Let’s face it — the world’s hardest job is being a mom. Following are some full-time and part-time options for easy jobs for stay-at-home moms. In essence, moms work in multiple unpaid professions, which may include chef, nurse, chauffeur, coach, mentor, tutor, counselor, and warden to name only a few.
When you add ‘breadwinner’ to that list of responsibilities, it can feel daunting, to say the least. However, in our modern economy most women who choose to be mothers must also bring home at least some bacon; after all, the price of almost everything these days seems to be based on the assumption of a two-income household.
That’s where ‘mom guilt’ comes in … which is another thing moms are good at. Nothing is more important to you than your children. How do you balance giving them everything they need while building a career and helping out with family finances? With that question comes myriad other questions. How do you get everybody out the door on time for school and work? What do you do about work when you have a child sick at home? How do you find quality time to spend with your children and to practice self-care? Can you accept missing important childhood milestones? How will you maintain enough stamina to “do it all”? How can you find and afford good daycare?
Many moms dream of being able to sustain a career and stay home with their kids at the same time, and nowadays that’s not such a fantasy. Technological innovations and necessity in the form of a worldwide pandemic have made remote work far more common. Companies are learning that they don’t have to house all their employees under the same roof anymore. Thanks to email, video conferencing, cloud technology, and a multiplicity of work-related apps and platforms, a multitude of careers can now be pursued from anywhere. You don’t necessarily have to work in the same town, state, or even country as your employer these days.
Online Teacher or Tutor
If you’re an educator, this is a great option for you, as online education is a vast and growing field. For example, the United States has 478 fully virtual schools, and the number of virtual school enrollments in Canada is expected to nearly double in the next five years. Those statistics don’t even take into account the number of courses that traditional brick-and-mortar schools offer online. Some positions (for example, teaching English to students in China and online tutoring) don’t necessarily require a teaching license. Which broadens the field to include more candidates.
Freelance Writer
Do you have a way with words and a good grasp of grammar, punctuation, and spelling? Do you type a decent number of words per minute? If so, freelance writing is a great, easy job for stay-at-home moms. This is one of those careers where you have full control. You decide how busy you want to be, and you also decide whether you want to be a niche writer or a generalist. People from all over the world need content for their blogs, websites, magazines, etc. Projects are plentiful, and the pay grows along with your reputation.
Online Cottage Industry
Whether you make jewelry, sew adorable baby clothes, quilt, paint, build furniture, or are a chocolatier, you can find a market for your goods. Many online platforms specialize in small business e-commerce, and people all over the world are crazy about handmade, high-quality, one-of-a-kind items that don’t come from a big box store.
This is an easy job for stay-at-home moms to make an income. Because your passion becomes your career, and again, you get to choose how busy you want to be and how far you want to take it.
Virtual Assistant
Virtual assisting is also a quickly growing field. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides administrative-assistant services from outside their employer’s office by accessing necessary planning documents (like shared calendars) remotely. You need good computer, organizational, and time-management skills to be a successful virtual assistant. This position often allows you to set your own hours and choose your hourly rate, but to begin with you can probably charge about $15 per hour.
Pet Care
Dog walker, dog groomer, pet-sitter — these are all easy jobs for housewives that fit in well with family life. Lots of busy professionals have pets that they would like to have walked during the day or that they need to be fed, walked, and let out while they’re out of town on business trips or family vacations. Some people even pet-sit in their own homes, for which they can charge significantly more. That’s an attractive option for many pet owners because they are concerned about their animals getting sick while boarding at large kennels.
Another possibility would be to get your dog groomer’s license and operate a washing/grooming business right out of your home!
Social Media Manager
In today’s global economy, almost every business has social media accounts they need to maintain, and business owners and operators are happy to pay someone else to do it. However, be cautious not to sell yourself as a social media manager until you’ve done some homework. You don’t need to a get a degree in the field or anything, but you need to be savvy about the vast range of social media platforms out there and how to keep a brand relevant in that dimension.
As with most jobs, the more experience you get, the more you can charge for your services. A little independent research should give you a clear indication of where to start.
This list of easy jobs for stay-at-home moms is by no means exhaustive; it could go on and on: online editing, blogging or vlogging, data entry, child care, music lessons, medical transcription … the sky’s the limit! With a little thought and ingenuity, you can come up with a way to assuage that omnipresent ‘mom guilt,’ be home with your babies, make a living, and enjoy a fulfilling career on your own terms.
