Flex Time is on the Rise for the Working Mother

As you know, I love reading and sharing articles about companies that offer great working conditions conducive to parenting. Flexible schedules top my list of excellent options for working parents. These cost the companies little, since the employee is still working the same amount of hours, and they pay the parents a lot, as a flexible schedule allow parents to attend functions, take the kids to the doctor's office and work around a spouse's erratic schedule so that one parent is with the children in the morning and one parent is able to pick the children up in the evening.

My blogging editor recently sent an article my way that talks about the changing times in the workforce when it comes to parenting and careers. A poll conducted in 2007 by Pew Research Group showed that 60% of mothers feel part time work would be their top choice, while working full time and working not at all each took just about 20% of the votes. We want to work, but we want to be there for our families, and that message is becoming clearer as time goes on.

Are companies getting it? I'd have to say that some definitely are. The article states that at this time, 26% of working mothers with children under the age of 18 are working a flexible schedule. That's not a bad statistic, considering flexibility in schedules for family matters is a relatively new concept and hopefully we will see that the percentage continues to grow.

As I noted in an article last week, Working Mother magazine just listed its top 100 companies, and in that list compared the best of the companies with the rest of the nation's businesses. 100% of the best companies noted offered a flexible schedule while 58% of companies do nationally. In addition, 99% of those that made the best companies list offer health care insurance for part time employees; 41% of companies do on the national level. 

As Dylan once sang, the times, they are a changing, and here we are in the middle of it all. Now is an exciting time to be a working mother. We have the ability to create beautiful families and to pursue career opportunities that we love. Now that's a great note on which to begin this week, isn't it?

You can read the article in its entirety here.