Nesting: Freelancing With Small Children

I've been working for myself as a freelancer for the past nine months. The experience has certainly had its ups and downs. Now as I count down the days until my second baby arrives, I'm trying to decide if I want to continue on this way so I can spend more time with my kids or look for something with a more steady paycheck.

I'm sure this is a dilemma many parents with small children face. On the one hand, I love the flexibility that comes along with freelancing. If there's an event at my daughter's school, I know I can attend. If she's running a fever, I don't have to worry about taking a sick day of my own to care for my little girl. And best of all, I no longer have to fret about how I'm perceived by my boss because I'm a mom and have competing responsibilities at home and at work.

But there is also a downside. I'm finding it's tough to get paid for my work. I imagine part of my issue is tied to the economy and perhaps things will improve as the business environment gets healthier. But at the moment, I just can't figure out how other freelancers and consultants get by.

I never thought freelancing would be easy. That's why I decided to diversify my projects from the very beginning so that if one area got soft I would still have other streams of income to fall back on. At the moment, I write articles for media publications and corporate clients. I consult private businesses that trying to understand the financial issues facing families. And in a few months I hope to start speaking to parenting groups on the same topic.

But it seems like the poor economy has hit many of my clients. Editors and marketing departments no longer have the budgets to pay writers what they used to. Corporations are cutting nonessential projects and aren't paying for the work or hours that have already been dedicated toward assignments. And I can't tell you how many people have asked me to come speak to their group for free. One fortune 500 company even asked for complimentary copies of my book, which I would have had to pay for out of my own pocket.

One thing, however, hasn't change. My child care costs have remained steady and high. If I don't get paid I'm not only out my time, I'm also out the cash I've spent on a babysitter or day care.

After speaking to other freelancers and consultants, I still haven't found a solution to my problem. Clearly, I need to have some kind of stipulation written into my contracts that will compensate me for my time if my assignment is cancelled. I'm just a bit concerned that other people I'm competing against for work may not insist on the same protection and that they will get the assignment instead of me as a result. Then again, I can't keep throwing money away on unnecessary child care, especially when I'll have two to care for in a couple of weeks.

I guess for the moment I'll just have to wrap up my current projects and see if the economy starts to improve once I'm ready to take on freelance work again.

Have other freelancers run into payment problems? If so, how do you handle it and balance it with child care costs?

My First Pay Check image by Szufan, CC 2.0.