I have the opportunity to quit and we can comfortably live off of one income. But I am an older mother that has worked in my career for 15+ years. I am satsified of how far I have come and know I could go much further. However, since I've had my son his laugh, smile and hugs draw me in day after day. Now all I seem to want to do is play, arts and crafts, snuggle, sew my quilts (although I'm only 36.. LOL).
I'm nervous about leaving though I'm becoming more and more comfortable with it every day.
If you could quit and do what ever you wanted would you not think twice or stay regardless? What keeps you there?
Re: Career driven women - If you could quit would you?
Plus, life is unpredictable. Unless I inherited a windfall and was independently wealthy, I like knowing I could support myself ... just in case.
Now if I were independently wealthy, I might pursue that book project I want to do ... or maybe go back to school for international relations or some other pipe dream. But that's still thinking in terms of a career.
I would go part time if I could, but that's not an option with my school. I am lucky enough that I get enough prep time to almost never have to bring work home with me.
My biggest worry about SAH was not being able to get back into my area if I stayed out of it too long. That and getting bored after a few years of not having a job (which did happen!).
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Married Bio * BFP Charts
Plus I just don't want to. I like my job.
I graduated eight years ago and have been practicing for seven years, and thank God every day that I went when I did. The market in my state wasn't great when I was getting out, and it's only gotten worse. Meanwhile the cost of attendance has outpaced inflation. I still have $105k in student loans to pay off - only 23 more years to go!
I actually really enjoy the practice of law. I work in a firm of 14 lawyers in a suburban city, and it's more of a lifestyle firm. I'm in the office 9 to 5 and rarely work weekends. I'm on the partnership track and have found it fairly easy to balance work-life. But I think my situation is the exception, not the rule, and the biggest downside is my very modest salary. The jobs that pay enough to service law school loans are highly competitive, hard to find, and absolutely brutal.
Married Bio * BFP Charts
Even if you didn't want to go into Big Law, you'd still have to put in a lot of hours in the beginning regardless where you end up. I'd never want to start at the bottom of the totem pole with a profession that is so service-driven and has so many type-A, workaholic personalities.
As to your original question - I'd never SAH. I've put in too many years of insane hours, missed out on too many personal/social events due to work to quit now. I'm very good at my work but am terrible at house-related, arts and crafts stuff. Lastly, I grew up very poor and am very involved with the mentoring program for impoverished youths in my city and that's super important to me, and I feel like having a professional career gives me more credibility with the youths and also put me in a better position to help them through my work networks.
YES. absolutely. But only if my husband was making $400,000+ a year (we live in the NYC area - this is middle class). I am an attorney and this career choice for a mother is hell. If you want to work less, do not get a JD - it will be a waste of your money. You need to put in serious hours to get your career started.
A few things to consider - even if you could presently live off one income: 1) are you putting enough away for retirement without you working? It is going to take at least 2 to 3 million in the bank to have a decent one 2) I know nobody wants to think about this, let alone talk about it, but what if a divorce happened - would you feel financially secure? 3) is your field of work one where you could get back into the job market after a few years off? I know as an attorney in the NYC market, it would be VERY difficult to get back in after a few years after. Maternity leave or motherhood leave is not respected at all - if anything, it is seen as a negative. Its a tough world we live in these days!
Besides, I didn't go to grad school to bake cookies and knit. This probably sounds harsh, but it's how I feel.
Ethan Michael - 12/21/09
Norah Jewel - 2/26/14