Having children has a vastly different impact on the careers of men and women. Across the UK, data shows that as much as 85% of women leave full-time work for good within three years of having a child.
However, many mums want to contribute to their family’s financial stability, whilst raising their children. The good news is, the increase in remote work and flexible working arrangements means there are plenty of legitimate ways to make money as a stay at home mum.
This article discusses some of the main challenges stay at home mums face before listing 8 of the most suitable jobs for stay at home mums.
What are the challenges of balancing work and childcare?
Stay at home mums face various challenges around how best to balance work with childcare.
The primary challenge is to find paid work that allows you to work around your child’s schedule. Other challenges include making the switch to self-employment and adjusting to a less social work situation.
Switching to self-employment
In many cases, stay at home mums are switching from employment to self-employment, which brings new tax obligations and compliance requirements.
Many self-employed mums find it helpful to utilise a personal tax advisor who can assist with the switch to self-employment, whilst also helping achieve other financial goals like reducing tax liabilities.
Unpredictable work schedules
Babies and young children have unpredictable needs and schedules, which makes it difficult to carve out time for long stretches of focused, uninterrupted work. This underlines the need to find jobs that offer flexibility around working hours and daily time demands.
Loss of social interaction
Beginning to work from home requires mums to adapt to a completely new social situation. The lack of day-to-day professional interactions can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnect.
This previous post on adjusting to working from home has plenty of practical tips on taking care of your mental health whilst home working.
What are the benefits of home-working jobs for mums?
An obvious benefit for stay at home mums is the economics —flexible home working jobs provide the chance to make money, whilst also reducing daytime childcare costs.
Other benefits of home working jobs include:
Flexibility
A flexible remote job enables mums to define their hours of work, empowering mums to put family commitments and the emotional needs of their child first.
No commuting
Other than bedtime, mornings can be a challenging time for parents. A home working job removes the need to commute, allowing mums to spend more time with their children in the mornings.
Improved work-life balance
When managed correctly and on a flexible basis, working from home jobs allow for a much improved work-life balance.
The benefits of home working jobs are clear. The question now becomes, what flexible job(s) are best for you. However, there are certain jobs that lend themselves well to stay at home mums.
8 ways to make money as a stay at home mum
There are certain jobs that are outcome-directed, as opposed to being time-dependent, and therefore give stay at home mums more flexibility in terms of work times. Some work from home jobs give you full control, allowing you to choose your own hours.
Let’s now take a look at 8 of the best home working jobs for mums:
1. Content creation and freelance writing
Content writers create content for websites, blogs, and other forms of media. This type of writing work offers flexibility, and can usually be done at any hour making it ideal for fitting work around family commitments.
2. Graphic design
Graphic design is for visual creative types, and involves creating logos, marketing materials, and graphics for the web.
Like freelance writing, graphic design work is based on a given brief, allowing graphic designers a good degree of control over their working hours.
3. English teaching / tutoring
Teaching English as a second language is a popular choice for remote workers in the UK. The growth of online teaching and tutoring platforms means there are plenty of work opportunities.
Most online teaching platforms allow teachers to work flexible hours, whilst private tutoring enables stay-at-home mums to set their own schedule to suit their needs.
4. Bookkeeping for small businesses
Bookkeeping is a learnable skill that doesn’t require your creativity. Plus, bookkeeping can typically be done remotely these days. As a bookkeeper for a small business, your daily tasks might include managing accounts, invoicing, and payroll.
Although much of the work must be done during business hours, bookkeeping offers a good degree of flexibility in terms of working hours.
5. Virtual assistant
Virtual assistants perform a variety of tasks, from email management to appointment scheduling and even social media management for influencers.
Virtual assistant work is well suited to remote work as tasks can typically be completed over the course of the day or to a deadline. For more, see this previous Baby Budgeting post on how to become a virtual assistant.
6. Video editing
Video editing involves working on projects like YouTube videos, podcasts, or social media content. Like graphic design, this type of work is deadline-driven, and can be done from a laptop allowing editors to work flexibly from anywhere.
Video editing courses can help you learn how to use video editing software. Some of the most popular video editing software are: Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, and DaVinci.
7. Translation
Translation is another option for stay at home mums with language skills. Translation work tends to be project based but offers a good degree of flexibility.
The rise of AI-powered translation services is a threat, but skilled translation that gives high quality and unambiguous translations is a valuable skill.
8. Set up your own Ecommerce brand
Setting up your own Ecommerce store is probably the most entrepreneurial option on our list. There are plenty of mums selling anything and everything online. Although running your own online store might be the riskiest home working job, it offers the most control.
When it comes to setting up an Ecommerce store, the options are endless. You decide on the products you will sell and then choose the Ecommerce platforms you want to sell on.
How to find legitimate work-from-home jobs
Once you’ve decided on how you want to make money, you need to know how you can begin finding legitimate work. Working online and finding opportunities that are right for you requires due diligence and it’s better to stick with trusted online marketplaces.
Jobs boards
Traditional job boards such as Indeed, Reed, and Totaljobs, and Glassdoor now offer a good number of remote or flexible working jobs. Plus, it’s possible to use advanced filters to help find the most suitable job.
Freelancing platforms
Platforms that connect businesses with remote workers, such as Upwork and Fiverr, have good protections against scams and feature jobs suited to a wide range of freelance experience levels.
Social media
Popular social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and X are also good options for finding jobs with flexible working hours. Plus, social media is an effective way to promote your availability for work and connect with other remote workers in your chosen industry.
Another underrated benefit of social media platforms is the ability to connect with businesses and entrepreneurs in different time zones, allowing stay at home mums to find work with more convenient hours.
Bonus: Set up a dedicated home working office
If you’re truly committed to working from home whilst bringing up your children, it’s essential you create an environment that is as conducive as possible to productive work.
I’ve written about how much I’d love to create my own home office. If you have a spare room or somewhere that you can clearly designate as your workspace, I’m sure it will do wonders for your productivity.
