We Can Have It All: The Millennial Woman’s Motto

Millennials, also known as the generation that has everything at the touch of their fingers. We expect answers right away, we want to know everything, and we have answers for everything. In simpler terms, we want it all. Not only do we want it all, but we know we can have it all. That’s right, it is possible. We can have our cakes and eat them too.

In terms of the working world, millennial women know especially that they can have it all. Back in the day (yes, when we were children), women in the work force had to choose between working or being a mother. It was nearly impossible to have it all. There was no such thing as a woman CEO who also had two children at home and a healthy relationship with her family. Now, it is possible. Millennial woman, we can have it all. Let’s go for it.

According to a recent article in NY Magazine properly entitled “Millennial Women Have Evolved Beyond Lean In“, more millennial-aged woman are planning their careers around having families. That’s right, they know they want both a career and a family, and they’re going after both. Millennial women are savvy enough to know that there are jobs out there that will cater to a family life, and those are the jobs they are going after. They are looking for more flexible positions that will allow them to easily take time off when they raise kids. These jobs do exist!

Recently, a survey was taken of Harvard Business School alumni which showed that 37% of millennial woman in general and 42% of those millennial women that were already married planned to take a pause from their career to focus on their family. When it came to women surveyed in Generation X, only 28% had the same feelings, and only a mere 17% of baby-boomer women had the same train of thinking. These differences are insane!

The younger generation knows that it is possible to have it all. We no longer have to choose between having a family and having a successful career. Don’t believe me? Come take a look in my office. My boss, the Director of Communications at my company, has a one-year-old daughter and yet still manages to run our entire communications department beautifully. She has grown our communications to new levels, and is still raising a beautiful, well-behaved little girl. Not enough? Let’s take a look at my CEO. That’s right, the CEO of my company is not only the big boss, but also a mother of two. She is successful, important, highly educated, and much respected, and will put her family before anything. By seeing women such as these two have such successful careers, I know that I too can have it all. I know it’s possible to have a career and a family. I know that there are jobs out there that will respect me wanting to have both a family and a career, and not expect me to pick just one. Fellow millennial women, we can have it all.