Working mom vs stay at home mom

There has been some heated exchange at Strait Times' forum pages recently between stay at home moms and working moms. At the center of the exchange was workfare bonus given out by the Singapore government to working Singaporeans. Being left out from this periodic ang pao from the government was the stay at home moms. On one hand, stay at home moms felt that their sacrificial acts to raise future Singaporeans are not receiving a well deserved appreciation. On the other hand, the working moms felt that stay at home moms did not contribute to Singapore economy hence they did not deserve the workfare bonus. The exchange can be quite nasty sometimes with allegations thrown at each other. Working moms alleged stay at home moms squandered their education for something that can be outsourced to the maids. Stay at home moms of course baulked at the suggestion of letting their children be raised by foreign domestic helps who might impart the wrong values and incompetent in nurturing growing children's mind, body, and spirit.

These debate is so unnecessary. Being a stay at home mom or a working mom is a personal choice. There are many push and pull factors faced by each individual mom. Certainly, Singapore economy will not be sustainable if all working moms were to quit and stay at home. The impact of having so many of its young citizen raised by foreign domestic worker is still not known. What is a mom or mom to be suppose to do? Make your own choice based on what one can live with, and what will work for the family. And when you have to outsource child rearing, ensure close supervision and open communication with all parties.

All this will be less of an issue if Singapore corporate culture encourages flexi-work hours and job sharing so that more moms with school going children can opt to work part time. Sadly, part time job is almost non-existence. It's all or nothing.

What did I do? I got it both ways but not without biting some bullets though. You can't get your dream job if you only want to work part time in Singapore. You are stretched to the limit. You are doggoned tired every day. What do you get in return? Satisfaction that you had done what's best for your children and you also contribute to the family's finances.