Zeno's Bar & Grill
Friday, September 23, 2005
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
An article that appeared this week in the New York Times raised the ire of just about everyone from stay-at-home moms to working moms, if the letters to the editor that appeared yesterday are anything to go by. Articles like this (and the subsequent outcry) seem to appear every couple of years like clockwork. See, for example, Lisa Belkin’s, “The Opt-Out Revolution”, which appeared in the NY Times in 2003.
This week’s article, "Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood", by Louise Story, reported that more than half of a group of surveyed Ivy League students plan to cut back on work or stop working entirely when they have children. On the surface, this might sound hopelessly retrograde, and this is part of what gets people up in arms. Actually if you look at details it’s not as bad as it first sounds. Among the students who plan to cut back, half said they planned to work part-time and half wanted to stop work for ‘at least a few years’. This seems pretty reasonable, as long as they are lucky enough to have the financial means to do so.
From the article: “The women said that pursuing a rigorous college education was worth the time and money because it would help position them to work in meaningful part-time jobs when their children are young or to attain good jobs when their children leave home.” Again, this seems logical. The only problem will be if their options aren’t as rosy as they hope. Meaningful part-time work may be harder to come by than they are expecting. There might also be unanticipated penalties for taking time off.
Maybe the bright, young Ivy Leaguers of today can figure how to create better flexible work options for mothers, thereby making their own dreams come true.
--Melanie & Kelly
This week’s article, "Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood", by Louise Story, reported that more than half of a group of surveyed Ivy League students plan to cut back on work or stop working entirely when they have children. On the surface, this might sound hopelessly retrograde, and this is part of what gets people up in arms. Actually if you look at details it’s not as bad as it first sounds. Among the students who plan to cut back, half said they planned to work part-time and half wanted to stop work for ‘at least a few years’. This seems pretty reasonable, as long as they are lucky enough to have the financial means to do so.
From the article: “The women said that pursuing a rigorous college education was worth the time and money because it would help position them to work in meaningful part-time jobs when their children are young or to attain good jobs when their children leave home.” Again, this seems logical. The only problem will be if their options aren’t as rosy as they hope. Meaningful part-time work may be harder to come by than they are expecting. There might also be unanticipated penalties for taking time off.
Maybe the bright, young Ivy Leaguers of today can figure how to create better flexible work options for mothers, thereby making their own dreams come true.
--Melanie & Kelly
