The Internet is replete with articles: “How to work with a child under three years old?”, “How to combine maternity leave and career.” The Wordstat service shows that in the past month alone, queries with the words “work on maternity leave” were did more than 40 thousand times. Everything looks as if after the end of maternity leave, the problems of combining motherhood and ordinary life end. After all, the child can no longer be breastfed and sent to kindergarten. In reality, everything is completely different. Yulia Shubina, author of the telegram channel “Shubina didn’t finish her sentence” and a remote career specialist, tells what tips can help a woman return to work after giving birth to a child.
First kindergarten, then work
In law You can send your child to a nursery from two months old. But finding free places for such kids is very difficult. A kindergarten must meet a lot of parameters, and not all institutions are suitable – so there are few options. But the main reason why children are not sent to nurseries so early, of course, is not in place. According to psychologist John Bowlby’s attachment theory, separation from one’s mother at an early age can have strong negative consequences. According to this theory, a child is able to endure separation from parents without severe damage to the psyche after three years. In addition, many psychologists believe that it is at this moment that the baby begins to need to communicate with peers. And this just coincides with the official end of maternity leave. But you should think about going out to the garden before you return to work.
You should start taking your baby to kindergarten at least two months before leaving maternity leave. That’s exactly how much according to expertsOn average, the child adapts to kindergarten. Adaptation is a rather unpleasant process, which can include deterioration in the baby’s sleep and appetite, apathy, aggression and sudden mood changes, regression of skills and more. Therefore, you definitely shouldn’t combine your first day in the garden with your first day at work after a break.
I would recommend sending your child to kindergarten six months to a year before you return to work full time. Firstly, at first the baby will only be away from home for a few hours; then, if everything is in order, half a day before bedtime. And only then will it be possible to leave him to sleep and extend his stay in the garden to 7–8 hours. Secondly, kindergarten children get sick, and this is inevitable. According to statistics, most children over three years old are diagnosed with ARVI 3-5 times a year, and this is considered the norm. From 15 to 40% of children, according to various sources, get sick much more often. For this, doctors even have a special term, “frequently and long-term ill children.” Such children are divided into different groups depending on the nature of the disease and frequency. One of these groups of children suffers from ARVI 8 times a year. This is once every month and a half.
Finally, another reason to send your child to kindergarten at least 6 months before going to work is rest for the mother. I am absolutely sure that a woman who has gone through maternity leave simply needs her six months when she does not have to combine motherhood and work. Let’s call it a rest from maternity leave, although it will be a rest with breaks for illnesses and difficulties of adaptation. But any mother knows: having 2-3 free hours a day a couple of times a month is better than zero free hours a day zero times a month.
Maintain your career level throughout maternity leave
In order not to reset in three years, you can and should periodically study and read something on the topic of your profession. I recommend continuing to earn extra money throughout your maternity leave. It is not necessary to devote a lot of time to work. A small freelance project or at least reading books and taking courses and marathons a couple of times a week will be enough.
There are a lot of advantages to such a part-time job.
The first is, of course, money. Care allowance is not paid for all three years of maternity leave. If a woman worked under the Labor Code, the employer will pay the mother money until the baby is one and a half years old. Afterwards, the company is obliged to keep the woman’s job, but there will be no more payments. By the way, the payments themselves to those working under the Labor Code during maternity leave will not be equal to the amount of their salary. As a general rule, they will pay only 40% of average earnings. In addition, there is also a maximum payment amount. The maximum benefit amount if the vacation began in 2024 is will be 49,123.12 rubles. Therefore, the level of income during maternity leave will definitely decrease if nothing is done.
Secondly, it’s an opportunity to get distracted. The ability to switch to work can help and compensate for parental burnout. Of course, if your psychological state is difficult, then you should not force yourself to do it through force.
The third is the benefits for your career. Maintaining your skills and expanding your portfolio even with small and uncomplicated projects is always a plus. This will make it easier for you to integrate into the work process.
Ask for help
If a child under three years of age really needs his mother, then an older child may well spend more time with other relatives or even a nanny. You can choose one of the options below or combine several.
Place your dad or other relatives on maternity leave
Not only the mother, but also the father and even other relatives have the right to parental leave. This option can be beneficial if the mother earns well or is simply tired and wants to be “free.”
Hire a nanny
You can ask nannies for help. There are many options now: you can search on your own, or you can contact an agency. Some agencies offer additional services that may be useful if the child goes to kindergarten, but sometimes still gets sick. For example, there is a “replacement nanny” service – an agency employee will replace you in cases of force majeure, if the baby suddenly gets sick or the kindergarten is in quarantine. It is also not necessary to select a person for permanent employment; you can agree with a nanny for a few hours.
Agree with neighbors or parents in the garden
To be able to unwind a little or get some work done, you can team up with neighbors or parents of other children. Let’s say on Mondays and Thursdays you pick up your child plus someone else’s from kindergarten. And on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they take your child along with theirs. The main thing here is to warn the teachers that it is not you who will take your child.
Choose a convenient work format
Work close to the garden
Kindergartens are usually open from 7 am to 8 pm so that all parents have time to get from the office. But it is much more convenient if the kindergarten is located next to work. Pay attention to this if you already know which institution your child will go to and are looking for a job. On many job search sites you can specify the specific metro station near which you are looking for a job.
Remote or hybrid
After the Covid pandemic, remote or hybrid work modes no longer seem surprising. According to Rambler, 44% of companies planned to maintain remote work after the end of the pandemic. Now there are more than 85 thousand vacancies on hh.ru with a remote work schedule.
Agree with your employer to switch to remote work
Try to negotiate at your current location about transferring to a remote format. Prepare arguments and reasons for the conversation. For example, you can calculate how much money a business will save on paying for coolers and coffee beans if it shifts employees to at least 50% of office visits.
Find a new remote job in the same profession
You can search for remote vacancies on hh.ru using the “remote” work schedule filter. Don’t forget to remove the region when searching. It connects automatically.
There are also a lot of telegram channels and chats where remote vacancies are posted: “Remote 2.0”, “Freelance Tavern”, “Distance” and others.
Many people think that only representatives of “new” digital professions work from home: marketers, producers, targetologists. In fact, today there are remote vacancies for many areas. For example, for banking specialists, accountants, lawyers, HR. You can check this by entering the name of your profession into the search on a website with vacancies.
Adapt your skills to work online
A copywriter or designer can work both from the office and remotely. But this is not true for all professions. If you can’t work in your profession online, you can find a related field. To do this, in the search on the site with vacancies, write down the duties that you perform at work.
Learn a new profession, including at the expense of the state
During maternity leave and even after it, you can learn additional skills and increase your income after returning to full-time work. You can study for free, for example within “Employment Promotion” program. This opportunity is available to mothers of children under three years old and mothers of children from three to 7 years old.
Don’t blame yourself
It just so happens that women have to combine many more social roles than men. Even experts from the Department of Labor and Social Security say: returning to work after maternity leave is difficult. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t succeed the first time.