While women have always been found in the workplace, this is not true of mothers. In the past, only women without children held jobs outside the home. Others were deemed “stay-at-home” mothers, and their work was reserved for the confines of their houses. Today, women have the opportunity to have careers outside the home whether they have children or not. Although things changed for the mothers, the expectations from employers for female workers did not change. Women are expected to do the same jobs whether they have children or not. Where the difference comes in is when working mothers leave their day jobs and go home. A mother’s work is never done and she has a whole set of responsibilities outside of her work environment that a woman without children does not have. While a woman without children may work just as hard as a woman with children, a mother’s work is, often times, more complicated. For example, overtime may be offered to all female workers, but mothers will view the overtime in a different way. Overtime is always a luxury when the employer offers it, but some workers may need it more than others. Women who have children could benefit from this overtime more than the other working women without children. If the overtime was offered to the mothers first, it would help them out with many financial needs. By having that extra money, they could start a savings for their children’s college funds and it could also help them provide a more comfortable lifestyle for their families. Moreover, there are so many other financial obligations for families with children. The mother might be the provider of the insurance, and with the economy going the way it is, a family can not afford to go without health insurance. A working woman with no children may not be in need of the overtime because she is not obligated to care for another life. She may have a husband but does not have a child or the need to make sure that child is insured for healthcare. Gaining multiple hours of overtime could lead her to living a luxurious lifestyle, but it may be taking away the hours from mothers who need it most. While all women face expenses and financial decisions, a mother’s expenses can be extra challenging. A mother has to provide for not only herself but for her family also. She has to put the needs of the child before her own and make sure that the daily necessities are available for the family at all times. Providing for one person can be expensive enough, but when adding a child, a parent’s expenses go up. When someone is only providing for themselves, they will have the finances to take self-indulgent vacations at any time of the year. They will also have the freedom of coming home at any time of the night from a date or night club without the expenses of paying a baby sitter.
However, when a woman with children wants to go out for the evening she has to plan around a babysitter. Families are top priority now. Babysitters are not cheap and parents can not come and go as they please anymore. Now the responsibility has doubled along with the daily routines, purchases, and necessities. Diapers, wipes, formula, clothes, food, blankets, and furniture are now on the daily grocery list. On top of that, healthcare is not cheap either, but when adding a baby it raises the premium significantly and if it is a family plan than it triples after that baby comes along. During the first few years of a child’s life, there are multiple doctors’ appointments. Every doctor’s appointment costs money, and they add up very quickly. With the expenses that come with having a child, there is also the need to pay for day care weekly so that the parents can make it to work to provide the finances that pay for everything the family may need. The mother and father will be taking off here and there so paychecks will start to have some decreases when a child is ever sick and the parents are taking off a lot. When the workers that do not have children is looking at the expenses, they should start to save now so that they will have an emergency fund. Although with every paycheck most employees gain a certain amount of PTO, paid time off (PTO), sick time, and vacation time, employers may also offer a 401k account that taken out of the check. This will allow a retirement account to start building and get a future going. When a child is sick and a mother has to take off then it will be deducted from her PTO and she will loose some of that time. When all of that time is gone, then she will start being accounted for at work. She will be docked for her time. When children are sick, most of the time they want to be home with their mothers and so a majority of the time the mothers are the ones that have to take off. Women who do not have children are not as exposed to illnesses that often so they may not get as sick as the other workers in the place of employment that do have children.
Therefore, women without children may have excessive amounts of PTO saved up. By not getting sick so often, they have the freedom and luxury of taking multiple vacations year round for however long they choose. It may seem unfair, but it should be better to allow women a little more PTO, paid time off, if they have children so that they can have the extra time to use if the children or they may get sick. In conclusion, although a woman without children may work just as hard as a woman with children, moms work, at times, can be far more complicated. When she is allowed the overtime to take care of the expense that she has for a family and is able to keep the family healthy and comfortable. When the family stays healthy them the woman is more likely to have a more productive yet busy day.