In 2023, more and more people are seeing their careers take off, but at what cost to the family home? In this article, we’re going to be looking at the positive and negative impacts of careers on our children. 

In 2023, having a Career is something many aspire to. Having a job is essential in order to maintain the financial obligations on us all, so many people look towards a fulfilling career that provides joy and satisfaction.

However, as more parents choose their careers, some may say that the family home is being impacted. As such, this may be leading to disagreements amongst the family, requiring family mediation, and maybe further resolutions.

In this article, we’re going to take a balanced look at the impact a career may have on the family home. We’ll then provide some ideas for ways to get that balance right. Take a look…

The positive impacts of careers on our children

When parents have a steady and fulfilling career, this can have a really positive impact on Children and, in this section, we’re taking a look at how this works: 

● Inspiration: parents are usually the first and most important influence in a child’s life. As such, when a child’s parent(s) have fulfilling careers, this will often mould the way a child sees themselves, often inspiring them to follow in the parents’ footsteps. This is especially true for public service careers, such as the Police Service where many families contain generations of officers. 

● Independence: children whose parents have careers which take them out of the home will often develop a greater sense of independence and will feel comfortable in the company of a wide range of people.

● Stability: when a household has a steady and substantial income, this allows children opportunities which may not be available to others, such as international travel and a university education – all of which can give them a head start in adult life. 

The negative impacts of careers on our children

While our careers can have a really positive influence on our kids, it has to be said that it can sometimes have the opposite effect and we’ll explore this in this section: 

● Attention: a fulfilling career will, in many cases, take up a huge amount of an adult’s time and energy, and this can sometimes be difficult for young children. Often a child will become frustrated when their parent seems distracted by work and may therefore start playing up in order to gain their attention. 

● Resentment: a child’s world tends to be a relatively small one – and it will usually revolve around themselves. For a child, every achievement such as completing a task for themselves or playing a role in a school play is an incredibly big deal – and they expect it to be the same for their parents. When mum or dad is consistently unable to attend that play or football match, this can lead to a sense of resentment which can follow the child long into adulthood. 

● Frustration: having a career does not, of course, make anybody a bad parent but this can sometimes be a child’s perception – particularly as they reach their teens. When a child feels that a parent’s career is prioritised over themselves, they can have a tendency to seek out an alternative family.

How to balance a career and parenthood

The bottom line is that, in this day and age, many parents have no choice but to have a career which earns them enough to meet all of their financial responsibilities. Unfortunately, this means that, with the best will in the world, you may not have as much time to devote to your children as you would like.

Don’t panic though, as there are some ways in which you can help to restore the balance such as:

● Quality over quantity: when you do get to spend time with your kids, make it count. Try to complete dull household chores during the week so that weekends can be dedicated to quality time with the children.

● Stay engaged: having rules in place, such as obligatory family mealtimes, can help to keep your family connected and engaged, and offer an opportunity to ask about their day.

● Show and tell: where possible, take children to work with you – being able to visualise where you are all day and what you’re doing can really help children to understand your life.

Doing it all for the kids

No longer known as ‘having it all’, many parents simply need to ‘do it all’ in order to make ends meet. Try not to feel guilty about the time spent away from your kids and, instead, turn it into a positive. After all, your career is something which will inspire your children and help them to develop a healthy sense of independence – as well as a love of spending quality time with you during your time off.

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