The "cost of working"

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2006
The "cost of working"
961
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:08pm

I have been reading a lot of articles on this issue which claim that the cost of working is not worth your salary. One article claimed that it isn't worth it for a mom to work unless she is making at least 70K a year.
I don't see it at all. They cite things like work clothing, lunches out (instead of making your own at home), and gas.
The way I see it, gas money is always something you are going to need. When I wasn't working, I always went out and did things to combat boredom. Not only that, but there were errands to run. And if I did stay home with my children, I don't think I'd just want them at home with me all day just so I can save on gas (or just taking them along on errands). I'd want to take them fun places and do fun things. I would need gas to do that.
Work clothing is a null issue for me. We have to wear polo shirts with our logo and black or khaki pants. Pants I have always gotten at thrift stores. The company gives us the shirts, and if we want more than they give us, the shirts are $18. (Big deal).
As far as lunches go, I bring my lunch not to save money, but because our cafe is horrid and there isn't anywhere to really drive to on our lunch breaks. I only eat in the cafe on break if it's an emergency. I don't even like walking past it because of the smell.
It just doesn't seem to me like the "cost of working is not worth my salary" thing will really fly in my own life. I already know that I make more than the cost of daycare, anyway. I would only be breaking even there if I had three or four kids.

Does anyone else just not know where people get these equations?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:00pm
The IRS is aware of everything I make. I have no clue why you even posted that.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:03pm
Even a 10% lower salary adds up to the equivalent of a few more years salary before you retire. I would have been lucky to have hired in at the salary I left at if I'd taken 5 years off. And if I did, I would be missing all the raises I got during those years and that loss would be every year until I retired.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:08pm

No one said they have an extra million "lying around". What was said is it's entirely possible to earn that much more. Where are you getting this million lying around from? When all is said and done, I will have earned more than a million dollars more because I didn't take time off. Many other women do too.

Either you have services purchased with the money or you have tangibles. Either way, you get the value of that money imparted to your family and your life. The beauty of earning money is you get to decide what to spend it on. If you never earn it, you can't.

Some things are worth spending money on. I don't think SAH is one of them. SAH would have to make a difference in my kids for me to see it worth 1 million and then they'd have to be differences that REALLY make a difference. 1 million will pay for a lot of college, extra curricular activities, private schools, really great family vacations.... I'm not giving that up for something that doesn't make a difference.




Edited 3/22/2007 6:19 pm ET by gr8fulmom1
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:09pm
Excuse me while I go make some popcorn. This should be good.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2007
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:10pm

Not lying, but quoting you. See the difference?

Now, for something novel and lacking in your posts to me ...{drumroll please}... an actual *link* to support my post:

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-pssahwoh&msg=17631.462




Edited 3/22/2007 6:13 pm ET by matoeric
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:15pm

I'm down with the regular working moms.

I've said before that none of this applies to the rich or the poor. It's the working class it applies to. For me, it makes a big difference. The kinds of loss I would have taken I never could have made up for working two jobs after my return to work.

And besides, by staying in the work force, I have seniority and have worked my way into a great job, can pass on assignments I don't want, and have lots of vacation time. I have WAY more control over my time now than I would have if I'd taken time off and had to start over in one of the jobs I left behind as soon as I got the chance because no one inside the company wants them.

I know a mom who just returned from a 1 year leave thinking she'd get her old job back. They sent her 40 miles down the road to a production plant. She has to work production hours now. Not good. That year off cost her. There was no position in her old department available when she came back. She had to take the next comparable position and who knows how long it will be before her old department has an opening. They haven't let us back fill a position in three years.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:17pm

"to me, the real kink is that so many people seem to think of sah as "saving" their family childcare costs in the same way that some people think of "saving" money when they buy something on sale. that isn't to say that the "cost" of sah or of a sale item can't be very much worthwile, but the cost is still a cost--the "savings" is dependent on paying the "cost.""

Well said. When you spend/lose money to "save" money are you really saving money?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2006
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:39pm

Excuse me? I've asked you to quit calling me a liar.

Here's the link that didn't come through above. Posted YESTERDAY. I expect an apology.

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-pssahwoh&msg=17631.310

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2007
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:48pm

No, this is a complete diversion. You clearly stated, "For women, SAH is pretty much proof she can't handle the real world."

That has nothing whatsoever to do with the workplace.




Edited 3/22/2007 7:43 pm ET by matoeric
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2007
Thu, 03-22-2007 - 6:52pm

Yes, it's so much easier to SAH with more than one.

<>

I'm a SAHM and I feel the same way about working. I am sure I would have had a miserable time working and dropping the baby off at daycare or with a nanny. So, I've never regretted SAH and it has just gotten so much easier as they've gotten older and my baby amnesia has set in. Though sometimes...I do miss their babyhoods.

A question. If it's so boring and frustrating for you, do you worry about what it's like for your child's care provider?

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