Why Mothers Work: The Challenges Faced by Australian Working Mums
We had the chance to ask a group of working mums in a private forum this question, “As a working mum, I am curious. To those working (paid work), why do you choose to work?”
The answers we got did not come as a surprise. Some also took offence to the question which is completely understandable. Not everyone can “afford” not to work. Most of us didn’t have a choice. The income we earned is important for the family. Working is the only way to maintain our lifestyle, secure the education of our children, healthcare for the family, care of the elderly, and retirement security.
However, it’s also interesting to see that even though the majority of mothers are working for financial reasons, many also mentioned that they find a sense of fulfilment and purpose from their jobs. Here are some of the answers we got from our quick survey on why mums work:
| Reasons Why Mums Choose to Work | Points |
| Financial/Bills to Pay/Money/Financial Independence | 94 |
| Mental Health/Sanity/Identity | 39 |
| Passion/Love It/Personal goals | 31 |
| Set example to my children | 12 |
| Social life | 10 |
| For brain stimulation | 4 |
| For the family’s stable future | 4 |
| Don’t want to mooch off the government forever | 3 |
Regardless of the reasons why mums work, we all face the same challenges as women in the workforce. These challenges can hold us back from earning more and achieving more.
The Challenges Faced by Australian Women
The World Economic Forum Gender Participation and Opportunity Index 2020 measured Australia’s workforce participation, remuneration, and advancement. It showed that Australia ranked 49th on gender equality when it comes to remuneration which is considered very low.
Part of the reason why is because the concentration of women’s work is directed to caring and service industries compared to men’s work, and is more likely to be paid very low, casual and part-time.
Australian women do more unpaid domestic work and care compared to many other countries. Also, because women have to care for their children and other family members, most of them move in and out of the paid workforce or limit their paid work hours or career prospects.
When it comes to average weekly ordinary earnings for women working full-time, their earnings are 13.9% less than men. It’s ironic because women are the ones driving Australia’s employment growth. Women’s employment is growing at a rate nine times faster than the rate for men. However, they are low-paying jobs and mostly in female-dominated service industries.
As if these challenges are not enough, the 2017 HILDA survey showed single elderly women aged over 60 and a resident in Australia belongs to the lowest income earning family group as they earn less than $30,000 a year. These types of households are more likely to live in poverty. If we’re being paid less, we naturally will have lesser superannuation than our male counterparts when we retire.
We also have to take notice of the negative notion within every society that working mums are not able to properly care for their kids. We’ve written a blog about this to correct this wrong misconception.
How Can Working Mothers Overcome These Challenges
Fixing the gender pay gap and the feminization of the workforce may still take a long time to happen. So what can we do as working mothers? We continue to push for change and while we’re at it, find our very own village of support so we can fulfil our responsibilities and make them as less stressful as possible.
Leaving the kids to childcare centres has become a necessity for most of us but not all parents can afford the hefty childcare fees or have the time to drop off or pick up the kids from school. We need an option where we can save money, give our kids an experience of a lifetime, and that will allow us to spend more time with them as well.
We find hosting Au Pairs or Demi Pairs (student Au Pairs) a perfect childcare solution for working mums like you. As a host family, you will provide free food and board to the Au Pair and in exchange, they will help you with childcare and light household chores. The best thing about the Au Pair program is that it doesn’t just give you the extra free time you need, it also allows your family to explore a new culture apart from your own. It’s essentially a cultural exchange where you and your Au Pair learn from each other’s traditions and languages. Your kids will gain new big sisters from around the world.
We believe that women should have the freedom to be more than a wife, a mum, a cook, a cleaner – not that these things don’t matter. But it’s an amazing feeling to be able to achieve more than what we’re “supposed” to. To be so empowered that we are able to change the lives of the people around us for the better, and to be so fulfilled that we are able to do what we love without sacrificing our time for those who we love. Yes, we can. Yes, you can. Find your very own village of support to help bring you to where you want to be.