A friend shared an article with a note saying, “A good reason to support broadband, allows for more flextime, virtual work, strengthens rural communities where a traffic jam is five cars queued at the stop sign.”

The article (Commuting: the Real Reason Women Don’t Lean In) outlines the difficulties mothers have commuting…

Commuting disproportionately limits and stresses out women compared to men. From restricting job prospects to requiring aviationlike coordinate plotting, daily travel pressures are wearing women down.

They have some numbers to back it up…

It even impacts where you choose to make your life: A study out of the University of Chicago shows that cities with longer commute times have fewer married women in the workforce. In cities where commute times increased between 1980 and 2000, the researchers found that more women dropped out of the labor force. In Minneapolis, which has some of the most easily navigable streets for a major city, 79 percent of women were employed. Compare that with New York City, where the number drops to 49 percent. Neither housing prices nor local wages explains the disparity.

Sure, men still leave earlier in the morning, work later into the evening and have longer trip times. And, as McGuckin points out, part of the stress women feel may be because they take on the burden of making sure everything runs according to plan. But regardless, commuting is shaping — and limiting — workforce diversity (yes, we’re talking to you, companies that don’t allow work-from-home flexibility).

The article strikes me this week because thanks to broadband and job flexibility, I don’t care that my sick teenager decided to go to school at 10 am. And I’m OK with running her to an orthodontist appointment tomorrow. Because if I can get online, I can get my job done. I don’t have to call in sick myself. I was just planning a summer vacation – a road trip, because again I don’t really need to take time off to travel. If I can get online, I can work. It makes parenting much easier. Vacations cheaper. It makes me happier.

I talked to my sister on Sunday. She figured shuffling four kids to their activities was going to take two hours – on a Sunday! But she had her iPad and planned to catch up with work during the inevitable 10-20 minute “breaks” between pickups.

My friend had a great point – broadband and a little work flexibility can have a big impact on quality of life for moms. And you know if mama ain’t happy…