Do working mothers negatively impact their children?

Jeremy Paige photo

By

Kanika Gautam

According to Wikipedia – “A mother is a woman who’s expected to dedicate most of her time and energy to her roles as a wife and a parent; she spends most of her time taking care of the home and the child.” (Sounds like a 24/7 job to me and a tedious one at that!)

And

“A working mother is someone who engages in a work-life, aside from her duties as a childcare provider.” (I’m not the one to take sides, but after hearing the social role of a MOTHER, I’d pick a working mother’s role in a heartbeat!)

Maternal employment is often looked down upon for more reasons than one. Some would call working mothers self-centred, others would label them as over-ambitious, some would look at them as irresponsible parents and most would simply disparage their parenting style.

Is it true? Do working mothers negatively impact their children?

Prima facie, the answer to this question would be yes! Mothers in popular opinion should be focussed on their children’s upbringing and should give all their time and energy to rearing perfect children. But, let us leave Utopia behind and look at the circumstances at hand practically.

Quality time versus quantity

Mothers who give all their time and attention to their children are often doing repetitive or non-productive activities with them. The long hours count only when you do some activity that adds value to the child’s life. After the infancy stage, a child often benefits more from quality time spent with them. Read to and with them, take them on walks, do puzzles, and simply hug them to sleep, all of these add to the richness of your child’s personality.

A longer period of time spent with the child is not necessarily more productive as mothers need time to do other jobs too. They need time for themselves, and there develops a tendency to nag and expose children to gadgets and television. This is absolutely normal as mothers do need some time off.

Mothers who work are happier and raise happy children

There’s great likelihood for mothers who do not work to be frustrated and they increasingly face a tendency to feel trapped in their monotonous lifestyle. Working mothers may find life a little hectic but they are generally a content lot. They have contact with the outside world and are more fulfilled and satisfied. They have a feeling that they add value to their own lives.

The fact that they earn also helps them to provide a better lifestyle for their children. Children tend to have more respect for a mother who is self-sufficient and is independent. A double income family looks forward to providing a better education, more vacations and hence a better standard of living to the child.

The working mother may feel stressed and guilty about leaving her child alone while she works but in the long run is a mother who commands more respect and adds more value to the time she spends with her child.

In a word

The next generation of happy, independent, successful and ambitious mothers is raising just as happy and successful kids. Instead of finding fault with their progressive parenting style let us advertise to the larger community how they are doing a wonderful job by setting a great example for their children.

Kanika Gautam

I’m Kanika Gautam, an ardent writer and a serial blogger. In addition to being the founder of yourmotivationguru.com I am also a bibliophile, technologist, speaker, educator, and writer.