Sharing helpful tips to overcome the challenges of motherhood as a migrant
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"When we are asked why ARLA is just for females, our answer is that it is to provide a safe environment for women, because we face different challenges and experiences than men…and if motherhood is not that big of a difference what it is so… "
📣 Being a mum living overseas
Becoming a mother is a big challenge for anyone, sleepless nights, a new milestone to learn every day, being responsible of a little person and its future, a great example of how resilients women are. But being a migrant mum is even a bigger challenge, which includes cultural and language barriers, raising a bilingual child and understanding things like the health system, costs, maternity leave benefits, care options.
During my journey I’ve been told many times that “it takes a village to raise a kid”, that saying hit me really hard every time, as my village was overseas, in the other side of the world, so my actual village was a really tiny one.
📣The main differences with Latin America
Paid parental leave: At the moment in Australia the government pays up to 20 weeks of PPL for those eligible. In this case what I found interesting is that in Australia it is not called ‘maternity leave’, it is called parental leave, and they talk about primary and secondary carer, giving flexibility to choose who stays at home and the opportunity to combine the leave between both parents.
Extra benefits: also, some companies, in order to close the gender bias, have parental leave benefits, which includes ‘x’ weeks of PPL, extended leave and flexibility when returning to work.
Superannuation: one of the main factors in the pay gender gap is the difference in superannuation between men and women due to the time that women are off work taking care of their children. This means that when retiring, a female worker with the same salary as a male colleague and the same amount of years worked, has less money accumulated in their superannuation fund. Therefore, to close the gap, the government has recently approved to contribute to the superannuation fund while on parental leave.
Unpaid leave: this is what I find one of the biggest differences. As per legislation, when returning to work after parental leave, your position must be maintained with the same duties and responsibilities, and the employer must keep that position for up to one year. This time will be unpaid but it gives you more flexibility when planning ahead.
Flexibility, work culture & support: every company and every experience is different. But from my own experience, the biggest difference with Latin America was the working culture. I remember being nervous and anxious about telling my boss that I was pregnant, overthinking about what they would say, as we are always busy maybe it wasn't the best timing, however, the response I had from my boss, from the project leaders and from human resources team was always positive, taking care of my well being and considering the emotional journey that pregnancy and motherhood is. Whereas, I didn't experience pregnancy back at home, I faced many times during job interviews the questions “who do you live with?” & “are you planning on having children any time soon?”, questions that are illegal in Australia and that are not relevant for the job duties. There is a rising culture of the importance of giving support to mums and dads.
📣 Returning to work - Child care options:
Australia offers various child care options that may vary in availability, cost, and quality depending on factors such as location, provider, and government subsidies, some options may be:
Long Day Care: these centers operate during long hours to accommodate the working shifts and provide care and educational programs.
Family Day Care: involves qualified educators caring for children in small groups within a home setting.
Occasional Care: providing child care on a casual or part-time basis.
In-home Care: these are qualified educators providing care for children in the child's own home.
Babysitter/Nanny: there are plenty of websites or apps that offer babysitting services.
Every family and situation is different, but the working culture gives the parents flexibility to return to work, either being part time or working from home, you just need to find what suits better in your case.
📣Expand your village
CAHFS: The local government has a few tools & resources for parents that as migrants we may not know we got them, find your state government Child and Family health service. This one has a parent help line, with nurses on the other side of the line, which I’ve called many times for advice especially about the baby development. They also have nurses and midwives that can assist you in any matter. But the most important tool that I found was the parent groups. I joined a parent group, this was a kind of therapy group, orientated by a nurse, where general topics were discussed. Of course even though this was called “parent group” they were all mums. After the sessions finished the group kept meeting weekly, so now I’m part of a local and diverse group of mums whose babies are the same age, where we share our achievements and frustrations, the baby gets to socialise and we help each other in this amazing but overwhelming journey.
Local Latin groups: One of the amazing things about Australia is that there are Latin communities everywhere, and this includes Latin groups of mums. I've found the local group of ‘mamás’ really helpful in terms of information, orientation in different stages (as there are mums of all ages) and giving and selling second hand clothes and goods.
Archibubs: Is an EmAGN initiative focused in the industry networking with parents of all stages, encouraging them to share experiences about parenting and pursuing a career in the creative field.
ArLA Village: With a rising number of ArLA members being or becoming mums, we’re launching ArLA Village, a safe space to help each other from the professional point of view, as we're not alone in this journey of combining motherhood with a career pathway.
So, if there is a related topic you want to discuss or if you want to share your experience please reach one of our team members, as we always welcome everyone to join the conversation. If you're a mum or a mum to be, stay tuned on our social media channels for more news.
Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day being very much loved and having a good rest to all the mums, mums to be and mother figures from ArLA Team.
If Mother’s Day is a difficult day for you, just know that we support you and that you have a safe environment here, we’re thinking of you.
ArLA Village: Inspired in the local government parent groups this will be a space for mums and mums to be, to share their experiences while developing a career in Architecture in Australia, or looking for a job in the field. This will be a platform with virtual meetings with orientated discussions about different related topics. ArLA village welcomes all to join the conversation. This growing community values the benefits of the experience sharing and embraces the diversity of perspectives, the main objective is to create a supportive environment where everyone can contribute. Ask for the Whatsapp chat link in the homepage form.
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