6 Little Known Advantages Children of Working Mums Have

Over the last three weeks, we have talked about the challenges that working mums face. We explored the disadvantages that children of working mums face in the previous post.

Today’s article is the fourth in the series on working mums. Here are the other articles in the series:
1. Is it possible for working mums to have work-life balance?
2. Top 5 challenges working mums face and how to overcome them.
3. 4 monumental challenges affecting children of working mothers.

As a working mum, there is a lot to be scared of when it comes to your children. On one hand, you worry about your children’s safety.

On the other hand, you’re concerned about a possible drift between you and your children. And as you leave your child at home with the nanny or at daycare to go to work, it’s possible to experience emotional turmoil.

Such fears and emotional guilt make many working mums conscious of the effect their absence will have on their children.

While your spouse may participate fully in helping out with the kids, primary care of the child still remains a woman’s responsibility. This is true even in the case of working mums.

But, there is good news about children of working mums. This is the kind of good news that every working mum should take pride in, more so because it encompasses the benefits your children stand to gain for having a career mum.

Advantages Children of Working Mums Have

1. Your daughters are more likely to get hired in supervisory roles

We all want our children to lead great lives. We want to see them grow up into responsible members of society. Above all, we want them to have successful careers, marriages, and succeed in every part of their life.

As a working mum, you’re probably doing what you do not only to achieve self-fulfilment but also to inspire your children. You want to show them that women can have a career and be there for their family. 

Well, you can now rest in the knowledge that your daughters are more likely to get hired than daughters of stay-at-home mums. Additionally, they are also better equipped to get hired in supervisory roles.

This is because working mums act as a role model as well as a determining factor. It’s easy for children of working mums to tell themselves, “If my mum did it, I can do it too”. This in turn drives these children to become better versions of their mothers.

2. Children of working mothers are likely to earn a higher income

This is based on the same concept as the one above. In the same research showing the likelihood of daughters of working mums getting supervisory roles, it emerged that they also earn a better salary.

Because children of working mums have seen their mothers fight for promotions, get better-paying jobs, or get salary increments at work, they too are confident enough to fight for the same. The same is true for working mums who are full-time business owners.

The more successful the mums get, the more the kids are likely to succeed. This is more so if the mothers share their experiences with their children.

3. Your children are likely to be more independent

Children of working mums understand that routines can change depending on their mother’s work. It could be that mum is having an early meeting, a business trip, or a late-night event.

Also, there are times when you show up late for school pick up. Or when you’re not home early enough to tuck them in and talk about their day.

While this is heart-breaking for you and for your kids too, there is some good that will come of it. For starters, a child exposed to changes in routine starts to adapt early.

These children also learn how to do most tasks on their own, if you teach them to. Some simple tasks that young children of working mums undertake include:

• Waking up on their own.
• Getting ready for school, church, or other family trips on their own.
• Being able to serve their own breakfast and butter their bread without mum’s help.
• Putting away dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
• Clearing the table.
• Keeping their rooms clean and tidy.
• Simple household tasks.

By allowing your children to take up more tasks, you end up raising independent children. At the same time, this gives you more time for your own self-care.

4. Men raised by working mums contribute more to the home

Many working mothers wish the fathers of their children would take up some of the slack. If there is one wish many working mums in Kenya have, it’s for a partner that helps out with household chores. 

Unfortunately, not many men are willing to do so. Even simple errands such as buying milk or baby oil on the way home are met with resistance. And when the men do help with such errands, sometimes they end up buying the wrong things or come home so late that you no longer need the items. 

If you’re worried about your son becoming a deadbeat dad in future, you can rest that worry. Men raised by working mothers contribute more hours to home-related chores and child-care than those raised by stay-at-home mums. They are also more likely to help out outside the home.

5. Children of working mothers are well-behaved

Are you worried that your child may pick up bad behaviour because you’re not around much? Well, you’re not alone. Most working mothers are concerned that their children will experience behavioural problems due to the mother’s absence.

But this should not cause you unwarranted sleepless nights. Apart from biology and genes, a child’s development child is affected by family and environment. While you may not have control over the first two, you can decide how you want the latter two to mould your children.

Research has shown that working mothers’ children are not in any way less behaved. In fact, sometimes they turn out better. But this definitely depends on the environment you expose your child to.

Conclusion

Being a working mum is not an easy task. You will feel inadequate and guilty. You will constantly wonder if you are doing the right thing and worry about how your children will turn out.

Despite the negative information about the children of working mothers, it is possible for your children to turn out okay as you grow your career.

This will be possible when you encourage open communication and set aside time for family bonding. Take time for family in the mornings or evenings and be there fully on weekends when you’re home. 

Be a strong role model for your children in your work and at home so that they benefit from having a working mother.

Your turn…

What advantages have you seen in children of working mums, including yours if you’re a working mum? Tell us in the Comments (and it’s OK to brag…).

(Photo by Nathaniel Tetteh on Unsplash)