Top Flexible Stay-At-Home Jobs for Moms

Here’s a fun fact: Moms make up a significant portion of today’s workforce. In 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, 71.2% of mothers with children under the age of 18 participated in the labor force — a rate only 20% lower than fathers.

It’s time we changed the definition of “working” or “stay-at-home” moms. After all, modern-day inventions have allowed women to not only have the careers they want after kids (in whatever shape or form they prefer), but also build a working lifestyle that’s conducive to having and supporting a family. Side hustles, flexible jobs, remote jobs, freelance gigs, part-time work, entrepreneurship — these are just some of the many options available to career-ambitious mothers.

But what kinds of flexible or online jobs are out there for working mothers? And which work-from home-jobs for moms pay off, literally, as well as in terms of happiness, growth, and fulfillment? 

Whether you’re looking to switch careers to spend more time with your family or reenter the workforce, here are nine of the best jobs for stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) to consider as they browse job sites. 

The best flexible work-from-home jobs for moms

Kick off your job search today with our list of good online jobs for stay-at-home moms — pulled based on their work-from-home access, salary, demand, and flexible or diverse options.

The best part: Many of these stay-at-home jobs require little or no experience!

1. Social media manager

Because social media happens online, social media management and marketing can be done, well, from anywhere you can take a computer. 

And it’s only going to become more prevalent across industries looking to beef up their digital marketing: A 2021 LinkedIn report found that social media coordinator was one of the top three fastest-growing occupations.

Glassdoor reports that social media managers make on average $65,609 a year, while Payscale puts the average annual salary at $57,200.

2. Customer service representative

A 2022 report from McKinsey notes that since the pandemic, call volumes have increased and become more complex — and companies are struggling to find talent to keep up.

This leaves plenty of room for working moms, as a lot of the job can be done remotely and during unique hours, depending on your preferred schedule. The BLS lists the median annual salary for this occupation at $37,780, while Glassdoor and Payscale say remote customer service jobs pay around $38,000 and $44,000 respectively.

3. Virtual assistant

Many virtual assistants work alone or for themselves as business owners, which helps them truly craft their own work routine and pick and choose their favorite clients.

According to Glassdoor, virtual assistants make anywhere between $50,000 and $87,000 a year, while Payscale puts the average annual salary slightly lower, at around $47,000.

4. Transcriptionist or translator

Demand for translators is expected to grow in the next 10 years, the BLS reports, adding that a lot of the work can be done part time or on a varied schedule. If you speak another language, this could be a great opportunity to flex that muscle in a written or audio setting.

The median wage for interpreters, the BLS and Payscale say, is around $54,000 a year. Glassdoor puts the average salary at $57,000. For transcriptionists, Glassdoor lists salaries as anywhere from $46,000 to $76,000 a year. (The BLS reports the median annual salary for medical transcriptionists is $34,730.)

5. Accounting clerk

The BLS and Glassdoor list the average salary of accounting clerks at around $45,000 per year.

6. Graphic designer

The reason why this gig works so well from home is because graphic design work doesn’t require a ton of oversight — and when it does, a lot can be communicated and monitored over a video call or project management tool.

Glassdoor reports that remote graphic designers make anywhere from $49,000 to $81,000 a year. 

7. Recruiter

Recruiters who specialize in popular fields, such as IT, AI, or software development, can garner even higher salaries and job opportunities. (Give TripleTen graduate Rita Sandomirskaya’s story_{Interview with a superhero: meet TripleTen grad Margarita “Rita” Sandomirskaya} a read for how to do this.) For example, a technical recruiter in the United States can make up to $203,000 a year, according to Glassdoor, while a general recruiter makes up to $136,000. 

8. Software developer or scrum master

You may have doubts that software development is the right mom job — but just take a look at TripleTen graduates Pinwei Wu_{A New Country, A New Career, A New Calling: Pinwei Wu’s TripleTen Story} and Sindhu Sirigireddy_{TripleTen Grad Sindhu Sirigireddy Talks Leaving Web Dev for Data Science}, who made it work for their home lives.

9. Small business owner

Don’t want to be tied to any one person’s demands or schedule? Consider starting a business.

There are tons of options for making money completely on your own, under your own brand name. You could sell products (clothes, jewelry, artwork, refurbished or dropshipped items, coding courses) or services (coaching, writing, web development, financial assistance) online or as an influencer, open a physical store, or start an LLC. Alternatively, you could become a gig worker for a rideshare company, delivery app, or marketplace platform such as Taskrabbit or Upwork, where you still have the flexibility to choose your own hours and clients.

Salaries vary as an entrepreneur, but one Google search and you’ll find an abundance of stories (with tips!) of people who surpassed the six-figure mark all by themselves.

Why tech is good for moms

Tech is one of the best careers for working moms for a number of reasons. The first is that most tech companies, unlike more traditional corporate settings, started out as remote or hybrid. As a result, they’re a lot more accommodating to parents when it comes to work-life balance.

These organizations — by nature of when they were founded and by whom — are also a lot more progressive, spearheading and promoting crucial benefits for mothers including fertility care and ample parental leave. Not to mention, the field provides a significantly higher salary potential for women (the gender pay gap still exists in tech, don’t get us wrong, but getting more women in the industry can help close that).

Perhaps more importantly, you can be a direct contributor to the products, services, and missions that help us build a happier, healthier, and more sustainable world.

The path to tech: bootcamps

There are a lot of ways to find a job in tech, and no one way is right for everyone. Going back to school, taking on an internship, or even teaching yourself how to code are all fantastic methods of building your skill set.

If none of those sound appealing, however, consider a bootcamp_{The Best Careers for Women Are in Tech}. They’re flexible, asynchronous, and personalized to help you hone both the hard and soft skills (say goodbye to imposter syndrome!) that will enable you to thrive in your chosen field. 

Women Who Code is partnering with TripleTen to offer a 50% scholarship to members who qualify for their bootcamps. At half the price of tuition, you can get professional training in data science, software engineering, business intelligence analytics, and quality assurance — all catered to your schedule as a mother.

Want to know what a bootcamp looks like day to day? Read about TripleTen students who balanced motherhood and a coding bootcamp_{Balancing Motherhood and a Coding Bootcamp: Here’s How Five TripleTen Alumnae Made It Happen} — or take our short quiz to figure out if the format speaks to you.