Census: New Moms Returning to Work

W A S H I N G T O N,  Oct. 24 -- More mothers are returning to the labor forcewithin a year of giving birth, the Census Bureau says. When they dogo back to work, it’s more likely to be on a full-time thanpart-time basis.

This doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that all these women arespending 40-hour weeks in an office cubicle while their childrensit in day care. In this tight labor market, more employers areoffering flexible work schedules and benefits to new moms.

And some are working at home.

“Working mothers can command it because there’s such a shortageof good qualified candidates that employers need to start thinkingabout what [candidates] are looking for,” said Kirsten Ross ofWarren, Mich. She quit her office job to start a home-based Website — www.womans-work.com — which helps women find alternativework arrangements. Ross gave birth to her second child in March,and has run the site since May.

Not Known How Many Work at Home

Of the 3.6 million women who gave birth from July 1997 throughJune 1998, about 59 percent returned to the work force within ayear of having the baby, according to Census estimates beingreleased today. That compares with 31 percent in 1976, the yearthe Census Bureau began tracking the data, and 51 percent in 1987.

Of the new mothers most recently checked, 36 percent went backfull-time, 17 percent part-time, and nearly 6 percent wereunemployed but actively looking for work. It was the first time thebureau looked at full- or part-time status, Census analyst AmaruBachu said.

The report did not track how many of the mothers who returned towork actually performed that work at home. The latest Bureau ofLabor Statistics data, from May 1997, indicates one-fifth of allworking mothers with children under 18 worked part- or full-time athome.

“With the economy so good, there are more jobs available,”said Catherine Carbone Rogers, spokeswoman for Mothers & More, anorganization for women who have altered their career path to carefor children at home. “Women are exercising their options a littlemore.”