Most of us parents have found ourselves living by the time restraints of the “9-to-5.” We’ve called the neighbor or family friend to get our kids off the bus because we couldn’t get out on time. We’ve asked to leave two hours early on Wednesday to make the concert, but had to make up our time another day. We’ve felt the pressures of calling out for another ear infection. We’ve been there. We’ve struggled to maintain what we thought was a healthy work-life balance. But how has the pandemic changed this?
Since 2020, corporate culture has needed a revamp, as far as family life is concerned. What once was demanded can no longer be fulfilled from parents. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, between March and April of 2020, nearly 3.5 million mothers living with school-aged children left active work. Whether it was resigning, being laid off, or taking leave, the working mother was forced to examine her role as both employee and parent. Men suffered from the wrath of Covid as well, but women became three times more likely to have to leave due to pandemic-related childcare demands.
With different variants and surges finding their way across the country, the problem continues. Parents want to work still, but have been desperately searching for new options and employers in order to accommodate the pressures of their home life.
‘The workplace in the U.S. isn’t working for families,” said “Superkin” founders Miriam Williams and Tara Elwell Henning. Superkin is a company that works with companies as far as policies, benefits, culture, etcetera.
“It took a pandemic to expose the cracks in the system and now it’s time employers recognize that the employee value proposition has dramatically changed,” they continued, “People have shifted how, where and with whom they work. If leadership is holding on to the past, hoping that we’ll eventually go back to a workplace pre-2020, they’ll quickly realize their ability to recruit and retain top talent will disappear.”
So, what are parents asking for?
1. Paid Family Leave – According to Parents, the United States is the only wealthy country that does not offer a national program for paid parental leave. Not only is a paid parental leave program proven to improve worker productivity and retention, but it helps the company as it becomes more of a competitive powerhouse due to its workplace culture. As much as parents feel that this sort of program should be offered, they also want to feel encouraged and supported to take it.
2. Clear and Concise Guidelines for Leave Policies – When a company is completely transparent regarding its family leave policies, it allows a potential and even current employee to feel more confident in his or her position. Not only are people set up for success, but retention rates also rise as parents are more confident and secure in their position.
3. It Takes a Village – It would be to the employer’s benefit to acknowledge that caring for children is in fact a very important, tiring, and demanding job. Employees who have children are under many pressures as far as their care responsibilities. When employers acknowledge the importance and cruciality of raising children, positive and practical solutions can be granted to parents. Again, this offers a more productive work culture.
4. Flexibility – It should be no surprise that parents who are offered a remote option or flexibility in their schedule, thrive in their position. Long gone should be the days where parents are suffering anxiety attacks when having to leave an hour early or needing to call in sick due to a change in childcare. When parents feel the support of flexibility, they feel as though their homelife and their position is respected. They feel a sense of value in the workplace.
5. Support – We all need it. We need a place to go to when the going gets rough. It is not healthy to live with a pressure of feeling as though our jobs are unstable due to home responsibilities, or that we are being spread so thin. To feel as though you can’t talk to your boss about your childcare struggles, which come more than we initially anticipate, calls for an anxious environment. Feeling supported through and through can make a world of a difference.
The pandemic sent people home, but also popularized the notion that work can be done from home too. If you can do it, get back to work–when you are ready.
