Solo mums' independence day

Kirsten Marsh (left) and Lisa Cooper hope to inspire other single mums to make a change. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Two single Wanganui mums have built successful home-based childcare businesses so they can be there for their children.

As PORSE in-home educators, Kirsten Marsh and Lisa Cooper hope they will inspire other single mothers to consider a similar career pathway, one that has allowed them to be at home with their own children while earning an income doing a job they love.

Ms Marsh has two children aged 7 and 9, and Ms Cooper is mother to an 8-year-old and 5-year-old.

In the past seven years, Ms Marsh, 29, has progressively built her successful educator business while quietly achieving her biggest goal - coming off the Domestic Purposes Benefit.

"I'll never forget how I felt the day I went to Work and Income and told my case manager I was ready to come off the benefit, and I never looked back," she said.

For Ms Cooper, becoming an educator was about making the most of her change in family circumstances.

As a single mother, she said she wanted a job that allowed her the flexibility to "be there" for her children so she grabbed the opportunity to set up a business when the local childcare centre closed down last year.

At the same time, one of her friends urgently needed to find new childcare arrangements for her twin daughters.

"I was bored, broke and pondering my existence.

"So it was perfect timing when I suggested to her that I look after the girls until they go to school," Ms Cooper said.

She trained as a nanny and has always worked in early childhood education, including in a role at a pre-school centre, in private arrangements and in association with youth work.

"It's what I've always been good at, so when given an opportunity, I grabbed it."

Ms Marsh said childcare was an easy career choice for her.

With an empathy with babies and young children, she was always being asked by friends and family to help out.

"Being a single mum, I was also very aware of the extra challenges of trying to juggle childcare without partner support.

"So this was a perfect job for me because I could offer flexibility," she said.

As an in-house educator she said it meant she is able to be there for her own children, for school trips and attending their school assemblies.

"The hours I work, along with the support from the parents who are more than happy to let me take their children to school outings, has made being a working mum so much easier."

When she opened for business Ms Marsh said she never wanted to let on that she was on a benefit to any of the families whose children came to her.

"When I started I was still having a benefit 'top-up' but once I had established myself and had regular children in care, I was in a position to become totally independent through earning my own money.

"It's been a progressive journey and certainly isn't an instant answer to full time employment.

"The most important consideration for other women thinking about becoming an educator is to make sure caring for children is what they really want to do."

She is now now planning on studying next year to become a social worker, a long-time ambition of hers.