I’m A Working Woman And A Mother: Someone Who Fights Every Day For Her

Currently, being a working woman and mother is still a challenge for society and for the protagonists themselves.

The reconciliation of work and family life is not harmonized in most countries, and this calls for the creation of various personal strategies with which we can give more to those we love the most. It’s a big challenge, no doubt.

Many years have passed since the figure of women began to “inhabit” public spheres, also performing functions that, until then, were only masculine.

However, there are still many battles that we need to win in an exaggeratedly complex scenario, where in many countries there is not even a salary equalization.

Being a working woman gives us status and satisfaction, and being a mother gives us happiness, but… how to harmonize the two dimensions? We want to promote a reflection on this in this article.

Working women: the “superwoman” of the 21st century

Being a working woman implies working between 4 and 8 hours a day. If, in addition, we have children, our schedules have practically no moments of rest.

• We wake up early, organize the day with our partners (if we have them) and try to maintain a more or less adjusted order in which everyone is responsible for their role, including the children.
• We go to work, come home, prepare dinner, wash clothes, help the children with their homework, follow extracurricular activities and try, at every moment, to give our best.

In fact, in some cases this is considered “the ideal”, as many mothers cannot pick up their children from school or have a conversation with them until it’s late at night, as their working hours do not allow it.

The principle of “equality” is not found in any sphere

• Within the home, many women have the exclusive responsibility of caring for the home and children.
• When the mother works outside the home, her salary is often considered to be something “complementary” to her husband’s.
• In the professional sphere, the image continues to be very discriminatory for women: pregnancy is, in many cases, a reason for dismissal sooner or later.

Nowadays, in the 21st century, gender equality still does not exist, and being a working woman, in addition to being a mother, implies going through certain times of high stress.

Norway, the paradise of conciliation

Norway is currently a true example of family and professional life that institutions around the world should look to.

These are some of its policies, which you can learn in more depth in various articles and news on the internet.

• The law provides mothers with 46 weeks of leave at 100% of salary, or 56 weeks at 80%.
• Parents receive leave ranging between 10 and 12 weeks.
• Norway offers families a fee of 125 euros per month, until the children turn 18 years old.
• Norway has 4.9 million inhabitants, and 80% of women work outside the home.
• 44% of posts on boards of directors are held by women. This was achieved thanks to strict legislation that seeks gender equality.

The birth of a new generation: the “alpha mothers”

This data will surely catch your attention. In recent years, and mainly due to the economic crisis, along with the development of new technologies, a new profile of working mothers has also emerged, which is gaining a lot of weight in our society:

• Alpha mothers are working women who, above all, value the importance of raising their children.
• Despite continuing to assume, for the most part, the responsibilities of the home, they lead a very active life, both socially and professionally.
• Many of them perform all or part of their work at home thanks to new technologies, make most of their purchases online and are always attentive to themes of creation, personal development, fashion, society and science.
• They are women between 35 and 49 years old, many of them single mothers who, as we mentioned before, prioritize not only their children, but also their personal well-being and happiness.

• They plan their schedules perfectly, live the “here and now”, take care of their food and children, and are in full control of their lives and homes.
• It is, without a doubt, a generation of young women who want to be in full control of their responsibilities without losing their children’s development.

The “alpha mothers”

This would also include the new trend of slow parenting , or “slow-fire breeding”, in which an attempt is made to provide children with a rhythm of maturing without stress, without pressure. We know, of course, that this is far from easy to achieve simply.

Maintaining a home requires an economic investment, and this requires “having to spend time away from home”.

Thus, we hope that institutions and society itself truly understand the need to reconcile the different spheres of life of a working woman and a mother.

After all, investing in children is investing in our future.