Have you heard? As reported in this entrepreneur.com article, the newest count from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is stating that married women lost almost one million jobs in September. Married men didn’t fare much better. It’s estimated that they lost nearly 800,000 jobs. However, both single men and women steadily earned jobs back. Why are the married people losing their jobs and/ or leaving the workforce? Child care. The Census Bureau reported results from mid-July stating 32.1% of women aged 25-44 were not working because of childcare, compared to 12.1% of men.
Employers, if you don’t want your working moms and dads to opt out of the workforce because they’re struggling to juggle it all, what can you do to help them stay on your team?
Ask the Parents on your Staff
Fast Company outlines what Patagonia has done to super serve their employees over the last few months. They extensively surveyed parents to find out what child care they have now, and ask about what their working parents still needed. In addition to helping create flexible hours for working parents, employees pulling double duty had the option to switch to longer term projects if their day-to-day demands had less lead time. Patagonia also provided activity calendars for parents adapted from their in-house child care program. While this kind of intervention seems impossible for smaller to medium size businesses, gauging what your employees are lacking and seeing how the programs you have in place can be adjusted or adapted will earn your company a lot of goodwill from your employees.
Drive Awareness of Outside Child Care Resources
The growth and popularity of Care.com, Sitter City & the App called HELPR have been wild in 2020. The ease of use of the sites and platforms coupled with the safety tools available for families and caregivers have helped connect working families with the resources they need to navigate their childcare gaps and challenges. As stated in this wsj.com article, “Care.com says it now performs background checks on 100% of care providers on its digital platform.”
A newer service called Care@work, allows companies to offer their employees access to backup care for children and adults, senior care solutions, and access to the care.com online community.
This all might seem expensive, however, according to Gusto.com, “The Internal Revenue Service lets companies claim 10 or 25 percent of the cost—up to $150,000 a year—when they set up a day care center or subsidize their employees’ child care expenses in other ways, such as providing a referral service.” Perhaps there’s a way to make it easier for your parents to stay working for your organization without breaking the bank?
Make Sure Your Employees Understand Their Benefits
Does your company offer dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts?
If your employees have this benefit, educate them on savings the pre-tax accounts have for parents. Gusto.com explains, “They can save about 30% on qualified care expenses for children under 13, along with adults who are physically or mentally incapacitated.”
Additionally, if you already have an Employee Assistance Program, promote it. Employees can utilize it to find mental health providers, tips to navigate addiction, and other helpful resources.
If you have already lost one or more working parents over the past few months, consider trying one or more of these suggestions to show your commitment to all your employees. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing parents leaving the workforce, but as the pandemic wears on, your single employees are facing issues of their own. Empathy is more than just a “nice to have” right now, and companies that are showing they want to put their employees first are deepening their loyalty with their teams, and investing wisely in their future.