The Essential Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

The Essential Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

Study:60 Percent of Working Mothers Manage Their Household Expenses Alone

Currencies of different countries. Courtesy:Google images

Hey there!

Long time no see abi? The working mom has been working tirelessly in the last one plus year to assist our government in the SURE-P programme particularly in their Communication effort. Is the job a fantastic one? Well my job has been both exciting and challenging but so long as it is communication, I love to work. Again my take home pay does take me home. My family has been extremely supportive and I give all thanks to God. 

I'm on a short vacation and thought it wise to talk about working moms role as the Chief Financial Officers at their various homes. This new study is quite interesting but I am going to take it further to my fellow Nigerian Working Moms to ascertain if this is also true about Nigerian Working Moms.

The study revealed that Nearly 60 percent of working mothers manage and control their household expenses alone, with 30 percent sharing the responsibility with their spouses, this is a new research from Chase Card Services and Working Mother Magazine. Just 11 percent of women relinquish total control of their family's finances to their husbands, the study found.

"The dynamic structure of household duties is constantly in flux, especially as the number of dual-income families has risen," said Jennifer Owens, editorial director for Working Mother Media. "It's not surprising, then, to see more and more career-oriented working mothers taking the lead on their family's finances."

The surveyed said their top financial objectives for their families this year are to save enough to live on for more than a year, make more money and put more money into their kids' college education funds.

The study also discovered that working moms are extremely committed to their careers. More than 60 percent of the moms surveyed would prefer to get a 20 percent raise and continue working than take a year off from their jobs, compared to just one quarter who wish they didn’t have to work as much as they do.

The research suggests that working moms are determined to improve both their financial and career prospects in 2013, with 23 percent aiming to get a raise and 16 percent hoping to get a job with better pay and more responsibility. In addition, 13 percent are intent on getting promotion this year.

"The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on budget priorities, learn lessons from last year and put in place a plan that will enable working mothers to reach their financial goals," said Rachana Bhatt, director of Chase slate

Overall, working moms said balancing work and family is the top challenge they face this year, with just 14 percent saying they are good at being both a mom and a good employee. That's serving as a strong motivator, with 55 percent intent on being both better mothers and better employees this year.

The research was based on surveys of more than 800 working moms who read Working Mother magazine