During the pandemic many of us learned so much about remote work. Possibly we had considered this fleetingly in the past. But it became the norm for many, as we know, and we had no choice but to jump right into it. Then hybrid. Another new word, previously applied most frequently to cars. For some working moms hybrid may seem like the sweet spot. A little face time so you know what’s going on, a few days a week when you have lunch in town, and then other days where you get to skip out on the traffic and work in pajama bottoms.
Many working moms feel that remote work enables them to attend to a myriad of household tasks – especially laundry – during the workday. Possibly, too, it’s easier when working hybrid to squeeze in a doc appointment or knock out a quick local errand that otherwise would have to wait until the weekend. The difficulty comes in keeping a boundary between work and home. It’s so easy to let one bleed into the other. Hybrid is a compromise for sure. And the opportunity to multitask a few days a week may be better than none. But it’s also another layer of complexity in an already crazy routine. Inevitably, the day that you are supposed to be working from home is not going to be that ideal day on the family calendar. So probably you wind up finagling just as much as you would if you worked fully in person in order to switch days. That creates a feeling of disruption and inconsistency. The week feels bumpy.
That’s because the truly precious commodity when a mom returns to work after having a baby is time. The clock becomes the enemy. So many things to do everyday and not enough time. For this reason, what would really help working moms the most from my viewpoint, is a 30-hour work week. This is hard to find. But it would be wonderful if more employers could offer this option. Working 30 hours rather than 40 hours is the difference between scrambling like a hamster on a wheel, day after day, week after week, and having space to breathe. It’s huge.
Thirty hours a week is not the same as “mother’s hours.” This term refers to a work schedule that enables moms to work when the children are in school. That actually is far less time. Once you add school breaks and professional days and summers, kids are out of school quite a bit actually. Thirty hours a week is a more consistent commitment to the job and employer. Thirty hours a week permits a working mom to maintain a presence and stay on track in her career.
So much happens in the family on the bookends of the workday. In the morning the childcare handoff is critical. Having the luxury of an extra moment to make an alternative plan if the child or childcare provider is ill or being able to squeeze in a visit to the doctor before work enables working moms to arrive at work ready to focus on the tasks at hand. On the back end of the day, so much has to happen between 3 pm and bedtime: childcare pickup, dinner, bath time and the bedtime routine. What about just having a moment to be with the child that you are working so hard all day to support. Being able to take a 20 minute detour to the park on a beautiful sunny day or take a spin around the block with the stroller is a luxury that few moms who work the traditional 40 hour week - or more - are able to enjoy. Thirty hours a week is the way to go. As more employers bring their employees back in person, we need to be talking about what would really make this doable for working moms.
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