Planning Proposal Example

To:	John Doe
From:	Mary Smith
Date:	March 8, 1998
Subject:	Planning Proposal for Researching the Cost for a Parent to Work Outside the Home Versus for One Parent Staying Home to Care for the Child(ren)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Introduction

During the 1950s and 1960s, married couples planning to have children usually followed the traditional route of their era—Dad would be the sole wage-earner, and Mom would stay home to raise the children.

Times have changed, and today many couples both work outside the home. Some reasons cited for this trend include financial necessity and many women's desire to pursue their career goals.

When these dual income couples decide to start a family, one of the issues they must grapple with involves deciding whether they will both continue to work after the children are born.

Statement of Problem

Very few workers keep track of how much it actually costs to work outside the home, for most of us associate these costs with life's necessities: everyone needs clothes to wear, food to eat, and transportation to get from point A to point B. However, these basic human needs become more expensive for workers, especially in a business environment. Business clothes, restaurant lunches, and long commutes cost more than casual clothes, homemade lunches, and no commute. Additionally, working parents who have preschool-age children incur the added expense of day care.

Couples who are planning to have children do not realize how expensive day care is, and busy working parents do not have the time required to research their work-related costs; as a result, one parent may be working unnecessarily because his or her working costs may equal or exceed his or her net income. Further, many workers do not realize that alternatives exist—such as telecommuting, job sharing, and flextime—that may help them reduce their working expenses and increase their net income.

Proposed Solution

One possible way to give working couples who have—or are planning to have—children the information they need to decide if one or both of them should work is for our organization to research the actual costs of working outside the home versus one parent staying home to care for the children. We can then prepare a guide for working couples that describes the average costs related to working outside the home. This guide will also describe alternative work situations that employees can explore with their employers.

Benefits

The benefits of this project are twofold: (1) working couples will obtain a realistic view of the actual costs of working outside the home and (2) they will learn about possible working environments that may allow them to both work and be home to care for their children.

In addition, this guide will also provide valuable information for employers and day-care providers. Companies wanting to retain their employees will be better informed to address the needs of working parents, and day-care providers will find this guide helpful in determining their fees and day-care center locations.

Limitations

Other more emotional factors also influence couples when they make important work and child- care decisions. Which parent will give up his or her career to care for the children and how beneficial it is for the children to have a parent home are issues that parents must also consider. Our guide will not address these issues, for they are beyond its scope.

Although many businesses can adapt their work environments by allowing telecommuting, job-sharing, or flextime, they may be unwilling to make these changes. Additionally, many businesses are simply not able to make these adaptations.

Scope

My cost-analysis research will target the following audience: married couples who have one or more child(ren) under age five, who are expecting their first child, or who are planning to have a child (or children).

I will focus my analysis on the costs incurred by the woman because she is usually the parent who opts to stay home to care for the children. However, these figures can easily be adjusted to reflect the man's costs. I will use the following profile to determine the actual work-related expenses:

• earns an annual pretax income of $35,000
• resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area
• commutes 30 minutes to her job
• holds a position that requires her to wear business clothing
• plans to use a commercial day-care provider

Because this report will be available to a large audience with a varied cultural and technical background, I will initially write this document as an issue paper that can be adapted to a published guide geared to the general public.

PLAN OF ACTION

Preliminary Outline

The preliminary outline of my proposal is as follows:

• Introduction: includes discussion of topic background, project purpose and scope, and need for intended audience to have the information being presented
• Comparison of work costs to home costs: includes chart or table listing costs associated with working outside the home compared to not working
• Proposed alternative work arrangements: discuss currently available alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, job sharing, and flextime
• Conclusions: describe conclusions drawn from the material presented
• Recommendations: recommend actions to be taken, such as presenting the report information as a guide for the general public

Research Plan

To research my topic, I will conduct the following research activities:

• survey COMM 393 students to find out how much they spend on work expenses such as clothing, food, transportation, and drycleaning
• interview several area licensed day-care centers to determine an average rate for day-care services for preschool-age children
• interview local employers who offer alternative work environments
• possibly interview employees who work in alternative work environments
• review general secondary research tools online, and identify articles containing useful information
• review and analyze articles
• conduct online search of Internet resources to locate information pertaining to alternative work arrangements

Schedule

Table 1 outlines my proposed schedule for this project.

Table 1: Project Schedule

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

The only equipment and materials needed to complete the project are my home computer and Internet access.

BUDGET

Table 2, displayed below, lists the budget for this project. I will complete the entire project and use my home computer and Internet access to research and prepare the report.

Table 2: Project Budget

 

PERSONNEL

This topic is very important to me because I am a married mother of three children. Although I have opted to stay at home to raise our children, I am interested in reentering the work force in the near future. The information that I gather for this report will help me make the best choices for my family.

My professional qualifications include a technical writing certificate from Montgomery College; I am also working towards a B.S. in communications/technical writing from UMUC. Additionally, I have written several technical documents as a volunteer for a local nonprofit organization.

CONCLUSION

The cost of living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is one of the highest in the United States; consequently, many families believe that they need two incomes to live comfortably in this area. The report I have outlined earlier will give parents a realistic view of the costs associated with working outside the home. Armed with this information, these parents will be able to determine how much income they will actually realize after deducting these expenses. Additionally, by learning about alternative work arrangements, parents can be fully informed to make their personal work and child-care decisions.