IMPACTS OF COMPUTER‐MEDIATED HOME‐BASED WORK ON WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES

Abstract

The major conclusions of this study of professional and clerical women who work at home are as follows. Women who work at home as a way of balancing child care and paid employment typically live in traditional two‐parent households, where the father is the major breadwinner. These women work part‐time, primarily for “bonus” money and the psychological benefits of doing something other than being a full‐time home‐maker and mother. Second, they do not work and care for their children simultaneously. They most often work when their partners can care for the children, or when their children are at school or asleep. When a professional woman has dependable, steady work, she is apt to employ paid child care. Third, corporations that hire home‐based workers as independent contractors run the risk of creating second‐class corporate citizens.