Dear Employers: Do Better.
In 2022, ResumeLab conducted an online survey to understand what being child-free at work is like. Of the 983 respondents, eight out of ten were parents. The findings clearly show that employers are leaving all workers with the sense that the personal time of child-free employees is of lesser value than that of workers with children. Employers simply need to do better.
Findings
I encourage you to review the full findings of the ResumeLab survey. I want to highlight the most interesting findings.
At your workplace, child-free workers at least once:
63% were denied time off of work.
69% had to work overtime.
70% were given a greater workload.
At your workplace, which group of workers is more likely to be promoted?
49% answered with children.
29% answered without children.
22% answered both equally.
At your workplace, which group of workers are more likely to get a pay raise?
53% answered with children.
23% answered without children.
24% answered both equally.
Child-related absences are more important for employers than the absences of child-free employees.
81% answered strongly agree or agree.
7% answered strongly disagree or disagree.
12% answered no opinion.
When it comes to taking time off, the perception is that workers with children take priority with employers. Of those polled, a staggering 85% said people with children have priority when planning vacations and days off. This begs the question, why is the downtime of workers with children prioritized over that of child-free workers? Time away from work is equally essential to all workers in avoiding burnout. Just because children may be part of your time away from work, why is that considered more important? Since child-free workers are expected to shoulder more of the burden at work (see above regarding overtime and workload), doesn’t it make sense to prioritize their downtime?
What is of concern, and perhaps underlies employer practices that result in the unfair treatment of the child-free, is that 72% of the respondents admitted that they believed workers with children should have the right to take more days off than the child-free!
I recognize that there are limitations to the ResumeLab study. The sample size is small. We don’t know what industries the polled workers are employed in or the respondents' gender, and we don’t know where these respondents land on the corporate ladder. However, this study does highlight – especially since the majority of the respondents were those with children – that the perception amongst workers is that if you have a child, you will have more advantages at work (despite the fact that you are perceived to work more!).
Employers – do better.
You may believe that you are being “fair” when it comes to the treatment of your child-free employees, but clearly, you are falling short.
I’m not a fan of complaining without offering solutions. But, I also recognize that I have no human resources skills, and as much as I loved my undergrad major in psychology, I don’t pretend to have any skills in that arena either. I’m just a lawyer who has chosen not to have children. For those of you with a lawyer in your life, you know that we don’t shy away from sharing our thoughts. Here are some simple suggestions:
First come, first serve. Whoever makes the request for time off first gets it. Never ask a child-free worker to accommodate the vacation or day off request of a worker with a child. If you want to give a worker time off to deal with something related to their child, ensure a manager picks up the slack from being short-staffed.
Be mindful of who is working overtime. If one or two workers have accumulated more overtime than the average, check in with them. They may be volunteering for overtime to earn more money to save up for a big ticket item (e.g., a new home, new car, home renovation – which I can currently advise are not cheap, etc.). You may be unfairly leaning on your child-free workers to meet your overtime needs.
Food for Thought
I’m not sure why I expected those with children to think that things were “fair” between them and the child-free regarding workplace expectations. Perhaps this means there will be support from colleagues with children if child-free workers address the inequities in workplace practices that disadvantage them.
After all, 87% of respondents in the ResumeLab study indicated that employers should have the exact same expectations for employees with children and child-free workers.
Alysia Christiaen
Creator of CFW² and a child-free woman.
