Work at Home Parent - Integrating Business and Parenting

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, 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.