Working from home has been a way for millions of women to earn an income while successfully raising their children. While the benefits for family life are often promoted as the best reason for working at home, there are key financial benefits as well. These can be grouped into 5 main money-saving reasons why women should consider working from home.
Lower childcare costs
Childcare can often take a large percentage of a woman's income when she has a family to support. In many cases, the cost of childcare to fit around the working hours makes it financially impossible for a woman to return to work.
When working from home, you can often fit your work around your children, rather than trying to fit them around your work. Making use of school and pre-school provision, and possibly sharing the school run with one or two other mothers can give you valuable hours of free or almost free childcare.
Being at home also means you can still work if your children are ill and cannot go to school. You will not lose a day's pay because you cannot make it in to the office, or have to leave early.
Lower transportation costs
While you may still need to keep and run your car, working from home usually means you do not have to commute to the office every week day. You will also not have to pay parking fees, and the wear and tear on your vehicle will be reduced, meaning less maintenance costs overall.
Even if you usually take public transport to your workplace, the cost of a season pass or daily bus fares soon adds up. Working from home may mean just one trip in to the office each week, rather than every day. Reducing the number of vehicles on the roads is also better for the environment, and can save money for the whole neighbourhood by reducing the amount of wear on the roads and the need for extra parking provision. This could result in lower local taxes overall.
No need for a large “work wear” wardrobe
Many people have several outfits that they wear to work but not at home. Working from home eliminates this need. You can work in your every day clothes, or even in your pyjamas if you really want to.
Some people find that they feel more motivated to work at home if they still dress the way they would if they were heading to the office. However, it is possible to have fewer work outfits if you save them for the times when you have a business meeting to attend. This could in turn save you money on your dry cleaning bills, as you will not be wearing those clothes quite so often.
Less temptation to spend big on lunches
Lunch is often a social activity and not just a means to refuel your body. This can include going out to a restaurant several times each week with work colleagues and spending more than you would on lunch than if you were by yourself. Of course you can take sandwiches to work for lunch, but the temptation is often still there to go out with your co-workers instead.
Even if you do take a packed lunch, you may find that you spend your lunch hour wandering around the local shops. This can also lead to impulse buying or spending money on items you do not need and would not have bought if you had stayed in the office. Working from home, and eating lunch in your own kitchen or dining room, perhaps with your children, can eliminate that over-spending habit.
For the employer: less overheads
If you are an employer, encouraging your staff to work from home often makes sound financial sense. It can reduce your overheads significantly, by not needing a large business premises and not having to make costly health and safety improvements to your buildings. It will also reduce your utility costs for electricity, telephones and water dramatically.
You may worry that your staff will not work as hard, or be honest about the amount of time spent working if they are at home. The Teleworking Association has carried out numerous studies on employment habits of those working from home. Consistently they find that home workers have up to 50% more productivity than their office-based counterparts, the staff take less sick leave, are more motivated, and the overall staff retention is higher for these workers.
These factors all indicate that working from home is financially beneficial both for the employer and the employee, and could substantially save everyone money.