woman at work
Even if you didn’t know they were called multi-level marketing (MLMs), you knew about them. They come in all shapes and sizes and have catchy names and inspiring stories: Thirty-One, The Pampered Chef, LuluRoe, Stella and Dot, Jamberry, and probably the most famous of all, “Avon, calling!”
In multi-level marketing, also called network marketing, individuals sell products to the public, usually through word of mouth or direct sales. Consultants earn commission on the products that they sell and also through the sales made by people they recruit. If you are like me, your social media feeds are filled with beautiful images of “the next big thing” being pitched by well-meaning friends, usually your mom friends. Also, if you are like me, you probably have been a consultant with an MLM because you loved the idea of being able to stay home and bring in a little income for your family.
But how much income are we talking here and why are moms, in particular stay-at-home moms, so attracted to these companies?
In 2011, the average annual take home pay for MLM consultants was $2400 for less than 10 hours of work per week. As a comparison, if you worked 10 hours per week at a job paying $10 minimum wage, you would make the same amount of money in just 24 weeks. For most, the lure of these jobs is the independence or just being able to contribute to the household.
One of the oldest “mommy wars” out there is the debate between staying home and working outside the home. Both sides like to claim that their way is better. On the one side, the SAHM like to sing praises about seeing their kids grow, change, and develop, being able to dry every tear that falls, and saving money on childcare. On the other side, the WOHM like to share how they have an identity beyond “child’s mom,” that they have something of their own, and that time away from their kids makes them feel like better parents. MLMs capitalize on both of these viewpoints.
MLMs offer job flexibility, the ability to stay home with your kids, AND the opportunity to contribute to your household. They offer the ability to not have to choose between a career and caring for children! For many, working for an MLM also offers a chance to be seen as more than “just a mom.”
Many of us live in areas where a traditional one-income family is just not feasible, where having two-incomes is not so much a luxury but a necessity. Childcare costs in the US average around $12,000/year for center-based childcare, with prices ranging from $3582-$18773/year. When a family has to decide between having a parent stay home because their income is not enough to off-set child care costs, the parent staying home might feel like they have to do something, anything, to seem like a productive member of the family. 
The reality may be that many of the fields where women find their career calling are just not suited for remote work, whether full or part-time. Education has moved to the virtual world through online courses and online homeschool support, however, the number of available positions remain few and competition is high. Health care is a patient-driven industry and while a physician or nurse can chat with a patient over Skype, that human-to-human touch is far more paramount to the experience than a face on a screen. And it really could just come down to economics: it’s cheaper for a company to outsource remote work to developing countries and pay less than they would have to pay a remote worker in the US, even if that means bolstering the US economy through increasing the buying power of families.
As connected as our world is, it is hard to believe that we have not found more options for moms to stay at home and draw a steady income that does not involve selling products to friends and family.  It’s also pretty surprising that we have not found more creative solutions for the cost-prohibitive nature of childcare. We hear politicians talk about women’s rights and how far we have come, but have we come that far? When a mom has to choose between a career and child care, or worse, between a career and having a child, we haven’t come that far. For some, the MLM is a small glimpse of being able to “have it all,” for a $99 kit.