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21st Century Work at Home Moms

Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures

Our grandmothers didn't go out to work; they fulfilled the roles of home maker and child carer. Our mothers did go out to work. With each generation comes a change. Today's moms combine both the homemaking roles of their grandmothers and the working commitments of their mothers by doing both, at home!

Generations to come may well see the 21st Century as an era that championed working at home.

The introduction of the World Wide Web to our lives has been a key aspect of making it easier for people, in particular women with young families, to work at home, thus earning them the acronymic title WAHMs (Work At Home Moms.) Lest we forget, the opportunity to work from a home environment doing is also extended to dads!

Many people choose to work from their homes these days and for those who had to tighten their belts in response to the credit crunch, it made economic sense to cut work related travel/fuel expenses. In addition, those of us who are conscious of the size of carbon footprints feel we are contributing, even in a small way, of we limit the amount of times we use our vehicles each week. It's a small concession, but every little helps.

One of the major benefits of working at home for moms is that it removes the need for child day care. As working from your own home is flexible it can be bent to fit the shape family needs. Many women love the fact that there isn't a 9-5 schedule to adhere to. Nor are there work hours that are awkward and don't tie in with school times or kid's other commitments. The work at home mom is her own woman and her own boss. She makes the decisions about every aspect of her working life, particularly when to dedicated time to work and when to devote time and attention to her children.

In terms of ease of operation and real comfort, WAHMs and WAHDs who work from are able to create work-spaces that chime in with their characters. In addition there are a few very healthy tax benefits connected to using part of a domicile property for an office or workshop.

WAHMs Key benefits are:

• Lower costs
• Convenience
• More flexible hours and free time
• Freedom to choose when to spend QUALITY time with the family
• No more child care worries
• Stressful commuting is no longer a problem
• Great tax benefits
• Career satisfaction
• A comfortable customised work place

Working home can let's WAHMs and WAHDs take complete control of the way they work, and how much they earn. More of us than ever before work in our homes, and while there are sometimes sticky areas where the edges of work/home commitments blur, it is on the whole a great solution for people with families. There's no reason why a healthy home life cannot be lived while a healthy business is run alongside it. Time management is perhaps the greatest skill a home worker can develop – without clear guidelines of when shop is shut it's easy to let business overrun into personal time and space. However, with organisation, a successful career can be forged in the home, meaning a healthy bank balance and a happy family.

Working from home fits with the needs of 21st Century parents who wish to build a prosperous future for themselves and their children while enjoying the journey along the way.

Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."

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