“In my industry, technologies change all the time, and if you are a mother, it is hard to catch up with trends and not lose qualifications,” she says. A lack of affordable childcare, flexible working and freelance opportunities for Russian mothers returning to work is being addressed by Olesya Kashaeva, who has developed free co-working spaces with child carers. Set up in 2012, the Working Mommy foundation had 10 coworking spaces throughout Moscow by 2017 and expects to have centres in 35 Russian cities by the end of this year. The idea behind these spaces, which are run entirely on donations, is that they provide a space where women can get together without having to worry about childcare or other responsibilities.
A lack of affordable childcare, flexible working and freelance opportunities for Russian mothers returning to work is being addressed by Olesya Kashaeva, who has developed free co-working spaces with child carers. Set up in 2012, the Working Mommy foundation had 10 coworking spaces throughout Moscow by 2017 and expects to have centres in 35 Russian cities by the end of this year. The idea behind these spaces, which are run entirely on donations, is that they provide a space where women can get together without having to worry about childcare or other responsibilities.