help with an article I am writing

[lilyak]

Hi everyone,

I'm new hear, and have for a few years (mostly) been a stay at home mum. I am now re-activating my career, in journalism. I'm freelancing at the moment, and am planning an article on why women are choosing to leave the workforce when they have children.

For me, the difficulty finding quality childcare, the expense of the childcare leaving not enough money to make it worthwhile, and ofcourse missing time with my children, were the reasons I chose to give up my career.

I'm particularly interested in women in professional or senior positions, and the angle of the article is really aimed at fighting the misconception that women who stay at home raising their children are lowly educated, untrained, etc. In a nutshell, not capable of anything else.

If anyone is interested in being 'interviewed' via email, please PM me, and I'll then send you all the details.

I will be submitting the finished article to several national womens magazines and newspapers, however there's no guarantee it will get published. That's just the nature of freelancing!

Anyway, I'd be most grateful for anyone's input, and appreciate all your contributions.

Cheers

Janine

[sugar n spice]

When i fell i preg i was studying and then towards the end of the preg finished studying since then i have had my second child who is 10mnths. I am contemplating studying at the end of next yr however it doesn't seem worthwhile it comes down to you only do it foryourself because money wont be a benifit. If i stydy then i still have to pay for childcare yet i don't get paid and if i work it is only worthwhile to work 1 day a wk or full time as the price of daycare you won't be much better off. The only way you'd win out financially is if you have a high paid job or worked night shifts so that you don't need daycare however married woman or couples will lose quality time with their loved one. :D

[sharynr]

Hi Janine,

I'd love to help. I've recently become an official "stay at home mum" after deciding that being pushed and pulled in every direction was just too hard. Combined of course with the fact that you go to work to make around $40 a day after factoring in the costs of getting there!

I have a Bachelor and a Master's degree and often think I'm wasting my education but quickly realise that nothing is more important than raising a beautiful, well-adjusted child.

Anyway, I'd love to participate in your research and maybe even ask for a little advice too as I would love to get into some writing myself.

Kind regards,
Sharyn Wilson

[ChristineM]

Would love to be involved. This is my second time round at being a stay at home mum. I have 4 children, 18, 16 , 14 and *mths.

Hope to hear from you soon.

christinemorgan64@hotmail.com

[Sarie]

count me in. I was determind to be a stay at home mum before I fell pregnant.
I'll pm you my email addy!

[mikai_04]

I'd love to participate.

About 6 weeks ago I left everthing behind. My husband & I sold up everything and moved interstate. I have b/g twins who are 18 months old and had returned to full time work when they were about 8 months old (My husband took 6 months off to care for them - very brave I thought) They had been in day care for about 3 months after that when we left. At this point I still wonder what we've done. The move was promted by several factors, not the least being that we had no family or support where we lived (In Alice Springs) I've gone from earning in excess of $85,000 a year (myself) to nothing and I had a very promising career ahead of me. My husband is currently job seeking also.

I am still adjusting to being a stay at home mum and often feel guilty about the fact I really miss my job and the reward I got from doing it well. I adore my kids and I am sure when things settle down from the move and we find playgroups (and a source of income) that I will feel better about what I did. I know it was the best move for the kids, now they have all the Grand parents, Great Grand parents, Aunts & Uncles around to spoil them.

Bring on the interview, the questions themselves might help me answer some of my own.

[Ana Gram]

i'll pm my email too, happy to help

[Callumsmum]

I'm a new mum to 4 month old Callum and would love to help out with your rsearch in any way I can. (I have to admit to be going a bit stir crazy at the moment). I have a BSc, PgradDip and MHSc and have worked in a number of areas including equal opportunity and work and family balance. I'm having a few probs with my direct email so if I don't reply immediately I will soon!

Callumsmum

[Callumsmum]

hiya,
I just tried to send you my email address but got this msg....

"lilyak has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space."

If you're still interested in hearing from people can you let us know when you have emptied your box.

Ta,
Callumsmum