Work at Home Parents

Have you ever considered that President Barack Obama is a work-from-home dad?

In today’s economy many moms and dads are looking at work-from-home options so that they can still be home with the kids but also develop their career or maybe just bring in some extra income for the family.

President Obama is an extreme example, and most work-from-home parents are moms.

There are over 120 million women in the workforce. Over 18% have children under the age of 18 and work one or more days a week from home.

According to Odesk.com, an online job source for work-from-home workers there are over 33 million people working from home. Odesk.com has thousands of job postings in over 70 categories for online and work-from-home job seekers.

On the www.ratracerebellion.com web site they list 111 job categories for those searching for a work-from-home opportunity. And by the way, Washington area entrepreneurs Christine Durst and Michael Haaren run this web site.

FlexJobs.com has over 50 categories with all of their jobs are hand-screened telecommuting/work-at-home jobs

Having workers that are home based reduces overhead expenses, allows access to talented workers who may not be available locally, provides off-hours support and helps retain employees. Many companies are becoming fans of telecommuting.

FAMILY Magazine started as a home-based business and still has many home-based employees.



Work-from-Home Web Site Resources

http://www.mompreneursonline.com
http://www.ratracerebellion.com
http://www.Homewiththekids.com
http://www.flexjobs.com
http://www.odesk.com
http://hbwm.com
http://www.wahm.com

Data on women in the workforce -- http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2009.htm



Here are some examples of traditional work-from-home jobs:

Virtual assistant -- $15 to $100 per hour

Small businesses hire virtual assistants to help when they can't justify a permanent employee. The company I use for technology support just hired a virtual assistant to take all his incoming calls while he is out working on his clients computers and networks.

The International Virtual Assistants Association was co-founded in the 1990’s by Christine Durst of www.ratracerebellion.com, began with 28 members and has grown to more than 600, who charge from $15 per hour to more than $100 per hour.

Medical transcriptionist -- $20 per hour or more

Good transcriptionists are in very high demand. Expect initial earnings of less than $10 per hour, but some transcriptionists earn $20 or more per hour.

Translator -- $20.74 per hour

Home-based translators with hard-to-find language skills are not held back by geographic location. The site, Homewiththekids.com has 21 categories of jobs and within the translator listing there are 15 companies searching for translators.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook 2008-09, which groups translators and interpreters, notes a projected employment increase of 24 percent over the 2006-to-2016 decade, much faster than the average for all occupations. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the mean annual wage for a translator is $20.74 per hour. Some industries have significantly higher wages for translators. It depends on the type of translation.

Web developer/designer -- $10 to $150 per hour

Of the more than 15,000 new monthly work-from-home job postings on Odesk.com, Web developers are in the greatest demand. There is a large range for income in this category. It seems to vary depending on your level of experience. $10 to $150 per hour.

Call center representative -- unknown

While some Web sites, such as Alpineaccess.com, actually hire representatives, most use subcontractors. The pay may be by the minute rather than by the hour, so you may not be paid for time you spend waiting by the phone. It was very difficult to find a salary range for this. Most of the companies wanted to pre-screen you before you could find out what the salary range was.

Writer/editor -- $5-$20 per post, $50 per article

Writing jobs would include traditional writing as well as blogging. A list of blogging opportunities, for which the pay range is less than $5 per post to more than $20 per post, can be found at Homewiththekids.com.

Other Jobs –
Tech support specialist
Travel agent
Teacher or tutor

*****SCAM ALERT*****

There are so many work-from-home opportunities that it is hard to tell which ones are real and which ones are scams, cons and other ways to swindle people out of their money. Christine Durst of www.ratracerebellion.com suggests watching for these positive indicators of "real" employment:

* The hirer is an established company.
* The ad includes the company name and does not have applicants reply to a blind e-mail address.
* Human resources personnel are available for questions.
* There is mention of information commonly associated with "real" employment (benefits, vacations, policies, etc.).
* There is an application and interview process, not simply an e-mailed offer.
* The employer can detail the job duties and expectations.
* References/work samples are requested.




FAMILY Magazine started as a home-based business and we have supported working from home moms for years. There are good businesses out there that need a workforce but don’t want or need to have the “brick and mortar” building to go along with it. Search carefully and you might find the perfect match.

Happy Parenting, Brenda