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Stepping Back Into The World Of Adults

Heather Duemling

This story is part of a series on re-entering the workforce. View the other stories here.



Looking for a new job can be hard. You have to update your resume, network with friends and make sure you have the skill sets to impress potential employers.

All of those things are especially difficult for mothers who have chosen to leave the workforce to take care of their children and now find themselves once again stepping into the world of adults.

Heather Duemling's Story



On a bright summer day, Heather Duemling's life can seem idyllic.

Outside her two-story home north of Bloomington, three chickens freely roam the grassy yard, a fenced off garden promises delicious summer vegetables and Duemling's two children, Etienne and Sylvie, splash in the creek that trickles through their property.

"I think I got one," blonde-haired, blue-eyed Etienne exclaims as he checks a net he's just doused in the water. He and Sylvie are trying to catch crayfish and waterbugs as Duemling and her husband look on.

"More than anything I was ready to be a mom," Duemling says, reflecting on her decision to quit her job after she and her husband adopted their two children five years ago. "I was ready for that to be the focus of my life and it's been great."

Etienne and Sylvie will enter kindergarten this fall, and Duemling says that means it's time for her to go back to work.

"Now I have to figure out what I'm going to be when I grow up," she says.

In addition to finding her own passion, Duemling faces a host of hurdles she must overcome.

Duemling is 50 years old, and from what she says she hears, that'll make getting a job more difficult.

"Nine times out of 10,[employers] are looking for someone who's younger than I am who they can pay less," she says.



Plus she'll have to explain the five-year gap in her resume and make it clear there are times when things will come up with her kids. They'll get sick, or there will be a snow day and Duemling will have to stay home.

The Ideal Worker Mentality



"We have this traditional mind that if you are a really serious worker, you have to be present at work all the time. It doesn't have to be this way," says Indiana University professor Youngjoo Cha, who studies gender inequality in the labor market.

She says Duemling's situation isn't rare. A lot of workers have families or loved ones they have to care for, and that applies to fathers too, who are increasingly  staying at home to take care of their kids.

Women have steadily made up more of the labor force in recent decades.

In 1975, fewer than half of all women with children under the age of 18 years old were in the labor market. Now, that number is 70 percent.

Cha says that illustrates the need for employers to be flexible.

"I think it is time to rethink how the work is done and how the work should be done," she says. "Some proactive companies are trying to implement those ideas…that allows the workers to have some more flexibility in terms of where the work is done and when the work is done, so that could alleviate some of the pressure on our families that we are increasingly experiencing.

Cha suggest employers could even allow new parents to cut back their hours for a few years, for example, then come back full time when their children enter school.

She adds there also need to be changes to laws.

"The water has been boiling for a while and the White house is trying to put together a flexible work arrangement," she says.

Right now, most states - including Indiana - only offer the federal minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

Other states, such as California, are starting to require companies to offer paid leave, and employees are starting to demand more flexibility as well.

"This economic trend and what the people want and what the people need could be a driving force in the near future," she says.

A Mom Who Made The Transition



Changing stereotypes and laws is likely to take years. In the meantime, mothers could take some advice from Kathie Green, who successfully re-entered the workforce in 2001 after being at home with her kids for seven years.

"I was incredibly nervous. I didn't know what I could do," she says.

Almost all the photos in Green's house are of her family, revealing how important they are to her. But Green says she felt like she was a better mother when she was working and providing her kids an example of what it means to be a productive member of society.

I never equated volunteer work with job skills. I should have all along.


"IÂ think I was a good mom when I was home, but I don't think I was a great mom," she says.

Green was fortunate that a friend she had worked with in PTA realized her potential and recommended her for a job at the local chamber of commerce.

"I never equated volunteer work with job skills," she says. "I should have all along because the things that PTA taught me - public speaking, publisher, Excel for the budgets - all those translated into the job I eventually got."

Now, Green has moved on from her job at the Chamber of Commerce and works for Rep. Marlin Stutzman.

She realizes she wouldn't be where she is today without help from her network of friends, which is why she recommends moms looking to re-enter the workforce take advantage of any resources they can.

Watch this story:

This story is part of a series on re-entering the workforce. View the other stories here.



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