“I think the optimal solution – just like kids – changes all the time.” Ciara Garvan wanted flexible work that could fit around her three children, and having spotted a gap in the market, founded WorkJuggle.com, an agency that matches people to flexible roles. Here, she talks about her SAHM days, her optimistic expectation of a ...
Back in April 2017, when I'd been freelancing for two years, I started this post. I think the fact that it's taken me over a year to actually finish it probably sums up freelancing life better than anything else I could say below. But anyway, just over three years into freelancing, here's what works, what doesn't work, and whether ...
Has motherhood been let down by feminism? I was sent this article today and it brings up some really interesting points. The person who sent me the link told me she misses her career, but knows she’d miss her kids more if she was working full-time, so she’s staying at home for now. She feels ...
Kissing each child goodnight, I said the same thing - in my head so I wouldn't wake them - I said "From now on, I'm going to be the best parent ever." It's something I often say when I'm kissing them at night - when they're fast asleep and it's easy to want to do ...
“I feel guilty sometimes for feeling guilty and the space this takes up in my head when I could be more focused on the girls instead.” Avril Tierney is a Dub living in Laois with her husband and two little girls, and she has not one but two jobs – she works for a charity, and ...
Would you consider working just to cover the cost of childcare? According to a recently released EU-wide study, that's exactly what huge numbers of Irish women are doing. The researchers used a “Participation Tax Rate” (PTR) to see what percentage of earnings are lost through tax, loss of social welfare benefits, and childcare costs. The study was based on ...
"Maybe sexist dynamics within heterosexual couples cause straight women to slip down the earning scale. Lesbians will never view their career as second fiddle to a male partner’s because they don’t have male partners." I was reading a piece by Una Mullally in the Irish Times yesterday morning, and the above two lines stopped me. The article ...
“I do suffer with working mother’s guilt, but I wonder if this ‘guilt’ is something I am feeling based on what I believe others are thinking” The interview series returns after a summer break, featuring Kildare native Alma Jordan. After years in sales and marketing, the mother of one recently set up her own business, AgriKids, ...
As the countdown to summer holidays rolled on last month, one cohort of parents in particular were bracing themselves with an odd mixture of relief and outright fear. On the one hand, it's great to have no more school-runs, no more homework, and a break for the kids. But for WAHMs, who work while the kids ...
"Because dads have harder jobs than mums," announced my seven-year-old, stopping me in my tracks, as we pulled into the playground. She was chatting about summer and playdates and conversations she'd been having with friends in school about seeing each other over the holidays. She'd worked out that one of her friends might be around, because ...