by J. Bayliss
Being a working mother is no mean feat, especially in a recession. It is easy to forget the recession’s effect on real people when we hear the macro-economics, but women are certainly some of the hardest hit by the economic climate and the ensuing austerity measures.
Official figures show that women are losing their jobs at a disproportionately greater rate than men, and those who take on part-time work due to child-care responsibilities are often the first to go. The cuts can also hurt those dependent on child care, and the changes to child tax credits have caused many mums to tighten their belts, and their schedules.
With women still tending to earn roughly 18% less than their male counterparts it makes sense now more than ever to look into being your own boss, setting your own schedule and making the jump to mompreneurship. Women are also over than four times more likely than men to cite family as the reason for becoming their own boss. One-fifth of women choose to work for themselves in order to fulfill their desire to be successful in both business and family worlds.
Being self-employed comes with its own challenges, but also with huge benefits – especially for someone with caring responsibilities. Being in control of your own time and commitments can be invaluable to lots of women, especially mums. You never have to be at the whim of the boss again, and you have the power to decide who you work with and how you do it. While you will have to wave goodbye to sick pay and annual holiday allowances, you are welcoming in a raft of new freedoms and flexibilities which are most often an improvement for family women.
Another piece of good news is that if your household income is over the child tax credit threshold, but you have your own business, there are ways in which you can divide this income to maintain your Child Benefit. These benefits can make a considerable contribution to the family bank balance, totaling up to $1000 per child.
Even though starting out on your own can be a foreboding challenge, the US is the best place in the world for female entrepreneurs with over 8 million businesses in The States being led by women; this number grows every year – so do your bit battling the recession, and put your entrepreneurial plans into practice!
Starting your own business couldn’t be easier, and the benefits of a smart online accountant mean that you can do everything from home with minimum fuss, paperwork, and a supportive account manager available to advise you whenever you need.
Working from home means more than just a lifetime of snuggly dressing gowns, you can set up your own working space, and you no longer have to fork out for the inevitable travel expenses, avoiding the dreaded commute. For the working mothers among us, it also means never having to miss out on time with the kids again.
Nobody’s saying mompreneurship is easy, but it’s certainly worth some thought.
J. Bayliss is a freelance writer from Brighton, UK. They have worked as an editor of local newspaper ‘The Badger’, as a marketing executive, and with several large NGO’s and Unions in the UK. JB is currently working in-house at Crunch Accounting. They enjoy writing creatively about politics, business, and travel, and enjoys cycling, photography, and vegan cooking in their spare time.
Photo Credits
franky242 | stockimages | freedigitalphotos.net | Courtesy of author