THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411100882
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTY LAROSSA, SPECIAL TO HRW
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
SHARE YOUR toys. Share your cookie. Share the joy. Share a ride. From the time we're crawling in our diapers until we're driving our own cars, society tells us to share. Then why not share our jobs?
We have a new crisis in our nation. In the last two decades, we have seen the plight of women as they fought to leave home and join the outside work force. We watched them struggle to leave their children, sometimes alone at home, and fight to be equal (in pay and in job opportunity) with the men they were working next to. Now the tide has changed. Women are beginning to fight for the right to stay at home with their children and still be gainfully and respectfully employed.
Women like me have had well-paid, high-tech jobs, yet have chosen to give up their careers (temporarily) to give a few years to their young children. Why are we making such painful decisions? Look what has happened to our society. Sure we have two cars or three, when our parents may have only had one. It's wonderful that we have more things than our parents did. But our children are suffering. They're killing each other. They're using, buying and selling drugs. They're having sex at the youngest ages, and young teens are getting pregnant and having abortions.
I'm not laying the blame on women working. But if my little girl grows up and does these things, I will know that even though it had been a huge sacrifice by both my husband me, we gave it our best shot.
Society could help make the ``stay at home'' decision less of a sacrifice. When well-trained and well-educated women make the decision to become their children's ``primary caretakers,'' these well-trained and well-educated women are written off as nothing but homemakers who are qualified for nothing more than doing at-home parties, stuffing envelopes, phone solicitations or supplying vending machines.
Give us a break.
Most of us would give our eyeteeth to be able to work part time if it were respectable work at a good hourly wage. Why can't these well-trained, well-educated, stay-at-home mothers that have the same qualifications share jobs?
I went through an electrical apprenticeship at a local federal facility and was employed there 10 years. I built, repaired and tested motor controllers, telephone switchboards and power switchboards for carriers, submarines and public works.
After years of trying, my husband I had a child. We made the decision to be her ``primary caretakers.'' That meant I had to give up my work and stay home. My friend and her husband made the same decision. She and I had talked about how we wished federal employees could share jobs and how she and I would be perfect candidates. This is our conclusion:
We were both trained to do the same work.
We both wished to work part time.
Both of our husbands were federal employees, so we had health and life insurance.
We already shared work, since I was day shift, and she was second shift.
We also figured how it can be a win-win situation for the employer:
The employer could keep both of its highly trained employees and still get rid of a billet.
Although the employer would still only pay the 40 hours a week at regular pay, it would have two employees it could ask to come in extra hours in case of workload emergencies.
The employers would already have on-hand experienced workers with paperwork and security checks on file who would again be interested in full-time work after the children were older. The employers would not have to solicit and train new people as new full-time positions became available.
America's homes are full of qualified, experienced mothers who are just crying for work. My friend is taking care of other children to help make ends meet. She says it has many rewards. I stay very busy, too. I make wreaths, sew for my little girl and make draperies. But mostly I write. I have given myself a deadline of July to finish the book I am writing. But none of this pays. It just helps boost the part of me I lost when I gave up my job.
Don't get me wrong. Being home with my daughter for the last year and a half has been the most rewarding experience of my life. My husband and I are closer than we've ever been. All in all, it's been wonderful. But in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that there really must be a way to enjoy all of this and still be worth something to some employer.
I know a lot of women share my opinion. Why then, can't we share a job? Together we can get the job done.
- MEMO: Patty LaRossa is a resident of Chesapeake. by CNB