Co-working offers the right work-life balance solution for moms who work from home. These flexible office spaces provide a professional workplace free of distraction. You’ll also find professional meeting space for client meetings and other useful amenities.
It’s estimated that 2.2 million people around the world co-work. Offices like Work/Place provide membership packages ranging from monthly shared and dedicated desks to private offices and day passes for community desks. For the working mother, the ability to have a flexible office space allows for focused working hours when they’re needed with no obligation to stay. You can come and go as you wish.
Moms in creative fields (e.g., photography, marketing, graphic and web design, freelance writing) nutrition, real estate, and consumer finance (e.g., financial planning) benefit most from co-working. It gives them the ability to work flexible hours based on their family schedule, plus the option to come and go as needed.
One of the best benefits to co-working is full access to perks and amenities—coffee, snacks, printers, fax machines, conference rooms, Wi-Fi, and social events—which makes co-working an attractive option. As co-working spaces become more prevalent and sophisticated, some are now also offering on-site childcare as an added benefit to assist working mothers.
While childcare is not available at Work/Place, a survey by Clutch reported that the top three benefits of coworking spaces are:
- Perks (94%). Respondents to the survey cited benefits as the top reason for co-working. In-house access to coffee and snacks, and opportunities to engage with others, was the top reason they chose co-working over a home office.
- Location (57%). Proximity and access to home matters for moms. Should a need arise at home or a medical emergency surface, having an office close to home eases anxiety.
- Interaction (55%). Networking with fellow business professionals trumps working at home alone. In co-working spaces, you can bounce ideas off of other like-minded individuals, surround yourself with people in a professional atmosphere, and make friends.
Working mothers want to help provide for their families. The ability to be productive while balancing career and family is necessary to achieve that goal. Co-working spaces offer flexibility and ease of access, which can help soothe the pain of parental guilt—a big deal for working mothers. One area that often goes unspoken is parental guilt.
In a workingmother.com poll, 57% of working moms felt guilty every single work day about working full time outside the home, while 31 percent felt guilty once per week. According to research conducted by Pew, Millennial moms were less affected by mom guilt than their older counterparts. These mothers (57 percent of them) rated their parenting as “very good” as compared with 48 percent of Gen X moms and 41 percent of Boomer moms.
For working moms, co-working spaces can also be kid-friendly. If you’re working on a pressing project and need to bring your child to work with you, the option is there. Many co-working spaces have a lounge and kitchen with seating where your child can play quietly while you wrap up your workday.
So there you have it. Co-working is the best option for working mothers seeking outside workspace and flexibility. There is no 9-to-5 pressure, you can come and go as you please, and your work and life exist in separate spaces.
