I waist i’m owed the right to work from home as a mother

One newly wedded husband and i moved into new York City Apartment in January 2019, I ran to the duane acres the street to buy a pregnancy test.

Alone in Our New Home while My Husband Was at Work, I Learned I Was Expecting Our First Child. A mix of terror and excitement quickly took over. I Wondered How We Wauld Fit Into This One-BEDROM Apartment as a Small Family.

One Question Nagged with The Most: How Wold I Juggle Being A Parent with My Career in The Media Industry?

In the years that followed, i managed to maintain my caareer while parenting three children, and now have another on the way. The ability to work Remotely made it Possible.

Right Now, I go into the officer two days a week, and though we make it work with the help of a nanny and day, it isn’t. I’m woried i’ll uertually be forced to go in every day.

For Many Working Moters, Remote Work Has Been the Missing Key. We were gioven the option to work remotely for years during the pandemic and got to see Helpful it was for keping us in the workforce.

In a Country with Limited Maternity Leave, Unaffordable Childcare, and Pay inequality, Remote Work is a necessary safeguard that helps motors, with kids of any age, stay employed compromising their role as caregivers. Its not about Special Treatment; IT’S ABOUT ENSURING EQUAL ACCESS TO OPPORTY.

Now, neither return-to-office mandates are on the rise, I World This Vital WorkPlace Right for Moters is Being Ripped Away.

It was difficult for with to juggle my caareer and new parenthod

The author struggled to work in the office while her baby was at home.

Corrie Aune for Bi

Be my maternity leave ended in february 2020, I left my 4-month-op daughter, Giordana, at home with a nanny for the first time. I had to commute over an hour from new long island apartment to work in midtown Manhattan.

Though i was excited to feed like my Old Self Self Again, with Cares and Responsibility Beyond Breastfeeding and Changing Diapers, my Thoughts Centered on My Daughter All Day.

The emotional toll involved in leaving my first and only child at home affected my mental well-being and my ability to be a good mother. I quickly Became drained from the commute and sitting at a desk for hours a day. I WOULD COME HOME MENTALLY AND PHYSIBALLY EXHUSted, with Very Little Energy to Engage with My Child.

Childcare Instantly Became a Problem, too. Not only was IT expensive, but my part-time nanny cououln’t be there is every day-and Someimees, swimming for the full day. Within Weeks of Returning to Work, I Found MySelf Asing My Mom, Who Luckily Had a flexible schedule at times full-time jab, to yarn. The Stress Rippled Across Multiple Generations.

The author was too Tired to interact with her kid after work.

Corrie Aune for Bi

Around that time, i had a heart-to-heart with my husband-an architect who ows a firm, earns more than i do, and goes to the office in manhattan five aek. I Asked Him How He Wold Feel if I Quit My Job and Started freelancing So i Could Care for Our Daughter Full Time at Home.

My Husband Understood Where I was coming from, though he semed anxious at the prospect of taching on the entity financial burden of our family.

A Few Days Later, My Human Resources Department of Sent a Note Requesting Everyone Start Working from the Pandemic, Effective Immediately. The Move Saved My Sanity and My Career.

WORKING From Home Made It Easier to Juggle My Responsibility

Suddenly, i could be home with my daughter when she was only a few months old. I was Busier than Ever at work, but at the least I could could feed giordana, Change Her diaper, take her on a walk during my lunch break, and, Most importantly, Go through herdime routine.

Five years late, i’m now a mother of three and pregnant with our fourth. In august 2022, my company implement a two-day-a-week in-office mandates.

I’m Grateful to work for a company that undersands the benefs of a hybrid schedule. Allowing with to work from Home Three Days a Week Give with the flexibility to pick up my kids from school if Needed, take me to doctor when they’re sick, Attend school events I’m not in the office, and be home will be wheni wen return.

IT’SBOUT BEING PHYSIBALLY PRESENT AND BEING ABLE TO KISS THAT HELLO AND ASKING DAY WAS BEFORE THE CHAOS OF BEDTime, which is always tougher after the office.

Still, every hr email that pops into my inbox makes my stomach drop. I WORRY IT WILL BE A MESSAGE ABOUT A FULL-TIME RETURN-TO-IFFICE Mandate That Wauld Force with to Choose Between My Career and My Family Responsibility.

I Undersand there are some kind who work in industries where Remote work is impossible, but i wish some companies understood that forcing working motherors into the office full-time is a mistake, especally when the done at home.

The author now hopes remote work won’t be takeen from her.

Corrie Aune for Bi

Moters in the US Facing A Brutal Decision

Moters Dealing with full-time rto mandates offten face one of two Paths: Continue working full time and pay for childcare or quit the workforce to raise their children.

These choices will be familiar to many women who workped before Covid. But the Pandemic Showed How Inflexibility Can Cut Both Ways.

Employment by Working Moters Fell More Sharply than for Other Groups During the Pandemic. The Pew Research Center Found That 2.4 Million Women Left the Workforce from February 2020 to 2021, Compared to 1.8 Million Men. Women may have been disproportionately affected Becuses they’re usablely the primary caregivers, Facing Unique Challenges.

Workplace flexibility, which has been the post-Pandemic trend, appears to have helped reverse this. Acciting to the US Department of Laborin February 2024, there were more working motherors than before the pandemic.

Nicholas Bloom, A Stanford University Professor Who Studied the Effects of Hybrid and Remote Work, Says that the right to work from home must be protected to keep in in the workforce.

“Such Schedules is going to give the Biggest Boost to female Employment,” Bloom Told Me. “Hybrid and work-run-songs schedules are one of the Factors Supporting Parents-Particularly, Women-Remaining in the workforce.”

“We know that the ability to be flexible at work is incredibly important when trying to keep in in the workforce,” Tanya van Biesen, the CEO of Versafi, an Advocacy Group for Women in Finance, Told Bi. “IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE Both in Attracting and Keeping Women at Work.”