6 Best Jobs for Stay at Home Moms or Dads
There was a time when it was commonplace for one parent to stay at home with the kids while the other went off to work. In most cases, it is the mom that stays at home (stay at home mom).
That trend has shifted dramatically and the Census Bureau now reports that only about 24% of families are able to have a stay at home mom or dad.
This shift is in large part due to the high cost of raising a family – many just can’t afford to have one parent stay at home. But while small, this trend is actually on the rise from its low of 21% thanks to a rise in remote work opportunities for stay at home parents.
If you are a mom or dad and want to stay at home with your kids, but still need to earn an income, you now have quite a few options.
Consider these great jobs for stay at home moms and dads:
Virtual Assistant or Support Specialist
According to VA Networking, 41% of virtual assistants surveyed said they became a virtual assistant to stay at home with their kids.
As this position continues to grow in popularity, it opens up new work opportunities for stay-at-home parents ranging from scheduling and email response to executive support and assistance.
Sites like Virtual Assistant Jobs provide available listings as well as resources to gain relevant knowledge or experience that employers are looking for.
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Web Developer
There is not a single company small or large that does not need a virtual presence and businesses are increasingly looking to remote help for their website needs.
If you have a website development or design background, you are a perfect fit for this type of work. There is also enough out there that you can have your pick of part-time or full-time work depending on your needs.
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Writing
Writing has always been an anywhere, anytime type of job, but in the last few years it has blossomed into a market that now includes authors, journalists, bloggers, copywriters, advertisers, and even poets.
Sites like Amazon make it extremely easy to publish your own book and companies are always looking for freelance writers to help with their blogs and copywriting.
An expertise from previous employment provides a perfect topic to write on, so search for relevant companies that need help building up their sites and blogs. Freelance sites like oDesk.com and Elance.com have tons of listings for remote writing opportunities.
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Social Media Manager
Social media has exploded over the past few years and while some aspects of it may seem easy, for most businesses it is a time consuming and intimidating prospect.
As scary as it may seem, companies know they can’t ignore it so they are increasingly outsourcing the responsibility to experts.
Not only is social media management easy to do virtually, it is actually better if managed by someone outside of the office – then they know exactly what the customer is experiencing.
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Call Center Attendant
When you call a large company for support, odds are your call is being outsourced.
While these jobs used to be sent overseas, they are now being shifted back to remote workers, many of whom are stay-at-home parents.
One of the perks of this job is that it requires little experience, especially if you are a natural people person that can talk smoothly on the phone.
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Daycare
If you want to stay at home with your kids, then why not take care of some others?
This doesn’t mean you need to license yourself as a daycare and manage a group of toddlers. Consider any friends or family that you have that may prefer paying you to watch their kids as opposed to another daycare arrangement.
Just watching one other child could put a lot of money in your pocket and enable you to stay home with your own kids. Sites like Care.com can be good channels to go through to find a family that will be happy with the arrangement.
Staying at home with the kids might not be for everyone, but if it is what you want then don’t let money hold you back. There are tons of job opportunities for stay-at-home parents that will enable you to have the best of both worlds. Think outside the box and consider all of your options – you may be surprised by what you find.
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