It’s a sad but true fact that women nowadays need all the help they can get.
The last four years have especially been a struggle. The pandemic hit women hardest — from domestic violence increases to women taking over the lion’s share of caretaking roles for children learning from home and loved ones facing health issues. According to the American Bar Association, “in February 2021, women’s labor force participation rate hit a low last seen in 1988, losing an entire generation of gains.”
In this post-pandemic society, however, some gains have been seen. In many cases out of necessity, women turned to entrepreneurism at higher rates than ever before. Half of all businesses started in the pandemic era were founded by a woman, compared to just 29% in 2019. This is why we felt it was a great time to talk to Phala Mire with the Women’s Enterprise Business Council South. If you are a female business owner, or know someone who is, I strongly suggest you check out our cover feature.
Another gain we’ve seen post-pandemic is that many businesses forced into remote and hybrid work discovered its benefits, which include the ability to hire and retain more women. Instead of losing productivity, flexible work arrangements have been proven to boost productivity. Unsurprisingly, providing more autonomy has also proven to increase employee morale and health, while lowering stress. We’ve definitely seen that on our staff.
While this is a start, there are still many occupations that cannot operate on a remote or hybrid schedule, including those jobs we know to be “essential.” That is just one reason why our government, both locally and nationally, needs to be doing more to help families. At the bare minimum, we should be aiming to reach the same level of support as every other developed nation.
In the meantime, I hope the working moms out there can take away an idea or two from this month’s feature where we asked nine high-achieving moms what tips and tricks they use to try and stay organized and sane. It was a joy getting to chat with every one of them.
As a working mom myself, I’ll share that organizationally, having shared lists with my husband on our phones for the main stores — grocery, Target, Lowe’s — has been really helpful. Now, whenever one of us is out and about we no longer have to call and ask the other what they need (or for specifics like what size and brand of diapers we get).
When it comes to an easy sanity saver, I’ve had a group Zoom with some close mom friends every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. since the start of the pandemic. It’s a way we’ve found to catchup without having to get out of our sweats — a win-win.
If you have any tips/tricks for finding balance and staying sane, we’d love to hear them!
Thanks for reading,
Kimberley Singletary, Editor
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com