Working mums often feel guilty of leaving their kids behind and going to work. They are sometimes ridiculed by society for not taking care of their kids and leaving them with strangers. According to a New York times article, working mums should simply discard their feeling of guilt, improve work-life flexibility, and strive for equality at home and work. Moreover, there is no proof that the kids of stay-at-home mums are happier than children of working mothers. Mums’ work certainly keeps them busy and sometimes unavailable but that doesn’t mean that their kids grow into unhappy adults. Your child’s mental health and happiness depend on the surrounding environment and the guidance that you provide, irrespective of your working status.
According to another article published in New York Times “Mounting Evidence of Advantages for Children of Working Mothers”, evidence shows that having a working mum has economic, educational and social benefits for children of both genders. Certainly, good news and a sigh of relief for working mums.
In real life, all heroes don’t wear capes, and certainly working mums are among such heroes who inspire their kids every day with mums’ work. Here are a few strong and positive impacts on kids of having a working mum.
Skills children of working mothers learn
Independent Kids
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Kids of working mums display a good amount of independence. From an early age, they program themselves on being independent and love to do most of the work by themselves. Homework, puzzles, eating, what to wear, etc. are few of the things they learn to manage from a very early age. As mums’ work keep them busy, the kids nurture a do-it-yourself attitude inculcating a very important life-skill.
Better Social Skills
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When children see their mums interacting with a variety of people, be it their colleagues, sub-ordinates, friends, and relatives, they certainly get a better idea of how to handle different sets of people. Not only this, kids also develop better social skills and easily interact with their own age group and even grown-ups without the mothers having to mediate. They learn how to mingle, talk and even negotiate in different situations.
Confident
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Few studies suggest that the kids of working mums are more confident and level-headed. They learn to tackle various situations on their own from a very early age and become self-reliant. Also, working mums have an innate self-belief and confidence that is directly or indirectly relayed to their kids, promoting a better mental development of the child.
Picking-up Life-skills
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Working mums juggle many roles and responsibilities at the same time. Mums’ work includes office work, project deadlines, house chores, bill payments, etc. and they manage it all at the same time. This on-going education, actively keeps on teaching the kids how to manage various things at the same time. As a working mum, you are constantly feeding the ways of leading a better life. According to Professor Kathleen L. Mcginn of Harvard Business School, “If you’re actually observing an employed mom manage a complex life and handle multiple demands—a job, a family, a household—you see that it can work. Everything we know about role models and social learning suggests that children are actively picking up life skills from adults around them. It’s all about what they’re exposed to as children.”
Career Oriented
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Kids of working women tend to take inspiration from their parents being career-oriented, especially mums. Kids of such mums grow up to be hard-working and enterprising. Kathleen L. Mcginn, in her research, also states that daughters grow up to be higher achieving and sons are more likely to contribute to household chores.
Clearly, it is high time to lay aside the belief that children of working mothers are ignored, unhappy and uncared for. Majority of the kids not only grow up to be happy and independent but are also mentally strong.
References: New York Times
