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Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

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Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#111

Post by Thlom »

the_gipsy wrote: post #46
lynx23 wrote: post #33

If the pandemic has demonstrated one thing, it is that I don't want to work in an environment where almost everyone is remote. It has become very clear that WFH workers take extra time off at random intervals during a day, and are typically hard to reach if you need to talk to them. Also, the smaller the children, the more likely it is they are subtly unavailable during work time. This is not acceptable, even though…

First off, there is a huge difference in being 100% available and not outputting work. They are not exclusive. I WFH with people with babies and kids and they absolutely exceed expectations. Second, people in office can be just as unavailable or unproductive as from home. There are a million ways to slack off or be intermittently absent. Third, it's a matter of gender equality too. If the childcare is split 50% then…

Kids should go to child care so both mother and father are free to work.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#113

Post by em-bee »

Thlom wrote: post #111
the_gipsy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off, there is a huge difference in being 100% available and not outputting work. They are not exclusive. I WFH with people with babies and kids and they absolutely exceed expectations. Second, people in office can be just as unavailable or unproductive as from home. There are a million ways to slack off or be intermittently absent. Third, it's a matter of gender equality too. If the childcare is split 50% then…

Kids should go to child care so both mother and father are free to work.

if they are old enough maybe. less than 3 years they should be at home with their parents.

in austria/germany kindergarten and school traditionally is half day. afternoon childcare is considered special and very expensive, if you can even find a place. finding a space in kindergarten can be a problem too.

many parents want to send their children to childcare but they simply can't

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#114

Post by lampshades »

dumpster_fire wrote: post #105

During the 2 years of COVID WFH, I got to see my baby grow up and be there for all the milestones. For the next baby, it's full RTO and I've been feeling guilty this whole time that I'm not able to give the same amount of attention to him. His sister learnt extremely fast because I would be there every other hour just playing and asking questions for just a few minutes. Sorry second kid, you'll have the same attentio…

Yeah, I don’t know how these other people are acting like this is such a walk in the park. WFH with young children has been rough for me. While I wouldn’t have had it any other way and am very blessed to be able to see my children grow up, I’m going to go back to an office. I’m not productive here.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#115

Post by red-iron-pine »

rco8786 wrote: post #88
tyoma wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve also been working from home and very glad to have been there for my kids when they are young, but highly productive are not two words I’d use to describe the experience. I guess my time management and prioritization skill have improved by necessity, but the lack of uninterrupted quiet time is real.

> but the lack of uninterrupted quiet time is real. Do you have dedicated office space in your home? This is crucial. Additionally, once the kids go to school the house gets very, very quiet for most of the day.

> Additionally, once the kids go to school the house gets very, very quiet for most of the day.

Sounds glorious.

If you need some daytime distraction get a cat or dog. Taking the house-beast for a stroll around the neighborhood is good for my mental health, gets me away from work, and keeps the pooch happy. Kids make having a dog easier too -- he can bug them to play while I finish reports.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#116

Post by AndrewDucker »

noelwelsh wrote: post #2

My kids were born well before the pandemic, but, as remote worker, being able to hang out at home with them has been great[^1] I'm much more involved in their life than I would be if I was getting home at 6pm+ every evening. [^1]: Once they were old enough they didn't need constant supervision. Trying to work from home with a toddler was a nightmare.

Seconded. I got to spend a lot more time with my second kid because I was at home.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#117

Post by Thlom »

em-bee wrote: post #113
Thlom wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids should go to child care so both mother and father are free to work.

if they are old enough maybe. less than 3 years they should be at home with their parents. in austria/germany kindergarten and school traditionally is half day. afternoon childcare is considered special and very expensive, if you can even find a place. finding a space in kindergarten can be a problem too. many parents want to send their children to childcare but they simply can't

In Norway most kids start kindergarten when they are 1-2 years old, it's not really a problem for most. Probably much more fun than hanging with their mother all day. Some have shorter days the first year(s) depending on parents work schedule etc. Kindergarten is heavily subsidised by the state, so that makes it affordable for everyone.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#118

Post by nextlevelwizard »

humanrebar wrote: post #75
nextlevelwizard wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally do not see an issue with 3 office day mandate. Your job probably isn't so solitary that you don't need other people at all and at the office you get a lot of micro interactions that you wouldn't get otherwise. Just think when was the last time you randomly ran into a guy from the next department while getting coffee and you were just chit-chatting and one of you brought up a topic that helped the other?…

I want to be paid for the value I provide, not the GPS coordinates of my desk chair. I think it's far from clear that remote workers are always, or even generally, providing less value than in physically present ones. I know I had a lot more time to document and do other kinds of written collaboration, especially across the organization, when I was working more days per week remotely.

> I want to be paid for the value I provide, not the GPS coordinates of my desk chair.

As per my previous comment people at the office do provide more value.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#119

Post by scruple »

tyoma wrote: post #104
rco8786 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but the lack of uninterrupted quiet time is real. Do you have dedicated office space in your home? This is crucial. Additionally, once the kids go to school the house gets very, very quiet for most of the day.

I do. But not like its sound proof. And sometimes your partner just needs help. And other times your kids stop by and ask for something. You can say you’re “at work” as much as you want, but you’re still at home. And yes, I am sure once everyone is at school for a big chunk of the day it all gets much easier.

Exactly my experience and what I came here to say.

Locking myself in my home office during work hours isn't a solution to this problem. I have to use the bathroom, get water, coffee, eat lunch, take walks, etc. The kids see me and want to play, want to hang out, want to tell me about everything that happened since the last time they saw me. They might come to the office door and start pounding on it, yelling out for Mom or Dad, depending on who's in the office working. At that point one of us has to physically respond to the situation. There's also the simple fact that sometimes only Mom or Dad can truly manage the situation at hand. I've had to go break up fights outside in the back yard after I realized the background noise I was hearing was an exasperated grandparent who couldn't get them to stop.

We have 3 kids, a set of twins and a singleton, whose average age is still under 3 years. It's a very challenging situation and work generally takes a back seat when the kids are in the house.

Re: Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation

#120

Post by gedy »

tyoma wrote: post #104
rco8786 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but the lack of uninterrupted quiet time is real. Do you have dedicated office space in your home? This is crucial. Additionally, once the kids go to school the house gets very, very quiet for most of the day.

I do. But not like its sound proof. And sometimes your partner just needs help. And other times your kids stop by and ask for something. You can say you’re “at work” as much as you want, but you’re still at home. And yes, I am sure once everyone is at school for a big chunk of the day it all gets much easier.

> But not like its sound proof. And sometimes your partner just needs help. And other times your kids stop by and ask for something. You can say you’re “at work” as much as you want, but you’re still at home.

Sounds exactly like issues at our open offices too?

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