More Working Moms Push to Work For Themselves

As COVID upended domestic life, women's rate of self-employment rose faster than the share of men in the sector.

According to Crain's Chicago Business, the share of women who work for themselves has been trending upwards for the last decade, and experts say the pandemic accelerated the shift for working parents who were disproportionately shouldering child care and home responsibilities. The percentage of women who reported being self-employed rose faster during the pandemic than the rate for men.

“In the absence of a really supportive private sector for work-family balance, I think women are finally realizing that self-employment is that alternative,” says Milli, who founded Research 2 Impact, a consulting firm specializing in economic and social policy issues disproportionately impacting women and people of color.

Read on to learn how more working moms, to find balance amid a pandemic, are pushing to work for themselves.  It's an escape from the regular 9-5 job and allowing women to control their destiny.

A Day in the Life of Corporate Women

We will dare to go to the other side on this post and provide a glimpse of how corporate women manage work-life balance.

When I caught this part:

Nadine McHugh, 42, managing partner at the ad agency MindShare. About four years ago McHugh, mother of a 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, told her employer she wanted to stay home full-time with the kids. Her boss asked her to work part time from home because her key client, Unilever, was concerned about her departure.

A working mom's dream, right? Yes and no. McHugh, of Massapequa, says working from her dining room table made her world feel small. So after a year she told her boss she wanted to return full time.

I thought: She's going for it. Out the door! She's thinking BIG. Start her own business! But no such luck (or happy surprise).

Read the article here. What's your take on it? How long do you think these women will last in corporate America?