Career Advice & News Center

As most working parents can attest, the responsibilities of work and home quickly begin to pile up and overlap. Pressures and competition at work can keep employees toiling through the night to achieve career goals; childcare and the desire for relaxation may make workers unwilling to make the morning commute. Often, parents find that the cost and responsibility of raising children requires a large time investment and leaves little time for relaxation - in other words, it's a second job.

A recent survey by Mom Corp, an organization which finds part time and home employment for working mothers, and the cleaning service Maid Brigade found that 72 percent of women between 25 and 54 feel as though they are working a second shift trying to keep up with household duties.

"Doing it all well can sometimes be challenging," said Mom Corps CEO Allison O'Kelly. "After working a full day, coming home to a second shift with housework and family duties can leave little time for what's really important - spending quality time with your family."

O'Kelly added that the mission of Mom Corps is to find flexible career options for women to foster a better balance between work and life. She noted that many companies use Mom Corps to access professional talent and experience that is not available through most employment channels, which typically seek full-time employees.

In addition to noting the benefits of a flexible working schedule, the organization has recognized how reducing housework for working parents can be elemental in creating time for relaxation and promoting a stronger work-life balance.

According to their survey, about 75 percent of respondents feel that they cannot manage all cleaning responsibilities while maintaining an acceptable work-life balance. Correspondingly, a total of 98 percent who use household cleaning service said it gave them a better sense of the essential balance.

In support of this goal, Mom Corp has sponsored the cleaning company Maid Brigade in an attempt to give women more time for the leisure activities or personal goals that get lost in the clutter of paperwork or get thrown out with the contents of a dustpan.

"We are excited to partner with Maid Brigade and present them to our candidates as a resource to preserve life symmetry," said O'Kelly.
Maid Brigade is a 25-year-old cleaning service that recently became the first national company of its kind to develop its own "green cleaning" system.

According to the company's president Bart Puett, "Maid Brigade's core audience is working mothers." He added, "By alleviating the weekly burden of housework from these women, we help free up valuable time for family, career and community."

While not every household has the financial stability to consider part time employment or pay for the services of professional cleaners, some specialists have suggested small, inexpensive steps to ensure that the burdens of work are not infringing on family relationships.

Reverend Steven Dart, an anthropologist at the University of California told the Arizona Republic, "We live in a time when we are witnessing the disappearance of the family meal." He added that the meal - a "fundamental aspect of human civilization" - has been proven as an easy method for busy parents to promote healthy, well-adjusted children.

In fact, research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University determined that the more often children have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.

As many individuals labor to be successful professionals, parents and spouses, research by labor economist Lawrence Jeff Johnson in 2001 showed that the average American worked about 1,978 hours per year, meaning U.S. employees put in more time at work than job-holders in any other industrialized country.