There's a story in Women's eNews that seems to be worried about the married middle class mommy. The story starts with the anecdote about Lisa Seftel, who was given an ultimatum after giving birth of working five days a week full-time or a part-time position that would have eliminated her benefits. What Seftel had originally envisioned was a full time week where she split her time between the office and home. So Seftel says she was "pushed out" and became a full-time stay-at-home mom. Author Sharon Johnson calls this the "dark side" of the workforce today.
To be clear, I think it's absolutely important that parents of young children get flexibility in their jobs. But the thing is we didn't see Seftel's husband asking for a flexible work schedule. In fact, the article doesn't interview any men at all. The choices for Seftel was apparently flexible work or stay-at-home. There are many women out there that just don't have such options. Many women just can't afford to stay at home, either because they are single mothers or because the family needs both incomes to survive. I hope one day all parents have the option to accommodate their family needs, not just middle class mommies.
2 comments:
Hi I am Lisa Seftel, the one in the article! I was very lucky to have been able to stay home to raise my daughter. The reason I did the article was to highlight that I was treated unfairly. I was offered a split work week by my company when I first found out I was pregnant. Then 1 week before I went back to work I was told that they had changed their minds and that I had to work a full week or nothing. They knew full well that I could not work a full week. My husband was going to work a spilt week also for the record!
I was unfairly let go from a job I really liked and wanted to go back to.
Everything has worked out for the best though. I work from home now and have a very successfull business.
If you have further questions don't hesitate to contact me, for the full story.
Lisa Seftel
Hi I am Lisa Seftel, the one in the article! I was very lucky to have been able to stay home to raise my daughter. The reason I did the article was to highlight that I was treated unfairly. I was offered a split work week by my company when I first found out I was pregnant. Then 1 week before I went back to work I was told that they had changed their minds and that I had to work a full week or nothing. They knew full well that I could not work a full week. My husband was going to work a spilt week also for the record!
I was unfairly let go from a job I really liked and wanted to go back to.
Everything has worked out for the best though. I work from home now and have a very successful business.
If you have further questions don't hesitate to contact me, for the full story.
Lisa Seftel
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