work-life balance

Kristyn Allred family work

After 15 years Out of the Workforce, Could this Mother of Five Get Back In?

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After a fifteen-year hiatus from the workforce to focus on motherhood and volunteering, Kristyn Allred returned to her professional career. After her children transitioned to college, and leveraging her community connections, Kristyn found work at The College of William and Mary. Her experiences led her to a successful consulting career, and eventually, to a significant role at Utah State University. Kristyn exemplifies the possibility of career re-entry and the significance of work-life balance.

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part-time working mom with baby

Four Myths About Working Part Time in the US

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I’ve come to learn that a part-time job for someone like me is hard to find. I’m overqualified for most part-time listings, but I’m disqualified from most of the jobs that interest me because I’m not seeking full-time work.

In the US, we defend our lack of quality part-time jobs with several flawed assumptions. Abandoning these mistaken paradigms will help us build a society that is better for everyone.

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Why Can’t a Lawyer Have It All? One Law School Mom Questions Work-Family Norms

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In law school, whenever parenthood is brought up (a rare occurrence on its own), parenting is often modeled as something to outsource or minimize. I’ve heard advice like “Get an au pair. Communicate with your boss—just let them know that you’ll be offline for an hour so you can feed your child dinner but you’ll be right back on soon.” Those answers don’t work for me and how I want to parent. I want to be involved and present in my kids’ lives. If that stifles my career growth, that’s a sacrifice I guess I’ll have to make. But at the same time, this is the hill I want to die on: parents deserve more.

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She’s Highly Educated. Entrepreneurial. And Staying Home Felt Right.

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Elizabeth Jacox had a prestigious academic career, completing a PhD in genetics at Yale. While she had a meaningful maternity leave, a part-time schedule, and affordable child care, Elizabeth still found herself distracted and missing time with her baby. When she became pregnant the second time, Elizabeth evaluated her priorities and realized that she “didn’t love science” enough to stay. Elizabeth remains frustrated at the lack of social support for care work and winnowing options for scientists like her who would like to re-enter the working world after time caring for young children. Still, Elizabeth is making her own sunshine by connecting with adults through mom groups and church, and by building her own small business making clay jewelry.

She’s Highly Educated. Entrepreneurial. And Staying Home Felt Right. Read More »

This Marketing Mom Found her Unicorn position: Part Time, With Benefits

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Ruth was expecting to lose benefits when she went part time, she was able to retain health insurance, retirement benefits, and paid time off, thanks to a manager who advocated for her. Ruth says, “Recruiters have come to me just this week with offers, and I haven’t considered a single one. There’s no beating what my company has given me.” Ruth’s story proves an important point: when companies take employees’ family responsibilities seriously, everybody wins.

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all joy and no fun jennifer senior

Book Review: All Joy and No Fun, by Jennifer Senior

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All Joy and No Fun is a book I would give to new parents. When I was pregnant, I read a myriad of books about pregnancy and having a baby. But it feels like as soon as you are able to keep a baby alive with relative confidence, very few books are written to help you navigate your own experience with parenthood. This book fills that gap.

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