly pursuing their career opportunities. Women are now choosing career over mother hood. Others are delaying having children in order to further their career.
And even when moms are choosing to have kids, they are sticking to the minimum i.e. one or two kids. Studies have found that the average career woman is giving birth to two kids and three or more are definitely considered too many.
This is because they know once they have kids they will have to balance both their career and kids. They make women lose focus, deal with mother penalty, lose their earning potential and a reduction in productivity. Some women have had their kids completely kill their career because they could not find a balance.
However you can manage to thrive in your career and over these challenges by finding a supportive partner/system , reliable childcare, supportive employer/workplace and a resilient mindset.
How Many Kids are Enough for Career Women
There is definitely a correlation between career success and number of children a woman has. The more kids you have, the more your career will be impacted.
You will notice that your career may stall or dye if have multiple kids. If you intend to pursue and have a thriving career as a women, only have one or two kids are considered ideal. Most accomplished and successful corporate women in top leadership and management tend to have one kid or two at most- in rare cases.
Read: Best Mom-Friendly Careers
Impact of Babies on Women Career
1. Less Time and Energy for Career
Society expects women to prioritize motherhood more which affects their career goals and priorities. Instead of fully focusing on career, moms are required to share the time and energy with the mental and physical load of child rearing and household care.
As a result you will deny your career the time and energy it needs, which will kill it.
In addition the motherhood penalty affects the results career expects from their work. Studies show that mothers earn approximately 5-10% less per child compared to childless women, highlighting the motherhood penalty in earnings.
2. Change of Focus & Priorities to Kids
Each child will have different and independent demands during each developmental age. If you have two kids or more, you will find this too overwhelming to concentrate on career and parenting multiple kids at the same time.
Working mothers are 30% more likely to report anxiety and stress compared to fathers, which can impact productivity and job satisfaction. As a result women will naturally gravitate towards their kid and this will kill their career.
Read: How A Small Gap Between Children Affects Women Career
3.Unreliable Childcare lowers Productivity
Finding a reliable, convenient and affordable childcare is the major challenge for many working moms. The inability to consistently get a reliable childcare will affect your work productivity because you are either too distracted.
You also have to miss work so that you can care for your kids. Approximately 50% of parents report difficulty finding reliable childcare, which can lead to increased absenteeism at work. As a result the more kids you have, the more negative impact your career may face.
You may want to read the high cost if childcare on How Single Moms Afford the High Daycare Costs
4. Fewer Opportunities for Career Growth
When you have children, the chances of growing in your career either through education or promotions go lower because of several reasons.
- You have less time and energy left from already balancing kids and work
- You face financial challenges because of the additional cost raising kids, especially childcare
- You become less eligible for career opportunities such as promotions because of maternity leave breaks
Research indicates that mothers are often less likely to be promoted than their childless counterparts, with some studies suggesting a 20% lower likelihood of advancement.I personally lost a well paying promotion because i was due for maternity leave.
5. Poor Performance due to Burnout
Most working moms with multiple kids report the highest cases of fatigue and burnout. About 40% of working mothers report feeling burned out due to the dual demands of work and home life.
It is just too much juggling being a parent and having a high-level career. On average, working mothers spend about 15 hours a week on childcare, which can detract from their work hours.
Eventually you find your work performance deteriorating and equally your career start to stall. The poor performance will even stop you from advancing to top leadership roles or getting promotions.
Read: How to Avoid/Recover from Burnout
Read: Why Working Moms Hate Work after Getting Babies
Tips on Thriving in Career with Kids
- Create a Support System
- Get Reliable Childcare
- Have Fewer kids
- Adopt a Self-Care Routine
1. Create a Support System
You can succeed in your career as a mother as long you can get all the help you need. Surround yourself with people who supports your goal and are willing to give you the necessary help.
- The support system will offer financial, moral and childcare help so that you have time and energy to focus on your work that your career needs to grow.
- They also offer a platform for you to discuss, brainstorm and address your career challenges.
The following strategies are very effective in finding support system
- Identify potential support networks– May include family, friends, other parenting groups, online communities
- Establish reliable childcare– This could include nanny services, nanny sharing with other parents etc,
- Use workplace programs– Take advantage that some employers may offer such as flexible hours, remote work, parental leave
- Involve your partner– Discuss with your partner on how to share household responsibilities to relive you off some pressure
- Find community resources– Find local childcare programs, school program where you can enroll your child
- Join self-care networks– Find and keep mom friends, join wellness programs etc to promote mental health and work-life balance
2. Get Reliable Childcare
It will be impossible for you to be productive in your career if you do not have a reliable person looking after your kids. You need a plan that allow you to get adequate time that you can focus on work without worrying over your child.
A good reliable option would be a live in nanny as it offers you round the work child care especially for when you need to work odd hours on your career. The reliability will ensures that kids do not ruin your career by being too demanding.
Other options may include nanny sharing or a reliable daycare that offers pick up and drop off services. Also a daycare at your workplace will be ideal for you to balance motherhood and career.
3. Have Fewer Kids : 1 or 2
While working moms generally have challenges in attaining a work life balance, moms with multiple kids have it worse. For this reason, you need to limit the number of kids if you want to give your career a chance to thrive.
The more kids you have, the more time and attention they will take from you away from your career. If you want to prevent kids from ruining your career, then have fewer kids.
Stick to either one or two to give you enough work life balance so that you give your career adequate time and attention. You may even choose not to have kids at all because you want your career to remain unaffected.
4. Adopt a Self-Care Routine
Above everything else, you need to take care of yourself. Self-care will help you prevent the motherhood from negatively affecting your career.
- Give your body the necessary nutrients for energy through a well balanced diet
- Get quality 8 hours of sleep everyday
- Stay active-aim for about 30 minutes of exercising everyday
- Focus on personal pursuits likes hobbies
- Learn new skills
- Make time to connect with nature
- Make social time for friends and family
Incorporate all these into your daily routine and you will notice both your physical and mental health improving. Subsequently you will have adequate energy for both your kids and also your career.
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