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I Quit My $300k Corporate Job To Become a Stay-At-Home Dad
The decision was hard.
I had not considered myself part of the Great Resignation. Only a dad in need of childcare. Yet when I looked deeper into why people were quitting their jobs en masse, women lead the pack. That should send a message to Corporate America and U.S. politicians — childcare is broken in America.
My stay-at-home dad life officially starts on November 30th. I will take care of our baby boy by day and write by night. If you want to follow along, you can do it on Medium or through polispandit.com (for political and legal analysis) and thedadlifestyle.com (for dad and parenting content).
The decision to become a stay-at-home dad was far from easy. My wife and I brainstormed and debated for the months and years leading up to this point. In the end, I came to the conclusion that while I may be replaceable in Corporate America, I am not replaceable at home.
The Decision
Leading up to my wife giving birth, childcare was weighing on us. My wife and I were both working from home given the pandemic, but I was set to return to the office while she was on maternity leave (which inspired this fictionalized account). Her company plans to bring everyone back in January 2022.
Even with both of us home, we knew it would be impossible to try to watch the baby while working. As lawyers in the financial services industry, our jobs were too demanding and required too many Zoom meetings. We either needed to find childcare, or someone needed to bite the bullet and quit.
I had recently been promoted and given managerial responsibilities. I enjoyed my job working on a trading floor because no two days were the same. The energy of each day fueled me. Working with some of the smartest people in the world was intellectually stimulating. My salary added to our family’s financial security, and the job gave me a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and satisfaction. I had worked for almost a decade in the financial services industry, and that’s after enduring three brutal years in law school and four years in undergrad.
Walking away from that career and education was not a decision we made lightly. It rested on the following factors:
