Why More Women Than Ever Are Choosing to Leave the 9-5 and Work From Home

As life becomes increasingly stressful, time is the one thing of which most people never have enough. Balancing work, family life, personal time and getting enough sleep can seem like a herculean challenge for most busy women, but somehow, we make it work.

Without a careful eye to scheduling and a productive mindset, the days can seemingly fly by without much getting done. This run-until-you’re-empty lifestyle is increasingly becoming intolerable for many, leading them to look for new alternatives.

Increasingly, we are seeing more women exit the 9-5 lifestyle and instead embark on new employment opportunities. Contrary to the image that these women are merely becoming stay-at-home moms, many are finding themselves able to be more productive in all aspects of life while working from home.

Today, let’s look at why more women are choosing to work from home instead of being stuck at the office.

Flexible Schedules

Arguably, one of the most attractive benefits of working from home rather than at a 9-to-5 job is the flexibility in scheduling that it provides. While the opportunities for working from home can vary wildly, many women working from home enjoy flexibility in the day-to-day roles they provide.

Rather than being chained to the desk for eight hours straight, women have the option to run errands, pick up the kids, get work done around the house and a variety of other tasks. As long as the required work is completed each day, many work-from-home opportunities are highly flexible and allow for maximum efficiency on a daily basis.

In some cases, these opportunities offer the ability to choose which days you take off and what hours you work. For those who prefer working on certain days or who don’t necessarily need a full-time occupation, this is a godsend.

An Entrepreneurial Spirit

Following your dreams is something every woman should have the opportunity to pursue. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to pursue this course of action when nailed down at a traditional job where bosses breathe down your neck and you’re busy every moment of the day.

Because of the flexibility that work-from-home opportunities can provide, many women seek to create new enterprises and endeavors that allow them to be their own bosses. Whether working from home is a stepping stone to this reality or your work-from-home opportunity manifests in the form of a small business, that entrepreneurial spirit is leading a larger number of women than ever before to pursue at-home work opportunities.

Of course, every woman working for herself must take seriously the notion of business – even if it’s from our living rooms. As such, ensuring that you are properly licensed and insured (with liability insurance by Next Insurance as one example) will increase your chances of long-term success and protect your investments.

Opportunities for Motherhood

While more women than ever are choosing not to have children, those who do are beginning to re-evaluate the work-life balance. We’re actually seeing an increase in the number of stay-at-home moms among Millennials, reversing a decades-long trend of mothers entering the workplace almost universally.

For those who split the difference and choose to work from home, a plethora of otherwise missed experiences and events are available. Being there to witness your children grow up every day provides more opportunities for bonding and care-taking than would otherwise be possible. It also significantly reduces the cost of childcare in the early years, which can cost hundreds of dollars per month.

Better Pay

Under the right circumstances, working from home can be both more productive and more profitable for women. Consider the real costs of working a traditional job: commuter costs (in the form of money and time), added meal costs when not preparing your own lunches, wear and tear on your automobile, and the cost of childcare.

These totals can easily amount to hundreds of dollars per month, significantly neutering the real earning potential of any woman. This, when understood properly, encourages many to seek at-home opportunities – even if the per hour pay or salary is lower than their current jobs.

In addition, lower pay may still be worth the change since additional free time and flexibility often comes with work from home opportunities. In most cases, however, the pay difference between comparable jobs in an office setting versus at-home is minuscule or non-existent, making it a no-brainer for many women who want to be away from a cramped office setting.

There is a multitude of reasons why more women are choosing to leave the traditional workforce and work from home. Whether it is the challenges of being a mom, a desire for more flexibility, or the idea of better pay, there’s justification in pursuing careers that you can do without ever leaving the house. Now – with all the facts in-hand – you can decide whether a work from home opportunity is right for you!