Career Alternatives for Attorneys: Baby Maker?

A female associate at a large law firm recently sent us a message along these lines (we’ve tweaked and paraphrased her original email in places):

In these tough economic times, people are (1) having trouble finding jobs as they come out of law school, (2) recently laid-off, or (3) miserable in the jobs they still have, given how low morale is and how many hours they’re expected to work now (given the “be grateful for your job” mentality).
People in such situations are often unable to make a change, given how few jobs there are out there and how much competition there is for them. But they’re scared to just up and quit, because very few employers would actually buy that they had resigned and not been fired.
What’s a girl to do? Make babies. That’s what.

Making the case for making babies, after the jump.


Sometimes parents refer to their kids as “little tax deductions.” Our tipster has a similar idea:

Babies = the perfect “resume gap” explainer. Plus, kids are cheap for the first few years of their life, so it’s not as if people would be taking a huge financial hit to have the child.

This raises the question of what to do with the brat once he or she is old enough to attend private school and tennis camp. But you can cross that bridge when you come to it, right?

I don’t know if there’s empirical evidence showing a correlation between an increase in joblessness and an increase in births, but who knows, maybe there is? Of course, there could be multiple “causes” for such an uptick that aren’t quite as cynical as the “resume gap” filler (e.g., “I’ve always wanted kids, and I’m ready for kids, and this is a nice opportunity to do that”), but I suspect that primary motivators include:
“Crap, I don’t have a job, and I’m going to look unemployable. Have a kid! Then I have a reason for being out of the workforce!”
“I hate my job so much! So I’m going to get pregnant, take maternity leave, use the time to (hopefully) find something else — and, if not, at least I’ll have an airtight excuse for the resume gap.”
I base this theory mostly on anecdotal evidence, as well as the fact that it’s crossed my mind no less than 70 times that, even though I’m not ready for a kid, it sure would be a convenient way to get out of Biglaw right now.

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And don’t forget: making babies can be fun, too!
The reader who suggested this career alternative is a woman, but it could work for a man, too. Leaving the workforce to be a stay-at-home dad, or to adopt and raise a child, has similar advantages.
Now, pulling the ripcord on the pink-or-blue parachute may not work for everyone. Leaving the workforce to have kids works best if you are financially secure already, with tons of savings in the bank, and/or married to someone with high job security and a high income. If you’re single and in debt, quitting your job to pop out babies could put you on the fast track to becoming a welfare queen.
But for people in the proper circumstances, it might be a viable career alternative. Readers, what do you think?

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