Theres, of course, thefinancial aspect.
Theres also how the change might impact your kid (thoughthis is subjective).
And then there is this question.
Do youwantto stay home with your kids?
There are certainly people who can answer this question without hesitation.
YES THIS IS MY LIFES PURPOSE, you might declare.
Or, Stay home with my kids?
Oh God, 100% no.
you’re able to stop reading this right now, and go do you.
But for many parents, the answer is less clear.
You need a big-picture perspective.
For that, you should think like an economist.
I work because I like to.
I love my kids!
But I wouldnt be happy staying home with them.
It isnt that I like my job betterif I had to pick, the kids would win every time.
But the marginal value of time with them declines fast.
(Marginal value will be familiar to anyone who remembers their Econ 101.
There may not be any useful data on this question, but economic theory still comes in handy.)
When my daughter was a baby, I was a stay-at-home parent for about a year.
The early mornings with her were quite lovely.
Id lay her on the play mat and watch her be entranced by the brilliance of a zipper.
It zipsup, and thendown, and thenup, and thendown.
How magical it is to discover the world!
But by about 10 a.m., I was pretty tired (since Id been up since 5:30 a.m.).
By noon, I was over it.
By 4 p.m., I was full of rage.
If I were to graph my day, it would look like a black diamond ski slope.
Multiply that by hundreds and you get a situation that doesnt feel sustainable.
Then take a step back and look at the trends.
Your data might show that youre mostly content, making you well-suited to be a stay-at-home parent.
Or it may show that the marginal value of time with them isnt what you expected.
