E-learning keeps some out of work

Last spring, millions of parents -- particularly mothers -- were suddenly thrust into balancing work and child care as schools and daycares closed. Other wealthy countries sprung into action. The U.S. provided some help, but still, nearly a year later, there are 2 million fewer women in the workforce than last February. The pandemic has crippled the already-fragile child care industry, exacerbated inequities, and held back the economic recovery. Catarina Saraiva, Olivia Rockeman and I dug further into this issue in our latest story: https://lnkd.in/daiGPAT

The balance between work life and home life has blended because of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Employers need to have an understanding of pressures on those employees who have children learning from home. Timing of team meetings and due dates may suffer if they aren’t discussed openly at the onset. Another issue is comparing (for purposes of promotion or compensation) employees who are working remotely with children learning at home and employees who have children learning at school. The attached article explores these issues and more. Great stats on the issue. Interesting to note the impact on women.

Working from home while parenting is incredibly challenging. Here are some tips that might help make it easier.

This underscores the brutal reality of parents having to juggle family caretaking and career responsibilities in 2020/2021. Parents - I feel for you. Especially mothers who are more likely to take a step back from their career to support their family. You deserve more support. "About 47% of parents with children who are learning entirely remotely or are in hybrid situations because of the coronavirus pandemic are working full-time, compared with 71% of parents whose children are physically back in school buildings"

My new report on how working parents are balancing professional responsibilities and child care responsibilities finds that working parents are struggling more now than earlier in the pandemic. It also finds that many working parents are experiencing professional challenges such as feeling like they couldn't give 100% at work or needing to reduce their hours, particularly working moms. If you are a working parent, are you struggling to juggle child care and work? #coronaviruspandemic #workingfromhome #workingparents https://lnkd.in/d5mehFr

The balancing act for every working parent with kids during this pandemic-keeping kids engaged with their schools virtually and being a productive employee. Only more reason to focus on childcare and education resources for parents of 0-12 year olds in this administration. The childcare industry was already struggling pre-COVID 19. More policy and incentives have to be directed to providing working parents with full time care and education required for them to continue to produce for their companies. A band aid is not enough!

My colleague and friend Kate Kiefer Lee wrote a really important article. As people leaders, we must pay attention to this. And to all the working parents out there, if no one has told you today, you're doing an amazing job. https://lnkd.in/dUkAKEA