Many working parents struggle to balance their work responsibilities with family obligations. The struggle of the modern working parent is often invisible, and is complicated by issues of class and gender. Let’s explore how to support working parents during that particularly challenging time: summer.
The invisible struggles of working parents
The typical American workday began in the early to mid-20th century, during a time when few middle-class women worked outside the home. But as the century progressed, more women chose to continue working after having children, due to better gender equality, financial necessity, access to birth control and other factors.
Today, both parents work in 49% of married-couple families with children, but the American workday has not changed to suit the needs of this growing group of families. The middle-class workday still ends at five PM, while schools often release children several hours prior. Since the U.S. doesn’t guarantee any paid vacation days for employees, working parents are often left without childcare plans during the multiple school breaks scattered throughout the year.
Perhaps the most difficult school break for parents to navigate is summer. In the United States, summer break typically lasts for three months, starting around May-June and ending in late August or early September. Working parents are left responsible for securing full-time supervision for this period.
Alternative options are few and expensive
What do working parents do when their children leave school for the summer? Vacation time can’t keep up. Instead, parents rely on alternative childcare options. Summer camps, seasonal daycare and babysitters are staples for working families. But these solutions have one major thing in common: skyrocketing costs. Childcare is always expensive, but these are some of the most costly types.
With difficult decisions to make about how to afford childcare, many women make the difficult decision to leave the workforce to care for their children full-time. The labor force participation rate for married women with children under age 18 is just 71.7% (compared to 92.5% for married men with children).
How employers can ease the way for working parents
1. Daycare assistance
Daycare and childcare account for a significant portion of any working parent’s expenses. Childcare costs vary by location, but it often costs between $250 and $800 per week, per child. Employers can help working parents afford childcare by paying a living wage, offering childcare subsidies, and providing on-site childcare for working parents.
2. Summer camp scholarships
For children who have aged out of daycare, summer camp (day camp or overnight camp) is typically a more age-appropriate option. But summer camp may be even more expensive than daycare, with day camp costing $180 per child per day on average. You can help working parents by offering summer camp scholarships or partnering with local organizations such as the YCMA to offer affordable, high-quality summer camp to children of employees.
3. Flexible work
Flexible work solutions are free to implement and can save working parents serious time, money, and hassle. Studies have shown that parents who work remotely have more time to care for children and to help with household chores. Flexible work helps too, because flexible hours allow for easier coordination of childcare pick-ups and drop-offs.
4. Paid vacation days
Vacation days alone can’t keep up with the amount of time kids are home on summer break. But competitive paid vacation can help working parents deal with the unpredictability of parenting (taking care of sick children, etc) with less stress.
5. Fair parental leave
Many organizations still offer mothers and fathers different amounts of parental leave. The expectation conferred by these policies is that fathers will be less involved in the day-to-day responsibilities of parenting than mothers. This is a heteronormative judgment, and one that holds us back from achieving true gender equality in the workplace. Show your employees you care by offering generous and equal parental leave.
Reward Gateway offers gender-neutral parental leave to accommodate any familial arrangement, along with additional supports once the parents have returned to work to take a little less stress out of a big life transition.
6. Social changes
At the heart of the struggle of working parents is sexism and an institutional bias against working parents. Resolving these problems requires both institutional and social changes. Organizations can do better by working to create a culture in which prioritizing parenting is celebrated, and working parents are recognized for their hard work and sacrifices.
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