Work at home parent
Encyclopedia
A work at home parent is an entrepreneur
who works from home
and integrates parenting
into his or her business activities. They are sometimes referred to as a WAHM (work at home mom) or a WAHD (work at home dad).
Entrepreneurs choose to run businesses from home for a variety of reasons, including lower business expenses, personal health limitations, eliminating commuting
or in order to have a more flexible schedule. This flexibility can give an entrepreneur more options when planning tasks, business and non-business, including parenting duties. While some home-based entrepreneurs opt for childcare
outside the home, others integrate child rearing into their work day
and workspace. The latter are considered work-at-home parents.
Many WAHPs start home-based businesses
in order to care for their children while still creating income
. The desire to care for one's own children, the incompatibility of a 9-to-5 work day with school hours or sick days, and the expense of childcare prompt many parents to change or leave their job in the workforce
in order to be available to their children. Many WAHPs build a business schedule that can be integrated with their parenting duties.
Combining uses of time involves some level of multitasking
, such as taking children on business errands, and the organized scheduling of business activities during child’s down times and vice-versa. The WAHP combines uses of space by creating a home (or mobile) office that accommodates the child's presence.
Normalizing acknowledges the child’s presence in the business environment. This can include letting key business partners know that parenting is a priority, establishing routines and rules for children in the office, and even having children help with business when appropriate.
Finally, the WAHP can utilize the inherent flexibility of the work at home arrangement. This may mean working in smaller increments of time instead of long stretches, looser scheduling of day’s activities to allow for the unexpected, and working at non-traditional times.
A business that demands 9-to-5 business hours, a polished office, intense one-on-one time with clients, dangerous materials, or impromptu appointments may not work well for a parent with children at home. Thus, not all professions lend themselves to work-at-home parenting. Without good organization, the WAHP may experience decreased productivity due to added responsibilities and unexpected interruptions. However, businesses that lend themselves particularly well to working from home businesses are internet businesses or 'virtual assistants'.
The Center for Women's Business Research, a nonprofit organization, found that Generation X
mothers are the most likely to work from home. The center also reports that between 1997 to 2004, employment at female-owned companies grew by 24.2%, more than twice the rate of the 11.6% logged by all businesses.
Types of businesses that WAHP may engage in include telecommuting
for corporations, freelancing or working as an independent contractor, running home-party businesses, managing complete companies from home, and providing valuable business and marketing support.
have. In pre-industrial societies, merchant
s and artisan
s often worked out of or close to their homes. Children typically remained in the care of a parent during the day and were often present while the parents worked. Societal changes in the 1800s, such as compulsory education
and the Industrial Revolution
, made working from home with children around less common.
Entrepreneurship
saw a resurgence in the 1980s, with more of an emphasis on work-life balance
. Among the long-traditional groups of WAHPs are those professionals in private practice with home offices such as physicians, therapists, music teachers and tutors. The term WAHP began gaining popularity in the late 1990s especially as the growth of the Internet allowed for small business owners and entrepreneurs to have greater options for starting and running their businesses. By 2004, over 20 million people worked at home at least part time (either as business owners or in a formal arrangement with their employer), many of whom were parents. In 2008, a digital magazine was established by a WAHM with a decade of experience in the publications field specifically for work-at-home parents. The WAHM Magazine
was designed to address the issues of the complete lifestyle of work-at-home parents regardless of field or industry and has a mission to validate, empower, encourage, educate and support WAHPs in their personal, professional and lifestyle goals. And the end of the first decade of the 21st century, telecommuting
is becoming a greater option for companies and employees alike for a variety of economic and environmental concerns.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
who works from home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
and integrates parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
into his or her business activities. They are sometimes referred to as a WAHM (work at home mom) or a WAHD (work at home dad).
Entrepreneurs choose to run businesses from home for a variety of reasons, including lower business expenses, personal health limitations, eliminating commuting
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
or in order to have a more flexible schedule. This flexibility can give an entrepreneur more options when planning tasks, business and non-business, including parenting duties. While some home-based entrepreneurs opt for childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
outside the home, others integrate child rearing into their work day
Working time
Working time is the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Unpaid labors such as personal housework are not considered part of the working week...
and workspace. The latter are considered work-at-home parents.
Many WAHPs start home-based businesses
Home business
A home business is a small business that operates from the business owner's home office. In addition to location, home businesses are usually defined by having a very small number of employees, usually all immediate family of the business owner, in which case it is also a family business...
in order to care for their children while still creating income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
. The desire to care for one's own children, the incompatibility of a 9-to-5 work day with school hours or sick days, and the expense of childcare prompt many parents to change or leave their job in the workforce
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
in order to be available to their children. Many WAHPs build a business schedule that can be integrated with their parenting duties.
Integrating Business and Parenting
An integration of parenting and business can take place in one or more of four key ways: combined uses of time, combined uses of space, normalizing children in business, and flexibility.Combining uses of time involves some level of multitasking
Human multitasking
Human multitasking is the best performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. The term is derived from computer multitasking. An example of multitasking is taking phone calls while typing an email...
, such as taking children on business errands, and the organized scheduling of business activities during child’s down times and vice-versa. The WAHP combines uses of space by creating a home (or mobile) office that accommodates the child's presence.
Normalizing acknowledges the child’s presence in the business environment. This can include letting key business partners know that parenting is a priority, establishing routines and rules for children in the office, and even having children help with business when appropriate.
Finally, the WAHP can utilize the inherent flexibility of the work at home arrangement. This may mean working in smaller increments of time instead of long stretches, looser scheduling of day’s activities to allow for the unexpected, and working at non-traditional times.
A business that demands 9-to-5 business hours, a polished office, intense one-on-one time with clients, dangerous materials, or impromptu appointments may not work well for a parent with children at home. Thus, not all professions lend themselves to work-at-home parenting. Without good organization, the WAHP may experience decreased productivity due to added responsibilities and unexpected interruptions. However, businesses that lend themselves particularly well to working from home businesses are internet businesses or 'virtual assistants'.
The Center for Women's Business Research, a nonprofit organization, found that Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
mothers are the most likely to work from home. The center also reports that between 1997 to 2004, employment at female-owned companies grew by 24.2%, more than twice the rate of the 11.6% logged by all businesses.
Types of businesses that WAHP may engage in include telecommuting
Telecommuting
Telecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links...
for corporations, freelancing or working as an independent contractor, running home-party businesses, managing complete companies from home, and providing valuable business and marketing support.
History
The concept of the WAHP has been around for as long as small businessesGuild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
have. In pre-industrial societies, merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s and artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s often worked out of or close to their homes. Children typically remained in the care of a parent during the day and were often present while the parents worked. Societal changes in the 1800s, such as compulsory education
Compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...
and the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, made working from home with children around less common.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
saw a resurgence in the 1980s, with more of an emphasis on work-life balance
Work-life balance
Work–life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" on the one hand and "life" on the other. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance".-History:The work-leisure dichotomy was invented in the mid 1800s...
. Among the long-traditional groups of WAHPs are those professionals in private practice with home offices such as physicians, therapists, music teachers and tutors. The term WAHP began gaining popularity in the late 1990s especially as the growth of the Internet allowed for small business owners and entrepreneurs to have greater options for starting and running their businesses. By 2004, over 20 million people worked at home at least part time (either as business owners or in a formal arrangement with their employer), many of whom were parents. In 2008, a digital magazine was established by a WAHM with a decade of experience in the publications field specifically for work-at-home parents. The WAHM Magazine
WAHM (magazine)
WAHM is an online magazine about work at home jobs, work at home job opportunities, and the work at home lifestyle. The name is an acronym for "Work at Home Moms," though the magazine covers issues affecting all home-based workers and telecommuters, both male and female.-History:Software engineer...
was designed to address the issues of the complete lifestyle of work-at-home parents regardless of field or industry and has a mission to validate, empower, encourage, educate and support WAHPs in their personal, professional and lifestyle goals. And the end of the first decade of the 21st century, telecommuting
Telecommuting
Telecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links...
is becoming a greater option for companies and employees alike for a variety of economic and environmental concerns.
See also
- HomeschoolingHomeschoolingHomeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
- Attachment parentingAttachment parentingAttachment parenting, a phrase coined by pediatrician William Sears, is a parenting philosophy based on the principles of the attachment theory in developmental psychology. According to attachment theory, the child forms a strong emotional bond with caregivers during childhood with lifelong...
- Home BusinessHome businessA home business is a small business that operates from the business owner's home office. In addition to location, home businesses are usually defined by having a very small number of employees, usually all immediate family of the business owner, in which case it is also a family business...
- Superwoman (sociology)Superwoman (sociology)In sociology the term superwoman has been used to describe a Western woman who works hard to manage multiple roles of a worker, a homemaker, a volunteer, a student etc...