The past few years have been an incredibly trying time for everyone. But working parents have been particularly impacted as existing gender inequalities were magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis that followed.
Although we’ve seen glimmers of progression – such as the government extending 30 hours free childcare to working parents of all children over the age of nine months – the UK’s approach to working parents to date has made it almost impossible for all working parents to manage and progress in their careers.
Extortionate childcare costs in the UK – the second most expensive in the world – have disproportionately impacted working mums. Despite the majority of mums wanting to work, many – as the assumed primary caregiver – have needed to give up their careers to take care of their children.
In fact, a recent survey commissioned by women’s rights group, the Fawcett Society and Total jobs has illustrated how catastrophic the consequences have been for women:
- One in ten working mums have quit jobs due to childcare pressures
- Two fifths of working mums have turned down a promotion due to childcare pressures
- 85% of working mums struggle to find a job that can accommodate their childcare needs.
Despite many companies realising the immense value in supporting working parents, and committing huge amounts of time and resources to the working parent’s agenda – many are falling short of achieving substantial or lasting change.
A report*, which is the result of more than two years’ qualitative research, reveals the challenges working mums and dads experience as they transition from worker to working parent and exposes the barriers people leads (HR, DEI, people management and working parent leads) and organisations are facing as they strive to create equitable and inclusive workplaces.
Our research with people leads specifically highlighted that whilst the government is responsible for some of the barriers that stand in the way of change – such as childcare and its respective costs – many barriers are entirely within organisations’ control.
People leads reported that complex policies, inflexible working models, ill-equipped line managers, outdated mindsets and gender stereotypes all stand in the way of change.
The working parent agenda is undeniably complicated and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for organisations. But our research has shown that to make a real difference to the lives of working parents and create lasting change, we need organisational leaders, people leads and the UK government to come together and work in collaboration with one-another.
Based on our extensive research, we’ve prioritised five evidence-informed actions for HR to help all the working parents in their organisation thrive in 2024 and beyond.
- Bring in structured hybrid working: Whilst hybrid working enables parents to achieve a better work-life balance, it does not come without its challenges and unintended consequences. There is a growing worry that remote-first hybrid models and those with no in-person requirement, are having a detrimental effect on working parents’ careers, particularly working mums who may be missing out on key moments to promote themselves. A structured hybrid working model – one that integrates in-person presence and ensures parents can calibrate home and career in a way that works for them – will ensure working parents feel supported, but still have opportunities to be seen and heard amongst management and leadership teams.
- Develop a flexible working culture: A working culture with flexibility at its core helps to enable all employees to work effectively, at the same time as meeting the needs of their families. In our research, people leads in organisations with genuine flexible working cultures anecdotally reported increased employee retention and attraction rates, and reduced employee absenteeism and turnover. In addition, workplace culture in which flexibility is the norm helps to stamp out the stigma that may be associated with part time working. Both the organisation and the working parent can benefit from offering job sharing roles – compared with more traditional part-time roles – with greater role resilience for the organisation and career progression opportunities for employees.
- Provide working parents with specialist support: Designing a clear package of benefits and specialist support focused specifically on working parents can help to ease an employee’s experience during one of life’s most challenging times. Specialist support, including external coaching and working parents’ champions, can be immensely helpful for parents and as they transition from worker to working parent. It can also be really beneficial to make a range of role models and case studies accessible. Not only can this help to remove the stigma and judgement working parents may feel from using the support available, it can also help to reduce the pressure many working mums feel to be a ‘superwoman’ – to manage all the roles society has attached to them, without bearing the scars to show for it.
- Tailor, flex and promote policies: Consistency is critical in policy – particularly to avoid the unfairness that may arise through individual interpretation – but recognising difference, for example in job roles or family configurations, is essential to ensuring every individual can benefit from the policy that’s in place. Generic policies that cover ‘everyone’ risks alienating working parents, particularly where they are in the minority within an organisation. Promoting policy internally – in working parent networks, on an employee portal and in team meetings – and externally – in job adverts, on the organisation’s website and at networking events – will help existing and prospective employees understand your commitment to supporting working families.
- Ensure line managers are given additional support and training: Giving line managers the skills and knowledge needed to support working parents can be transformative for mums and dads. Helping managers understand individual circumstances and the needs of working parents – particularly those who have not experienced parenthood themselves – can help to address negative stereotypes and change attitudes towards working mums and dads. Upskilling line managers to have open and honest conversations with working parents helps to create a more positive experience for employees as they transition to parenthood.
No one can deny the complexity of the current working parents crisis. Not only does it demand a timely and well-thought-through response, it also requires a collaborative effort and HR has a critical role to play in that.
*Research from WOMBA (Work, Me and the Baby) in partnership with Hult International Business School (Ashridge) – The priority actions for Boards to drive equal opportunities for working parents – which has provided clarity and insight as to why this is.
