Devoted to WAHMs -Work at Home Moms

Two recent news stories about working at home captured my attention. It seems that working at home is becoming more and more common.

In fact, it seems that working from home may be a new American (and perhaps international) ideal.

The first article, from the Chicago Tribune, describes the life of a married couple who BOTH work from home. The post describes how working from home allows the couple to juggle their parental and family responsibilities with their corporate jobs. In this instance, it appears that the couple are telecommuters, not home business owners.

The second article, from Yahoo's hotjobs page, describes how many seniors are chosing to start their own businesses instead of retire. In fact, according to a Rand Corp. survey quoted in the article, 20% of United States (U.S.) workers over 50 are self-employed. (By the way, this piece also has some great tips for anyone looking at starting a business instead of retiring.

The number of people working from home has increased dramatically in the last fifteen years. The trend is not only true for the U.S., but all over the world. There are a few reasons for this:

• Better communication. The Internet and e-mail have made communication from various locations virtually instantaneous. In addition, voice-over IP phone services, such as Skype, have made long-distance calls affordable for even the smallest business.
  
  
• Lower overhead. As companies tighten their belts, they look for ways to save money. One way to do that is to reduce the high overhead costs of maintaining an office building. Many employees already have a computer and Internet (and for those who don't, companies are often willing to provide a subsidy).
  
  
• Environmental consciousness. Commuting is one of the biggest sources of pollution worldwide. (If you don't believe it, look at this special health report at Forbes.com.)