![]() ![]() A third of people who left their position due to caregiving cited eldercare as the reason, and almost 25% cited an ill or disabled family member. However, family leave policies often laser focus on welcoming a new child, when they instead should be much broader to include other kinds of caregiving needs beyond those of brand new parents.Ī 2019 Harvard Business School report on caregiving found that while welcoming a child was a top caregiving reason people left their jobs, next on the list was caring for a sick child (49%) or managing a child’s daily needs (43%). Workplace family leave policies have evolved a lot over the last decade, with more gender neutral language and the inclusion of same-sex parents and adoptive and foster parents, which are all wonderful changes. Myth #2: All it takes to have “inclusive care policies” is giving dads paternity leave. Evaluating flexibility and hybrid policies through a caregiver lens is helpful, and providing access to backup care services can ease some of these ongoing stressors. Not supporting employees through the hardship of the current care landscape and its unpredictability can lead to more burnout and attrition. And expecting an official clock-in time at 9 AM for remote workers may unnecessarily penalize the dad who, at a moment’s notice, must rush across town to drop his kids off at school because the bus never came to get them. ![]() For a single mom of a 6-year-old who could only get after-school care Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the requirement that everyone come into the office Tuesday and Thursday, no exceptions, could send her looking for a new job. In my city of Durham, North Carolina, there were over 700 kids on the after-school waitlist at the start of the 2022 school year.Įmployers must understand that employees who rely on private daycare and public school to do their jobs are facing near constant, unpredictable care conflicts through no personal fault of their own. This summer, EdWeek predicted “a perfect storm of funding and staffing crises” for after-school programs. After-school care is facing similar struggles. According to Axios, about 88% of schools nationwide are dealing with bus driver shortages, which makes transportation unreliable and leads to long route times when the buses do show up. In addition to teacher vacancies, public schools are experiencing huge problems with the support staff that enables the school system to provide safe custodial care. For example, in North Carolina the entire state is deemed a “ childcare desert.” In some areas of the state, waitlists for an infant daycare spot average around one year, and for every 100 children born, there are less than 20 licensed daycare spots.īut staff shortages aren’t just an issue for daycares catering to children under five. Sadly, things are now far worse for everyone, making it harder than ever to solve the care jigsaw puzzle.Īccording to The Center for American Progress, 88,000 workers have left the daycare industry since the start of the pandemic, in large part due to low pay. Before the pandemic, childcare facilities were expensive and hard to find, and public school was completely out of sync with the realities of working parents. Myth #1: School and childcare are “back to normal.”Įmployers need to better understand the huge logistical care challenges that employees may be facing daily. Here are five big misconceptions I’d like to debunk in order for companies to better understand the realities of their employee caregivers so that they can make smart policies to support them. Through my work as a journalist and consultant on caregiver issues in the workplace, I see again and again that companies have serious blindspots about their caregiver population and regularly make assumptions that can undermine their stated values and goals - along with their bottom line. “Caregiver” is a broad term on purpose - it includes parents, those caring for elderly family members, and those supporting a sick or disabled child, sibling, or spouse. They are the fastest growing workplace identity group, and they make up around 73% of the workforce. The group I’m talking about is caregivers. Supporting this group is integral to DEI, loyalty, and retention goals, and yet few companies even track their status. There is a large group of employees at nearly every company that have much to contribute to organizations, but may need thoughtful policies to thrive. ![]()
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