The Columbus Dispatch:
In an unusual twist, many moms are finding themselves in a new scenario: seeking work-at-home arrangements driven not by flexibility — think soccer practices and piano recitals — but as the best option to supplement family income.
With a surge in male breadwinners out of work, mothers are selling jewelry out of their kitchens, running businesses out of their living rooms and seeking Internet opportunities to make up for the shortfall in household budgets.
“There’s been a huge surge in interest,” said Lesley Spencer Pyle, founder of Home-Based Working Moms, an online community for moms working at home. “Even if their husband isn’t out of work, there’s a lot of fear that they will be.”
Indeed, women are scrambling to find anything that they can get their hands on to pay a few bills. Some are even working from home to supplement their part-time income. For most men, the main priority still is finding a full-time job, devoting almost all their day to their search.
But with four unemployed workers for every job opening, moms like Kim Perez of Pembroke Pines, Fla., are moving into action. A few months ago, recession reality forced Perez, mother of a toddler, to look for new money-making possibilities when her hours as a retail sales associate were cut in half. Her husband, a builder, has been out of work for almost a year.
Perez considers herself in transition. She has set up a makeshift office in her bedroom and sells glass jewelry to high-end stores in southern Florida and the Caribbean for a manufacturer. “I’m hoping I can turn this into a full-time arrangement and make good money.”
Photo by Sherry’s Rose Cottage