How does being a parent impact your career? For many people, it might not have quite as much of an impact as you would expect. Though some parents with kids may be less motivated at work, they are also a bit happier overall. What would make them even happier would be the ability to work part-time instead of full-time. It’s not the work that’s most difficult, it’s the stress of trying to balance a career and a family.
It’s always a balancing act when you’re juggling a job and a family, but by some measures working parents come out ahead. If you’re one of those busy moms or dads with too much on your plate, take heart. You can make it work well, especially if you have flexible work options to help juggle your time or work for a family friendly company.
See Also: How to Ask for a Flexible Work Schedule
Working Parents and Happiness
Here are some of the results from the Care.com & Yahoo Parenting Happiness Survey:
- Being a parent helps with happiness. Both working and stay-at-home parents (92% and 87% respectively) have a high happiness quotient.
- Parents are less likely to say they’re “very” motivated in their career (36%) compared to employees without children (50%).
- Stay-at-home parents are slightly more likely to feel frequently lonely (17%) and bored (19%) than working parents.
- The majority of working parents (86%) say it’s difficult to balance the responsibilities of work and family life, and 41% say they don’t spend enough time with their children.
Parents Want to Work Part-Time
What would parents prefer? If they could choose, most parents would prefer to work at a part-time job instead of full-time.
- 81% of working parents and 60% of stay-at-home parents believe that working part-time is the ideal work scenario.
- 71% of people think part-time working moms are happiest while 61% of people think full-time working dads are happiest.
- 38% of full-time working moms say it’s “very difficult” to balance work and family life compared to 25% of part-time working moms.
See Also: How to Ask Your Boss to Work Part-Time
What Would Make Parents Happier
Money is always a motivator, but time-off is important too. After a salary increase, parents rate better benefits that give them more family time as a key to work happiness, while employees without children identify unlimited vacation days as one of the top three ways.
Besides spending more time together, the number one thing men say would make them happiest is “more sex” while for women, it’s “more money.” There are ways to make more money, but I’ll leave you to figure out how to make the sex work!
See Also: 8 Ways to Make More Money
Tips for Juggling Your Job and Your Family
It can be a challenge to juggle a job and a family without getting totally stressed. However, there are things you can do to make it easier. With the right job and a support system in place, it probably won’t ever be totally stress-free, but it will easier than you might expect. Review these tips for parents who are job hunting and considering career options.
- How to Tell if a Job is Family Friendly
- How to Find a Job After Being a Stay at Home Mom
- How to Ask Your Boss if You Can Work From Home
- Best Companies for Remote Jobs
- Best Jobs for Parents
- Top 10 Best Paid Part-Time Jobs
Please note: The Care.com & Yahoo Parenting Happiness Survey captured responses from approximately 1800 people in the United States during the month of April 2015. Respondents were recruited from Care.com and Yahoo Parenting.
