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Working moms have always taken on more of the childcare burden, and this has only exacerbated in the pandemic. It’s no wonder that working moms are burning out—4X as many women as men dropped out of the labor force in Sept https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/10/30/492582/covid-19-sent-womens-workforce-progress-backward/
Every day I feel like I am treading water, constantly playing tetris with my calendar between nursing the baby, giving the nanny directions about changing nap schedules, fitting in essential team meetings, and a whole host of “other”
The American government has failed working moms. The US ranks last on every measure when it comes to family policy, and we see this in our research. Mothers outside the US score 60% higher than US working moms. https://slack.com/blog/transformation/remote-employee-experience-index-launch
We can’t wait for the government. Now more than ever, as companies are actively redefining the way they work in a pandemic/post-pandemic world, leaders have an opportunity to change the playing field for working moms.
It starts with making flexible schedules work. The 9-to-5 meetings and “always on” together environment of the office was never the right solution for many people, especially parents - the typical work day for ex doesn’t take into account when doctor’s offices or daycares operate
Flexible schedules only work if you aren’t still stuck in wall-to-wall meetings every day. Go asynchronous-first, focus on the job deliverable instead of hours worked, and normalize taking time for caregiving during the day. Change norms from office-centric to people-centric.
The icing to flexible schedules? Our Future Forum research showed that companies that implement flexible schedules see improvements in every dimension of work: work-life balance, stress, belonging, and nearly 2X improvement in productivity for all employees not just working moms.
Flexibility is necessary but not sufficient. Recent research found that moms are 1.5X more likely than dads to be spending an additional 3+ hrs per day on housework and childcare, and in the pandemic are juggling even more. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
Companies can take actions one step further & increase support for basic family needs that help offload home responsibilities for moms. Examples include subsidizing childcare, or creating a household stipend for support of activities like cooking, shopping, or house cleaning.
Companies don’t bat an eye towards spending on employee well-being benefits like monthly fitness stipends, or executive and communication coaching. I’d argue that household stipends are even more important than benefits like fitness fees, especially in the pandemic.
While companies may not be able to fix all systemic issues and biases against working mothers, there are real and meaningful ways that companies and leaders can improve the work environment for working moms. And in doing so, also improve the experience for all employees.
