I have enjoyed articles Penelope Trunk has written in the past and I stumbled across this article recently: http://www.bnet.com/blog/penelope-trunk/forget-the-job-hunt-have-a-baby-instead/185 Titled: “Forget the Job Hunt. Have a Baby Instead.”  As a woman and a mother I found this article intriguing and thought I’d share and comment on it for you.
 
In it, Penelope Trunk offers reasoning on why she suggests forgetting the job search and having a baby instead. I’m sure you can guess that she has had some heated responses to her article. That’s very bold advice. Her reasons were definitely interesting. However, I think as with any career advice, every individual has unique situations and that this solution would only make sense for certain individuals.
 
This would make sense for someone who was planning on having kids in the short-term. With the free time it might be the opening a woman needed in order to begin a family. But the truth of the matter is that not everyone can afford financially to have a child, especially without income and maternity leave. Some women don’t want to have children and some might still be searching for a partner. Other younger women are simply not ready to have a child. While this might make good sense to your neighbor, it might be bad advice for you.
 
This type of advice is situational and there really is no one answer that applies to everyone across the board. Just because you are a woman currently unemployed, you should of course think about the financial ramifications and the support from your partner and family, among other things.
 
As a certified Career Coach, I agree with Penelope’s point that women who want children need to manage their career choices differently than men because of their biological constraints. And they need to manage kids differently, career paths and unemployment differently than men.
 
Still, I want to reinforce that decisions you make about your career path and motherhood should be based on your own situation; now and long-range, with lots of other factors weighing in.
 
So, just because you might be an unemployed younger woman right now this doesn’t mean you should jump on board and take her advice: to forget the job hunt and have a baby instead. You need to consider all the factors in your life to make this decision.
 
What do you think of her article?
 
Hallie Crawford
Career Transition Coach
 
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