Stay at home moms: Future entrepreneurs

Many of us underestimate the social and economic value of a “stay at home mom” In fact, many of us cast a demeaning eye to her state of affairs. A stay at home mom is considered boring, unworldly, and unbecoming — she is not the first choice of a person whom you want to associate yourself with. or socialize with. This misconception has been going on for too long - and it needs to end. This misconception is best explained in Ann Crittenden’s book called “The Price of Motherhood”. According to Ann, not only are women a marginalized entity in the social order of worldly happenings, but they are also made to pay the price for performing the most challenging yet rewarding task that has been responsible for the continuity of human life on planet Earth.
As a former reporter with The New York Times, who quit her professional career for a life of motherhood, Ann highlights the economic value of mothers who choose to stay at home to’ raise a family, because as she states, these “stay at home moms” are a nation’s “invisible” and “unpaid” laborers, whose work has so far been underestimated and not formally recognized.
As I read through those eye opening lines I wondered how long will it take for us to appreciate, quantify and compensate stay at home moms so that they have the option of staying at home without feeling the pinch of financial strain and the guilt of being left behind professionally.
For a country such as Saudi Arabia whose population is 60 percent youth, the act of parenting and the number of present and future “stay at home moms” is on the increase. Which means that young families will be robbed of the extra income (going from a double income family to a single income one) that they need especially with the rise of the cost of living, and the increase of newborns.
Strategically our country has to do something about it — and now. Economically, this situation is not good for all parties concerned: individuals, young families and nation. Families are financially stressed, and the nation is robbed of the skills and output of its workforce, and burdened with future unemployment increase once these moms are ready to reintegrate themselves back into the national labor force. The only way forward from this catch-22 situation is to enable and encourage young stay at home moms to engage in entrepreneurial activity during the decade or so that they devote to building their families. Simply put: Home-based business startups. Yes, it is true many young moms have already taken that path, but it is a path that is still shaky, still based on impulse and with no professional standing, training or strategic socio-economic input.
Initiating home-based business incubators will help these moms structure their ideas and products systematically. It can help them understand the finances of how to engage in entrepreneurial activity and it will show them how to capitalize on social media outlets to gain significant market share and profitability.
I remember when my son was born in England, I’d have a visit from a social worker/ nurse that the borough I lived in provided me for free. Her job was to check in and confirm the welfare of both myself and my son on a daily basis for over a month ­— or as long as I need it. From this platform, I call out to the Ministry of Commerce to adopt the same concept but with a totally different mission. Imagine if stay at home moms could stay at home and earn a living by building their own startups? Imagine if on a daily or weekly basis this young mom would get a visit from her business counselor checking in on her progress and guiding her along the path to economic freedom? Imagine that when this stay at home mom is finally ready to go back to work, she will no longer need to search for a job nor will she need to rebuild her professional skills. Instead, she will be a full-fledged business owner, with a steady (if not growing) income, and a strong contributor to the economy.

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