Census: New Moms Returning to Work

W A S H I N G T O N,  Oct. 24, 2000 -- 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.”

“In a competitive labor market … there’s a little more of amentality of ‘doing what’s best for me,’ not ‘what society expectsof me,’” Carbone Rogers said.

Education, Income Are Factors

But the tendency to return to work has a lot to do with amother’s educational background and the family’s income, Bachusaid. For instance, of the women who gave birth in the previousyear:

Of those with at least one year of college, about two-thirds,68 percent, went back to work, compared with 58 percent of thosewho were high school graduates and 38 percent of those lacking highschool diplomas.

Two-thirds with a family income of more than $75,000 returnedto the labor force, compared with three-fifths with a family incomeof $20,000-$24,999 and half with a family income of$10,000-$19,999.

The Census findings highlight the importance of improving childcare options for working parents, said Judy Applebaum, vicepresident of the National Women’s Law Center.

“It’s just a continuation of trends that we’ve seen,”Applebaum said. “Both parents need to support the family and thatproduces this crunch for child care that we in this country need torespond to.”

Child-care Just One Dilemma

Initiatives such as an emergency nanny service and lettingemployees work up to three days from home are important inretaining all types of workers, said Evelyne Steward, vicepresident for work-life initiatives at Discovery Communications,Inc. in Bethesda, Md.

“From a bottom-line perspective, we believe it will helpattract good workers and top talent,” Steward said.

Some mothers looking to go back to work face more dilemmas thanjust child care, said Carbone Rogers of Mothers & More.

“Even when flexible options are offered, some mothers turn itdown because it may mean you are marginalized at work. It may meanthey are going to be denied promotion,” she said. “They feel likethey can’t make those career trade-offs.”

Sheryl Alcock of Clayton, Calif., quit her job as a preschoolteacher after the first of her two children was born 4½ years ago.She plans to return to work eventually but right now wants toconcentrate on raising her son and 14-month-old daughter.

“It’s understandable that people have to go to work, but it’sfine if you’re also a stay-at-home mom,” she said. “I’m fortunateI can do it, and if I couldn’t I’d be working outside the home,too.”