Of course, the “typical” working mother looks nothing like that.

In fact, the typical working mother probably lives in a rural area. She probably also poor. That’s according to a new study by the Carsey Institute. Rural mothers of children under the age of 6 are more likely to be employed than women living in urban areas. They also have have higher rates of poverty, get paid less and live in families with lower incomes.

“As men’s jobs in traditional rural industries such as agriculture, mining, timber and manufacturing disappear due to restructuring of rural labor markets, families increasingly depend on women’s wage labor,” said Kristin Smith, family demographer and author of the study.

According to numbers from 2004, 69 percent of rural mothers with children under 6 were employed. Urban mothers aren’t slackers. 63 percent of urban mothers of young children are employed too. The differences shouldn’t come as a shock. Mothers work because they have to. In the same year 24 percent of rural and 20 percent of urban mothers with children under six were living in poverty.

The biggest difference though, is that women in urban areas have access to more forms of child care and early learning programs at community centers, libraries and nearby elementary schools. As a result, children in rural areas are behind their urban peers when entering kindergarten.

“Ensuring that rural preschoolers’ early learning experiences prepare them for school should be a strong focus of state and federal policy,” Smith said in a press release.

Post from: Babylune

In the lead up to the big day, I thought I would explore a number of issues that affect mothers’ lives. Since nothing inspires fear in the hearts of working women more than maternity leave, I thought I would start with workplace issues.

You may remember my post about study results that showed motherhood makes women smarter, more focussed and more productive. You would think business and industry would want to capitalize on this pool of intelligence, but there are some disturbing examples of the opposite. Ericsson, in particular, recently offered voluntary buy outs to 1000 of its Swedish workforce ages 35 to 50. The company plans to replace those people of prime parenting age with 900 workers under 30. Which got me thinking: are older workers so inflexible that the technology industries need to replace their employees at the first sign of gray hair? So, I thought about how my own mother has gone from completely unaware of technology altogether, to using it in her professional life. Then, I found some other stories about equally inspiring women who overcame technophobia for my Globe and Mail Technology column. The results are good for mothers and probably bad for short-sighted companies like Ericsson.

It appears I am not the only one whose research shows mothers have quite a lot to contribute to the workforce. Statscan, the government body that measures social trends in Canada, reported that the number of working women over 25 increased by 1.5%. In contrast, the number of working men increased by just 0.2%.

That doesn’t mean all the news is good. While unemployment in parts of Canada hasn’t been lower in decades, trends from around the world are evident there too. Employment may be up, but average salaries are down. And, since I’ve read Charles Dickens and Jane Austen and I’ve learned from it, this new information also reminds me of the massive social issues that followed the industrial revolution. The mills fired men to hire women and children because they were cheaper labour.

So what do I take away from this mixed news? Working mothers are productive employees who have a lot to contribute to all parts of society. That said, we cannot settle for less in the workplace. That only seems to drive our husbands, brothers, fathers and sons out of work. While gender equality in the workplace might still be seen as just a “feminist issue,” that is a clouded view. Equality is what’s good for everyone.

Post from: Babylune

I love self-employment and freelancing, but it’s harder to do when the working people around you are getting six weeks paid vacation, more respect for having a “real job” and financial security through government employment insurance and other forms of labour protection. And the multi-tasking, endless quest for the next job gets to me.

According to a report from the British government, mothers returning to the workforce have a harder time finding jobs than other job seekers. The Guardian decided to help one mother on her job search with advice from many expert sources.

Trouble is, the solutions look a lot like my patchwork quilt of short-term paying gigs of various kinds. Even my babysitter demands more job and income security than some of the arrangements offer…

Post from: Babylune