Who Works Harder?

I don't think that either one is really a harder job, I think it depends on the person. I am a stay at home mom of a 1 year old and a 2 year old, and its definitely work! What bothers me is when people assume that since I'm at home I do nothing all day, which, trust me is not the case. I get no adult conversation, no breaks, no paycheck and not much recognition for a job well done. I am lucky to have a wonderful supportive husband who understands how hard my days are. On the other hand, I can see how some people would get bored not going to work every day. Either way, being a mom is a hard job, whether you stay home with your kids or work!

Hi, aurorastorm. I am a stay at home mom. And I would say that we all work hard. But on a personal level, I feel that stay at home moms work even harder. There is taking care of the home, kids, laundry and other things that need to be done. It is a big job to do. A stay at home mom is working 24/7. So she is very exhausted compared to an woman that works outside of the home. Many women that work outside of the home, do get very tired and strained from all of the pressure that is bestowed onto them. They work hard especially if they are a single mother that has to pull all of the money into the household to support their family. All of us work hard, but I think that a stay at home mom has the biggest job. Raising children, is not such an easy task, it is easy to do, but it takes a lot of work and patience.

Hi Aurorastorm, I've never been able to be only a stay-at-home-mom because I always worked except for a brief period when I was out of a job. I did always stay home with my kids during the day though and I worked at night after my husband got home. Just being a mom is a tough job. I got divorced when my girls were all young and I have to say that both work equally as hard in different ways. I wouldn't say either one has it easy. Both are exhausted at the end of the day way before the kids are. I actually did work days when my oldest daughter was young and that is trying to. You have to get up and get yourself ready for work and the child ready for the sitters. How many mornings we ran late because she didn't cooperate or something. Or all the times I got called out of work for an injury or illness and all the doctor appointments. We're moms....we all work hard.

Being a working mom is easy, if you have a live-in babysitter, or a good daycare center or kids old enough to take responsibility for their own actions, but it can be tough trying to get time off for family things or when kids are sick. Being a stay at home mom is tough 24/7 because that's how long she's on the clock. Usually, if she goes on vacation or stays home, it doesn't matter, her work follows her wherever she goes. Plus if the kids are in baseball, football, basketball, soccer, dance, cheerleading, band, piano lessons, etc., to do anything, she has to plan around THEIR schedules and playoffs or recitals. If a child is sick, she takes it to the doctor. That's the easy part (unless shots are involved)and then she gets to try getting anything done between the "Mom, I need..., Mom, can I have..., Mom, yuck, I don't want to take that medicine, etc." If she's lucky, what her baby has isn't catching; if she isn't lucky, she'll be down with it in three days, with one difference. She can't go to bed and get over it!

Well, I am a stay at home mommy myself and I can tell you that it is much harder than having a job outside the home. I worked outside the home in a busy industry for 2 1/2 years and quit when I was 4 months pregnant to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy and to stay at home with our son. I don't look down on mom's who have to work but sometimes I don't understand why they wouldn't want to stay home if they could afford to. I am fortunate enough that my husband works a good job that allows me to stay home although I work several online jobs to bring in a little extra money each month to help contribute. =) But I believe that women who have never been a stay at home mom have no idea what kind of work goes into it because I have been put down a few times from people telling me that I had it easy. If they only knew..lol I think some stay at home moms are looked at as lazy and this couldn't be further from the truth. Between taking care of your child/children, cleaning the house, cooking meals, cleaning up messes, changing diapers..ect...you've pretty much put in more than the required 40 hours a week that a normal full time expects. By the end of the week its more like 1000000 hours..lol But seriously, if things got bad enough where we just couldn't afford me to stay home, I would go back to work if its what I had to do. But for now, I will stay home while finishing my degree. I plan to home school my child (and future children) as well as other children so that I can do what I love while continuing to be a stay at home mom. Growing up, I didn't have the best mom. She wasn't there for me in the most crucial times that I needed her. I want to make sure that my children know that I love them and would do anything for them. I want to spend every minute that I can with them because one day, you wake up and their all grown up and you'll be kicking yourself. God bless all you working mama's out there who wish they could be at home with their babies. And God bless you mama's who do stay at home with your babies. =)

I was a yoyo for a while jumping from working from home back to working outside of the house and in the end working from home won. Everytime I would work outside of the home I noticed all of the advantages of working from home and the only advantage of leaving it was the stable income. Working from home you have the chance to make more money each week and you can choose your hours spend more time with your kids and spend more time on yourself. If you join a gym for example that take care of your kids while you work out, thats a good 1-2 hours to yourself that you would not have had time for if you worked outside of the home because that equals the time it takes you to get your hair and clothes together every morning and drive to and from home. Other advantages are the grades and conduct of your kids. Its was far better when I was there then when I was working outside. I have time to tutor or get them to a tutor. I have no regrets and that is something we need in order to focus on now.

This is a hard toss up for me because I can see both sides of it being a hard worker on each. As well as, if you are a single mom trying to do it all, also plays a big part in which is a harder worker. So I say cheers to mom's who have the priviledge to stay home with their children and cheers to mom's who also have to work in the workforce and then come home and do what the stay at home mom's do.

I think it's a matter of opinion. Being a stay at home mom is NOT a piece of cake. You're there 24/7. Unless you arrange regular play dates for your children and take time to visit with other moms you have less contact with adults and all your challenges, mental and physical, revolve around children. Some people can find that this is constricting. Going to work in the public gives you a set number of hours to work and interact with adults, face adult challenges, and have a change of pace. Then go home to all the housework and child related challenges that the stay at home mom faces all day long. One way is not less or more work it's just different.

Hi Aurora, 20 years ago I have always told myself that I will never be a stay at home mom or a full time housewife and mother. I've always been a career woman and I've never imagine myself as someone staying home doing household chores day in and day out. Now, I dream of becoming a stay at home mom so I can personally take care of my kids who are now going to school. I want to personally tutor them, prepare their food, be there everytime they're home. I feel like I've done everything in my career already that it should now take a back seat, and focus on my family's needs. However, I'm not prepared to lose my job at this point for financial reasons. I know it's harder as a stay at home mom than work somewhere else, it's definitely physically taxing but I believe the emotional rewards are great. But being a working mom addresses the financial needs of the family which is also very important.

I believe that stay at home moms work jusy as hard as out of the home moms. In some ways stay at home moms have a bit harder of a job to do. They can't always get away from the prpblems that develop at home. It can be a joy and a trial to be a stay at home mom. They are often looked down as not working. I think they have the most difficult job of all. Taking care of your family on a daily basis with monetary compensation is the life of a stay at home mom. The love of her children is her reward.

I think it depends on the mom's conception on life. What is the thing she cares about most: her family or her career? I was a stay at home mom for a short period once, some time ago and I wanted to be longer but it wasn't possible. Then I think it depends also on the talents and abilities a mom has. She can stay at home all the time but what's the use if she can do nothing well. I had a few books to learn from when I was a stay at home mom because I was young and at my first and only child. To be as long as you can near your child means a lot to the child.

Though I'm a man, I would say that each is stressful in a certain way. Working moms outside the house have different types of problems like working with their bosses and having to do different kinds of work. Stay at home moms also have a share of their hard times specially when there are a lot of people in the house or the house needs a lot of work to do with.

As a guy, with no children, or any experience of them except having been one, this is probably dangerous territory! Suffice to say, I would never accuse a stay at home mum of having an easy life. A mum who works also has to weigh that decision equally carefully. The decision is one to be made by each family on it's own merits. Only one circumstance would ever lead me to any criticism, and that would be if she chose a particular option because she thought it would be the easiest way out of working at one or the other.

Hi , i'm new here but I agree with you, I always wanted to just stay at home like other moms i known who can take care of their kids, feed them, play with them just be with them all day. But I can't at this time, I need to work hard to give them a better future , my husband's pay check is not enough for us so I am looking for opputunities to look for work at home.

I think it is not fair to say that. Because the working moms and stay at home moms are both hard-working. Never think it is so easy to be a stay at home mom. The housework can be tiring and boring. And her earning just comes from her spouse. At least the working women can buy something for themselves because they have their own incomes. And the stay at home women are without breaks, holidays and so on. If you have been a stay at home mom for some time, probably you prefer to go to work because it is not so interesting to be a stay at home mom. Working outside is much more relaxing. I love China

In my own opinion, when I get married I think I would like my wife to stay at home.. Thats is if I earn good and can support the whole family. But with the life and status of the world right now? i think its hard if only your husband is working. Though I still consider my future wife to stay at home.. But also, if she really wants to work and dont want to stay home even if I earn good then i wont be the hindrance... If she likes to work to help our family then thats fine..

I absolutely think being a stay at home mom is harder than going out to work. I have done both. Going out to work, you get a lunch break, you get vacation time, you get sick days, you get days off and YOU GET PAID for what you do!! Stay at home mom's, we don't have any breaks at all! Being a stay at home mom is a 24/7 job! Even if your throwing up and have a fever you still have kids to take care of, there's no one else to do it! If your exhausted and have had a hard day you still have kids bugging you for this and that. You never get breaks, you never get sick time, heck you don't even get a bathroom break without the kids needing or getting into something... I think being a stay at home mom is a very difficult job. =)

I'm a working mom and I would rather say that if you really are a so called Mother, you can do the job of both home and work mothers. In my case, my son wakes up late and go to bed late that's why we have more time spending the night together playing and watching his favorite movies. I know it's very hard, but I know it's enjoyable. In what ever you do, if you really love what you are doing, you can do all you want. I really love being a mother.

I have a diffrent kind of view. I am a stay at home mom who works all day. I run a home daycare. I really wanted to stay home with my daughter so I started the Daycare. I think that is harder then working out of the house some days. I am home all day but there is still a limit to how much I can get done so I have to cram a bunch of stuff into the weekends. Not only to I have my home to up keep but I have a business that I run by myself. There is paperwork that I get behind on, new requirements by the state that I am still chatching up on, I have to do so many hours of continuing education every year, and I have to make sure that I have food to feed the kids. Once I am done with that I barly have the engery to do things I need to do like get food for dinners, I pay all the bills (I don't make all the money but I make sure they are all paid). I don't really get a lunch without children. They have quiet time each day but there is no guarentee there either. I really get my first break when my daughter goes to bed. I have to have my husband take her to the Doctor most times because have you every tried to find someone to fill in for you when you have 5 kids that aren't yours. Lucky I have two good grandmas to help out but they both work so for me to go to the doctor takes some planning. I always thought that I would go back to work but now I can see loosing all that time with my daughter. It took over 2 years to have her and then she was 11 weeks early so there is some good old mommy guilt there. I think that it would be easier to be a working mom that didn't work at home but I don't know for sure. I never thought that I would be able to be a stay at home mom I thought that I would be borred to tears, but now I know diffrent and would love to be just a stay at home mom. Either way it is hard and I don't think there are harder working people then moms in general.

Personally, I think the stay at home moms are the hardiest working moms. Unless you homeschool your children they are not with you all day but you have tasks to do all day long. Keeping up with car pooling, after school activities, grocery shopping, cleaning up the day to day messes is hard work. Granted stay at home moms don't deal with corporate pressures but they deal with family pressures which is close enough to a board meeting. The stakes are actually higher when you are a single stay at home mom and yes there are some women that do that. I greatly admire the women that work outside the office but I still think stay at home moms work harder.