More women work in the US than ever. The idea that women should tend to a household while men work is slowly dissipating. It’s not uncommon anymore for a man to handle child-rearing and domestic tasks while a woman is the household’s primary breadwinner. However, women who sustain an injury due to an accident might struggle to find ways to keep working. If this happens to you, perhaps you have diminished capacity. You might not be able to return to the job you previously had. You’ll have to come up with new ways to bring in much-needed income.
If you’re creative, you should be able to come up with some ways to make money, even if you can never do quite the same thing that you once did. We’ll talk about that a little bit more in this article.
Make Sure to collect any money you can
First, you’ll need to figure out whether you can collect any accident-related money. Maybe you can collect workers’ compensation if you hurt yourself while on the job.
You should know that different workers’ comp rules exist depending on the state in which you reside. You usually have to file a claim, and you may need evidence that backs up your assertion regarding how you hurt yourself.
If you’re able to file a lawsuit against an individual who hurt you due to recklessness or negligence, you can consider doing that. Again, you need to look at the state in which you live to figure out the deadline for that. In South Carolina, you have a three-year lawsuit-filing deadline. In another state, you might see a different deadline.
Photo by Joshua Coleman on Unsplash.
Come up with other ways to make money within your field
Once you know you’re collecting as much money from a lawsuit, workers’ comp, or disability as you can, you should feel somewhat better. You will have cash coming in that can help support you and the rest of your family.
However, a woman used to working outside the home might feel like that’s not enough. It’s not just that the money you have coming from a lawsuit, disability payments, or workers’ comp may not equal your previous income. It’s also that you’ll need to find something to do with yourself while you recover from your injury.
If you are creative, you may come up with ways to continue working within your field, even if you can’t do exactly what you did before. For instance, maybe you can talk to your company, assuming you worked for one. You can ask them if you can work from home while you recuperate.
More individuals work from home than ever, and you can do many jobs in a home office that you could also do in an office building. That all depends on what specifically you did before you hurt yourself and whether your company will allow you to do at-home work until you get better.
Other moneymaking options after an injury
Maybe you hurt yourself in such a way that you can’t work from home, or your company won’t let you. If so, you’ll need to get a little more creative about what you can do to bring in some extra cash until you can return to work, assuming you ever can.
You can look into some side hustles. For instance, maybe you can learn about antiques. You can buy them at estate sales, flea markets, and Goodwill outlets. Then, you can flip them by listing them online using sites like eBay or Etsy.
If you have some solid basic English skills, you might do some freelance copywriting or editing work. You can easily do those things from home.
You might do some coding or website development if you know how to do that. You can do that from home as well. If you don’t know how to do them yet, you can take classes to learn how to code or how to create websites using platforms like WordPress or Wix.
If you’re in a bad spot for money, you can even collect cans and bottles and trade them in at recycling centers for cash. It’s not glamorous, but if your family needs money, it’s often a viable option.
Women who sustain injury or career setbacks can frequently use their creativity to start making money again. Hopefully, you’ll get back on your feet at some point. In the meantime, you can figure out ways to generate revenue that should help your family survive.
