Working Mamas Around the World | Infographic, Tips, & Activities

I just had my first week back at work, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at working mothers to see what the stats are like and if I can get any helpful tips from mothers already working! Here's a look at what I found.

The Statistics

Globally

In general, mothers seem to be returning to work at a higher rate than in previous years. There are probably a lot of different facts that contribute to the higher return. An article by the Washington Post speculates that a large portion of mothers returning to work do so because of the financial factor. Let's start by looking at the facts. 

• 50% of households in OECD countries (the OECD is made up of 36 different countries across the world) include children
• 67% of mothers in these households return to work according to OECD statistics. This is a lot higher than I expected and helps me realize that I won't be alone in my efforts to balance everything. 
• According to Catalyst, women do double the unpaid work in the household like laundry, cooking, cleaning etc. I can't add much here. My husband is amazing!

By Country 

• According to Catalyst, 62.3% of mothers in the USA with children under the age of 3 are in the workforce. 
• The labor force participation rate for working parents in the USA with children under the age of 18 was 71.1% for mothers and 92.8% for fathers in 2016. This statistic shows us that more women go back to work when their children are older than 3 and in general fathers are working too.
• 56% of working mothers find work-life effectiveness challenging compared to 50% of fathers.
• In Denmark, more around 82% of all mothers work according to the OECD statistics.
• Sweden, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Austria follow the Denmark maternal employment rate closely with around 80% maternal employment rate
• Greece has the lowest maternal employment rate with just over half of mothers employed. 

I found it interesting to see which countries have the top maternal employment rates versus the lowest. I haven't accounted for work flexibility, so it would be interesting to see if somewhere like Denmark has great flexibility for working mothers and that's why such a large portion return to work or if it's completely unrelated. Perhaps I'll look into maternal work flexibility in a later post.

Top Tips: 

I wanted to know some of the top tips out there for working mothers. A quick google search gave me a ton of ideas! So I've taken a few of the most popular tips and included them here.

• Delegate & Plan Ahead: Delegating and planning ahead came up a number of times. It sounds like in order to get time to yourself as a working mother you have to hand off some tasks to others and plan ahead. To be honest, I'm not very good at delegation, so it was helpful to see that delegating will be important to free up some of my own time. I'm better at planning ahead, so hopefully, it will all even out!
• Be Present: As a working mother, it sounds like you can have a lot on your mind with work, home, children, husband etc. So it's important to enjoy the moment you're in rather than letting your mind go crazy and forgetting to enjoy the moment. I can definitely see how this tip would come into play. I struggle sometimes to be present even now and I'm not back at work yet! There are just so many different things to think about so this is a great reminder.
• Socialize with other working mamas: I love this tip. It's so important to have people you connect with who are in the same situation as you, even if it's just so you know you're not alone! I have found the mamas I currently catch up with who are at home with their babies to be a massive support. I also know a few mamas who have already returned to work and even just being able to talk to them about returning to work has been a big help. I think this is definitely an important one!
• Rest: This tip was pretty universal! Working mamas have a lot on their plates between caring for the kids, looking after the house, and actually working there's a lot going on. Being well-rested seems to be key. It may be hard to come by, so it's important to prioritize it.
• Schedule a regular date night: This tip didn't pop up that often, but I really liked it so I thought I'd include it! Connecting with your significant other is so important. It's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day organizing and planning, so taking time out once a week to connect with your significant other on a more intimate level is really important! Even if it's just ice cream and a movie on the couch. 

If you're after more tips for a working mama check out these resources - Working Mother Time Management Post, Inc.'s Work-Life Balance Post, and Working Mother Career Advice Post.

Easy after-work activities

I also wanted to see what activities were out there that would be quick and easy to do with my baby once I've gotten home from work. I can imagine at the end of a long day the last thing I'll want to do is put a lot of effort into playing (just being real :p), but I will definitely want to connect with my bub! So I thought I'd try to put together a list of ideas that I can come back to after work. Here's what I came up with:

• Reading: Reading is a great way to bond with your baby. Regardless of their age baby will love hearing the sound of your voice, watching you turn the pages and helping you. It's a special time where baby knows they have your full attention and you are doing something fun together.
• Knee Bobbing Songs: Knee bobbing songs can be a lot of fun to do with your little one. They will love having your attention, hearing your voice and bouncing around. If you need some ideas, check out my post on knee bobbing songs. 
• Hand Games: Hand games are delightful for baby. Whether they're very young and just watch your hand motions or if they're a little older and you're able to play some hiding games with them, baby is sure to engage with you on these games and all it requires from you is your hands! If you're short on ideas you can check out this recent post I made that looks at different hand games.
• Exploring with baby: Baby will love just having your attention for a little while when you get home from work. You can follow their lead to see what they're interested in or want to play with when you get home. Just your interest will be enough to bond the two of you! If you'd like some ideas on DIY toys your baby will enjoy exploring check out my post on Baby Bottle Fun. 
• Toe Songs: Toe songs are fun for babies of all ages! Your baby will love having their toes wiggled, hearing your voice and bonding with you. Also, who doesn't love cute baby toesies? If you need some ideas on toe rhymes and songs check out my recent post about toe rhymes.

Hopefully this post gives you some insights into working mamas, ways to manage work-life balance and easy games to play with baby! Are you a working mama? What activities do you enjoy doing with your children when you get home? Would love to hear from you in the comments below!