Ecomomics: The Savings And Costs Of The Sahm.

EcoMOMics: the Savings and Costs of the SAHM.

I made the most important decision of my life almost two years ago. I was 4 months pregnant with my daughter, had a 15 month old son in daycare at least 8 hours a day, and was working a minimum of 50 hours a week as a Restaurant Manager. My son was already in his 4th daycare situation after a move and a few horrible experiences. The long hours and the feeling of cutting too many corners left me feeling burned out. I was over-worked, under-paid, stressed out, and just plain tired. Oh, and did I mention pregnant?!? After an emergency room visit and 3 weeks of medical appointments, the great minds at Kaiser finally decided that I was physically and mentally better off at home, and I was put on early maternity leave and disability. Well, who am I to argue with one of the top ranked HMOs? I gladly turned in my manager's keys and headed home to be with my son.

Within a week I had my son on a schedule. He knew when it was time to eat, play, and sleep; and he went to bed without a fuss! He was better behaved, slept sounder, and ate more. I was better rested, less stressed, though still underpaid. It all just felt right. After a long look at our finances and our hearts, my husband and I decided that I would put my career on hold and don the title of CEO of Casa Rivas.

I'm not alone in my current field, far from it: the number of U.S. mothers who put work on hold and stayed home with children grew to 5.4 million in 2003 alone. Reasons can range from the exorbitant cost of childcare to deep emotional attachment. But one thing is for sure: it is not an easy decision to make, nor one you can make alone. For me to give up my glamorous career at Einstein Bros BagelsÐ'®, my husband and I had to study what I have termed "EcoMOMics: the savings and costs of the SAHM."

The first thing most couples consider is the impact of one less paycheck on the family wallet. We were fortunate in the beginning. Because I was home on pregnancy disability, I was still getting paid steadily. And I could count on that pay until my daughter was 14 weeks old. The state of California covers pregnancy with SDI (state disability insurance) payments. As long as I had earned at least $300 from which SDI deductions were withheld during a previous period (specified by when you go on disability), I was eligible for payments of roughly 60% of my salary starting on my eighth day out of work and continuing until 6 weeks post partum or 8 weeks if I delivered by C-section (which I did). After that the Paid Family Leave act kicked in and I got 6 weeks of paid "baby-bonding" time. Once we did the math, we realized that I would actually be bringing in more money than when I was working because we no longer had to pay exorbitant amounts for daycare. As far as what to do when the disability ran out? Well, we would cross that bridge when we came to it.

Day care wasn't the only cost that we cut out. We spent less in gas with one less commuter in the family, less on last minute take out meals, less on lunches for me at work, less on water because we did less laundry since my work clothes were no longer in the pile everyday. Not to mention losing my paycheck pushed us into a lower tax bracket, and my car insurance premium fell because my car was no longer classified as a commuter car.

Now EcoMOMics is about more than just money. When I decided to transition into domesticity, it was about more than just my paycheck. I was giving up daily adult interaction, plunging myself into near isolation, taking on the full weight of my children's pre-pre-school education