The pros and cons of being a stay-at-home parent
According to the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC), child care fees are typically the second highest cost to families next to housing.
Not only that, over 70 per cent of mothers are in the work force and yet there are only enough child care spaces for about 20 per cent of the families who need them.
Consider a single parent working at a job with minimum wage. The cost of child care far outweighs the income earned.
Now, I'm not suggesting that I agree with this concept. I am merely stating a fact that something needs to be done in our system to make it more financially feasible to enter the workforce and to be able to have affordable, quality child care while you are there.
With the high cost of child care, it's no wonder many families are opting to stay at home and figure out a way to make it work financially.
The Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) website states that the amount of time we spend at work affects our time available for other activities including caring for family members, learning, leisure, volunteering and even rest.
However, it notes that employment also affects earnings and contributes to the overall economic productivity.
Just as the HRSDC states, employment does affect the time we have available for family.
Just think about child care while you're away at work.
More on MSN:
- Countries with the best work/life balance
- Best countries to raise your kids
- Moms who work are happier, healthier than other moms
Whether you're a single parent or married, your child is being raised by someone else under their values and rules while you're labouring away at your job each day.
When my children were born I was entitled to a six-month maternity leave at my place of employment...not near enough time to wean her and introduce her to a bottle so a caregiver could tend to her feedings.
And not only that, the caregiver is the one who is hearing your child's first words, seeing your child's first step while you're missing all the milestones toiling away at work.
After my second child was born with special needs, I left my job to be able to care for her and to take her to all her appointments.
It wasn't easy living on one income. It took a toll on us financially and I eventually began to take in some freelance work from home to make ends meet.
Besides the benefits of being home with your child, there are other financial benefits. Just think -- you can save on transportation costs to and from work, cut out those morning coffees on the way to work, lunch costs at work, drycleaning those work clothes and it might even put you into a lower tax bracket.
There are many tools you can use for your stay-at-home budget.
Kids grow up so fast. In a blink of an eye they are graduating high school, going off to university, moving out and getting married.
It is a shame to have to miss their early years because of the almighty dollar.
By Donna Donaldson, MSN Money
Are you a stay-at-home parent? Why did you choose to stay at home? How have you been able to make it work financially?
Posted by: Bryan Jaskolka | Aug 3, 2021 7:41:00 AM
I usually really like what you guys post, but are you kidding us with this post?
"The Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) website states that the amount of time we spend at work affects our time available for other activities including caring for family members, learning, leisure, volunteering and even rest.
However, it notes that employment also affects earnings and contributes to the overall economic productivity."
Did we really need the government to tell us that when you work you have less time for your family? Or that your earnings might go down if you decide not to work and stay at home with your kids? And other than not making as much for the household, what other cons are there to staying at home? Maybe lack of adult conversation? Feeling of uselessness because you're not contributing to the family budget? Guilt? All of these are just a few of the things that I've heard mentioned by stay-at-home parents and yet, they were missed in this piece. "Pros and Cons" articles need to have more than one pro, and more than one con. And should state more than what common sense tells us.
Posted by: Child | Aug 3, 2021 8:27:07 AM
I hate my parents there dumb, all they are is a tit to hang off and a wallet to squeeze. other than that I dont want to be around them. Give me a shovel and let me get to work.
3 year old
Posted by: linda | Aug 4, 2021 4:59:05 PM
It is entirely possible to wean a child in less than 6 months - maternity leaves were 16 weeks when my oldest was born,so I started tapering off at about 3 months. A person does what they have to do; going back to work wasn't optional, it was necessary. I worked part time,and had my kids in day homes, so they weren't quite as pricey as day care. They were even unregulated, but I knew the people in charge, so knew entirely what kind of values and rules my kids were being raised (part time) under. I think I had the best of both worlds, and it looks like our kids didn't suffer - they're both well on their way to being self sufficient adults.
Posted by: andrew | Aug 4, 2021 10:27:52 PM
i know for myself and my wife, it has not at all been easy with just 1 income. but at the same time, for my wife to work, pay for daycare and bring home something worthwhile, she would need full time hours and make minimum $15/hr, which just doesn't exist here. it makes more sense for my wife to stay home, raise our child, take care of the house and we struggle a bit, until our son goes to school. sadly, it seems to be the only way these days, unless you had a big paying job before a child. either that, or have a profession that allows you to work from home, doing minimum work.
just my opinion.
Posted by: Molly | Aug 5, 2021 12:17:32 AM
I'm not sure what are the credentials of this writer, or blog writer? If this is one of her freelance work then she is better off being a stay at home mom in my opinion.
The pros and cons of a stay at home mom: where is the list of pros? Where are the constructive suggestions from choosing the pros and cons? We all know everybody only has 24 hours a day, so if you work 8 hours a day then of course your family time will be reduced by that much, pure math, there is no need for you to put it inwriting, what a waste of time reading this
Posted by: Child | Aug 6, 2021 7:29:27 PM
This blog writer reminds Me why I am not going to have kids.
3 Year Old