Should I Become a Stay-at-Home Mom?

In the midst of a global pandemic, 2.3 million women left the labor force to stay home with children amid school and office closings. Others found themselves working remotely and some — finding themselves enjoying the flexibility of the WFH lifestyle — wondering how to become a stay-at-home mom permanently.

Once it became clear that, while not without its challenges, it is possible to juggle both home and work responsibilities — like starting a load of laundry between Zoom calls and other "perks". The increase in newly filed business applications reached 4.35 million by the end of 2020.

If you're ready to take the leap and want to know how to become a stay-at-home mom, the following insights and opportunities may help you figure out a way to be at home with your family while still earning an income.

What is a stay at home mom's role post-pandemic?

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There's no doubt that what it means to be a stay at home (SAHM) mom now, 2 years into a pandemic, is vastly different from what the SAHM life was like in years past. Between 1997 and 2007, as an off-and-on stay at home mom, I toggled between temporary administrative work and being home with my young children. At that time, finding a job online — during AOL dial-up days — was unheard of.

Years ago, being on your Blackberry phone while your kids played on the playground would be met with looks of disdain from the other moms, because let's face it, you were just taking a mental break with an engaging game of Brick Breaker.

Today, we have the ability to run entire e-commerce businesses from our phones. Finding a job you can do while running around town with your kids or when they go down for a nap is so much easier.

The pandemic and the popularity of Tik Tok gave some moms new outlets for creativity, camaraderie, and commerce. Now it's common to be running an online side-hustle or main hustle for that matter, because the slower pace of the early days of the pandemic gave us more time to discover ourselves and our passions.

Why stay at home mom life may be for you (or not)

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Stay at home mom-life isn't the right path for everyone. Beyond the obvious perks of an extra income, some women simply prefer working outside the home.

Before Danielle Ness Kramer of Severn, Maryland, became a stay-at-home mom, she wasn't sure if she was truly cut out for the job. "When I was working full time, I built relationships with my co-workers and had daily adult interactions," she told Mom.com. "Staying at home, and living in a new area, I've found it harder to make connections."

For some women, there's also a concern that if you take time off to be a stay-at-home mom, you won't be able to catch up or even get a job when you're ready to return to the work world. Making the decision to be a stay a home mom with your partner can be a difficult one. You'll need to consider obvious income factors, such as becoming a one-income family, as well as how the time at home will affect your potential future job prospects.

Finally, knowing why you want to stay home is key. Of course, we all never want to miss a moment of our children's lives, exploring, growing, and learning. But the day-to-day realities of that mean going for hours without adult interaction at times. For the introverts among us that's probably less of a concern, but it is something to consider — although there are always plenty of mom groups, play dates and Mom's Morning Out events you can get involved with.

How to find work-from-home jobs

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“There’s this clinging narrative of a 'return to normalcy' that many employers are holding onto, when in fact, the world of work will never truly return to the way it was before,” Ragu Bhargava, CEO at Global Upside, told Forbes.com “The pandemic revolutionized the workplace and expedited an already growing need for remote workers."

So how does one find these remote work jobs? Well, sites like LinkedIn and Twitter can be a treasure-trove of work from home opportunities. Networking with others in your industry, or within industries with which you'd like to work, is the first step. Get on the radar of managers in charge of hiring at companies you wish to work for. See what they're posting on social media, engage and create value. Once you've built up a rapport, then begin opening up about what you're looking for.

Because networking can take time, there are ways to make an almost immediate income. Sites like Poshmark, Mercari, and Ebay allow you to sell goods you own or source at a profit. Creating digital products is another way to earn an income from home; if you have a specialized skill set, you could always sell your knowledge in e-books or online courses.

Spend time on social media, join entrepreneurial groups on Facebook and use what you have to build your own business. Once you've amassed the skills, built a business, and successfully launched, you're in the perfect position to teach others how to be a stay at home mom, and you will have come full circle.