Not sure how to explain this, but on a personal level, "when my mom was laid off" references a specific point in time, while 11-ish references a period of potentially years.
"11-ish" is likely more useful to everyone else, but "when my mom was laid off" is far more accurate, researchable time measurement.
Not sure what the relevance is of this. Was that inspiration for you to try make some money and support your family?