By Stephanie Diana Eubank
With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, we take time to thank the women who brought us into this world. However, just getting Mom a card isn’t enough anymore. We need to start doing more to help support women in the workforce. It is not a secret that women are statistically more often the caregivers in their families. Be it caregiving for children, a disabled spouse, or a family member, etc., many roadblocks, including finances, are put up to hold these hard-working and caring women back. This also means we must do more to support families in the workplace, as it takes a village to raise a child. Yet, unconscious bias holds working parents back and hurts the economy.
This is evident by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Press Release of April of 2023 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm, which detailed how families where a single mother is the head of the household is currently 78.5% likely to be unemployed compared to Male lead and duel income households. The press release went on to detail how women who were mothers of children under the age of 18 years old 72.9% of them were in the workforce or actively looking for work. This statistic is only up from 2022 by 1.7% compared to men who were in the workforce or actively looking to be in the workforce, which is at 92.5%, and that is down from 2019 at 93.3%.
The press release from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics went on to say:
“Mothers of younger children remained less likely to participate in the labor force than mothers with older children. In 2022, 67.9 percent of mothers with children under age 6 participated in the labor force compared with 76.7 percent of mothers whose youngest child was age 6 to 17. By contrast, fathers with children under age 6 were more likely to participate in the labor force than those whose youngest child was age 6 to 17 (94.4 percent versus 91.8 percent).” (Employment Characteristics of Families Summary 2023)
This is further stressed for those who are caregivers of children, a disabled spouse, or a family member. According to an article on A Place for Mom.com, by Samuels (2022), over 75% of caregivers who are caring for a child or a disabled family member are women. The article further details that approximately 23.7 hours a week is spent caring for a loved one outside of their home and 37.4 hours caring for loved ones that they live with. The same article details that 62% of those providing unpaid caregiving are employed.
So, the question becomes, now that we know these statistics, what can we do to help working caregivers and working parents? Well, from the business perspective, one big thing can be done. Promote remote work. Speaking from experience as a mom and a caregiver, remote work and the flexibility in remote and hybrid work allows for a work and life balance that is not afforded to all. It also allows me to afford to take care of my family. Which gives me a level of pride and security that not every working parent or caregiver has.
I have several friends who have been parents working remotely or caregivers working remotely who found not only an ability to balance life and work in remote work while addressing these responsibilities but were able to lower their stress levels about the care of their loved ones. Personally, when I had my oldest son when I went back to work, childcare was so expensive, and I had to commute so far for work that I found myself crying in the bathroom at work a lot, longing to just be near my baby. So, when one of my mentors offered me a remote job, I jumped, and even when I needed to get any level of childcare and when they started school, my stress levels were lower because I was nearby and often, I could get home help for a cheaper rate. Knowing if an emergency happened, I was able to be right there for my kids lowered my stress so much. It has also saved me money and allowed me to have lunches and doctor’s appointments with my kids or with friends. This sort of self-care level is not easily afforded in onsite work. A workforce with lower stress is statistically more productive and better able to creatively solve problems than a stressed and depressed one.
To support working moms, I ask everyone who reads this to share this article, add the hashtag #remoteworkformom and say how remote work has helped you as a parent or caregiver or helped someone you know.
Remember, sharing is caring, and remote is here to stay. If you are interested in additional content on remote work and remote leadership and how it helps our economy, subscribe. You can also follow me on my other social media sites:
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Blog: drstephaniebeardbaremoteresearch.org
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Work Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, April 19). Employment Characteristics of Families Summary. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved May 11, 2023, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm.
Samuels, C. (2022, December 2). Caregiver Statistics 2022: Total Unpaid & Demographic Data. Caregiver Statistics 2022: Total Unpaid & Demographic Data. https://www.aplaceformom.com/caregiver-resources/articles/caregiver-statistics
