The decision to have children as a young lawyer is not one that is made lightly. Generally, young lawyers have long discussions with their partners to decide whether this is the right time for their careers, and whether they can afford it. In March of 2020, the ABA Young Lawyers Division polled members and, of the 1,084 young lawyer respondents, nearly half (48%) said they postponed or decided not to have children because of their debts.

Being a lawyer and a parent is hard. Lawyers want to be taken seriously and there is already a stigma that parents don’t commit as much to work as non-parents. The pandemic only highlighted the juggling act that goes into being an effective parent or caregiver. As young lawyers we were especially equipped to quickly pivot to working remotely, but there was another area of life that many had to consider for the first time. With the closing of many daycares and schools, parents had to figure out how to provide childcare while meeting work commitments. 

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]