Kelsmom’s story is instructional. Anyone who thinks that careers are like an elevator and you can get on and off at will… well, usually doesn’t work that way. Entire industries shift over the course of a decade. I’ve counseled women who are trying to get back to professional work after taking off 15 years or so and their frustration with “the system” is sad. I tell them, “you really thought the world of database marketing or credit scoring or small business lending or magazine publishing or cruise line operations was going to stand still while you were raising your family?”
Some of the jobs these women left have disappeared. As in- completely disappeared. Combination of the internet, off-shoring, industry consolidation, productivity gains- completely disappeared. When you are a mid-level marketing manager at a regional bank, two things are almost certain to happen over a period of ten years-
1-marketing as you know it will blow up to be replaced by something else
2- your bank will either be bought or become insolvent.
I feel bad for these women individually. Which is why I think the solution to someone with HS aged kids who hates her job is to get a better job, not to exit paid employment to get more financial aid if there is even the slightest chance down the road that the primary wage earner will die, become disabled, downsized, or otherwise NOT be in a position to carry the load financially.