Rodney Ashline
Teacher | Blogger | Mom

As a single mom when you are searching for a job there are plenty of things to look at and weigh to make your decision. Because you have the full responsibility for taking care of your children it’s important that whatever job you consider offers you some sort of benefits, or at least pays well enough for you to be able to purchase some of the necessary things you’ll need. So what sort of benefits can you expect to see offered by employers and how are they going to benefit you? Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that single moms need to look for.

Health/Life Insurance

Taking your sick child to the doctor may be an expense that you just can’t handle without insurance. I know I’ve been there. In fact for several years my kids weren’t able to go to the doctor unless it was a matter of life and death, and I’m still paying on medical bills from their emergency room visits. You can’t make your kids not get sick, you can’t predict which summer they will wreck their bike and break a few teeth, but with a good health/life insurance policy through your employer at least those accidents and illnesses won’t throw off your budget and put you in debt to the hospital for several years. It may seem that the deduction for your health insurance is a weekly expense that you can’t afford but when you consider how much just one emergency room visit costs you’ll see that the weekly cost is balanced out over the entire year.

Vacation/Sick Time

As a single mom you know that when your child is sick you need to be with him. But what can that mean for your job? If your absences become a problem you could lose your job. Finding a job that offers vacation/sick time accrual is one great way to make sure you have the time available if you need it to take care of your child, or even if you get sick. Many employers these days understand that family must come first, especially for a single mom, but they also have to look after the best interests of the business. By using the time you’ve earned as part of your benefits package you are able to be a responsible employee with a limited amount of days that you can call in for whatever reason.

Child Care

Many large companies these days have onsite day care. This is provided to employees at a large discount and can even be deducted from your paycheck. The benefit of having your children on site is a great one because it cuts down on your child care expenses, travel time, and your employer will make sure that your shifts match the day care program. No more struggling to make it to the day care center before “evening hours” rate increases, or rushing to get to work on time because you had to speak with the child care provider about something. While this is not a common benefit more and more companies are seeing the possibilities and are working to provide this sort of benefit for their employees.

Wouldn’t it be nice if your employer covered a percentage of the costs for you to go back to school and earn a degree? Because companies like to promote from within, the more qualifications you have the more likely your chances of getting a better position. If your employer offers and educational program as part of your job benefits take advantage of it and maybe you’ll be able to turn your j.o.b. into a career!

Not every employer offers benefits, and when a single mom is job hunting it may seem like she needs to take whatever she can find. But if a minimum wage job with no benefits doesn’t even earn you enough to get health insurance for your child, then maybe you should hold out for a better position with better benefits or better pay.

About Rodney Ashline

Rodney Ashline is a writer and blogger. Since childhood, he was interested in literature and news, and it gave the desire to get a journalistic education. Now he works in the field of education, and he writes useful advice to students based on his problems in their studies. He also writes for different blogs as coursework writing service and on different subjects.

View all posts by Rodney Ashline here.

Save