How is HR Addressing the Childcare Crisis | HR Executive

While working parents continue to manage teaching, feeding, caregiving, and other home responsibilities, to name a few, all while attending to their job responsibilities— many reports indicate that this burden has primarily fallen on mothers. According to this article, most working moms are only getting 2.6 hours of uninterrupted work time each day since the pandemic. And as this challenge persists, it can lead to a significant number of women leaving the workforce. This article cites a survey of 1,000 working moms conducted earlier this month, where 70% would consider leaving their job if it was economically feasible. Adding to this issue is that many workers are reluctant to raise concerns about the challenges they’re facing or to ask their employer for help. As such, employers must take bold actions to address the challenges that working moms face, such as how Twitter launched a virtual day camp for kids of their employees, or Microsoft offering 12 weeks of parental leave due to the pandemic. Concerning creating a culture of “psychological safety,” (PS)–where workers feel compelled to share with they are feeling–please check out my post from last week that highlights a podcast on this topic and provides examples of how organizations are fostering PS within their cultures.