How can businesses support their working parents through the pandemic?

by Rachel Carrell 

As the founder of Koru Kids I get asked by business leaders every day, how they can support their working parents with childcare. The good news is that it's very possible, and lots of businesses are doing it.

But let's get some bad news off our chests first.

Make no mistake about it, the pandemic has been extremely hard for working parents. We've heard it loud and clear. Parents have told us that they simply cannot work and homeschool at the same time. They've told us that they feel like they're failing all the time. They've told us they can only do their jobs very late or very early. (When do they sleep?!) Some have told us they fear they're burning out. They've said it's just impossible. Some want to cry for most of the day. It's relentless.

As is well known, the pandemic has been particularly bad for mothers, who have borne the brunt of the homeschooling task in many families.

The wonderful charity Pregnant Then Screwed ran a poll with over 2000 mothers of primary school aged kids. 21% said they had either lost their job or quit, since the second lockdown started. That's an enormous, horrifying, number. As Pregnant Then Screwed said, we are witnessing a generational rollback in maternal employment that will take decades to repair.

There were also recently some very scary stats from across the Atlantic. In America, in December 2020 it was announced in the jobs report that 140,000 jobs were lost. What was startling, though, was that women accounted for all of the losses. Women lost 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000.

As one woman in a recent study said, "There were times when I said to my husband, one of us is going to have to quit our job. And I remember thinking, how come I'm the only one thinking about this and my husband isn't? I don't think him leaving was ever in question."

This is a dire crisis for the cause of diversity, and women in leadership. We're potentially undoing decades of work trying to get more women into leadership positions

Companies are increasingly realising that these are huge problems. After all, the people running the companies often have children themselves — they're experiencing the challenges themselves, and hearing about them from their parent friends. And they're realising they need to act. A McKinsey study showed that 46% of companies have started or expanded parenting support during the pandemic. To take one example, Bank of America has spent over $200 million on backup childcare for its staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So how can companies help support their parents, allow them to do their jobs and avoid a diversity crisis?

Let's think about the ideal childcare service in the context of coronavirus. Firstly, it would be in home — no mixing of households or bubbles as you get with nursery or school. Ideally, a nanny would walk or cycle to the house, each day, avoiding public transport. Of course, it should be the same nanny each day. The nanny would support children with home-schooling, meals and activities. They'd be enthusiastic, experienced and trained for the job.

Happily, this form of childcare has been recognised by the government as being explicitly allowed. In fact, in all tiers and even during both lockdowns, nannies have been specified as being allowed — because they are the most COVID secure solution. This means they're also a robust choice, giving parents some much-needed stability.

You've probably guessed by now that I am not exactly unbiased… Yes, this is exactly the service that Koru Kids provide. Our in home services are loved by working parents (literally, we recently discovered that 12% of all our feedback included the word 'love'). Parents who experienced our in-home service find that they are actually able to focus on their own work. They appreciate the speed and seamlessness, the brilliant app, our proactive and helpful team, and the amazing nannies we have gathered together. One told me we'd saved her marriage (this result not guaranteed).

But this is no 'childcare marketplace' where parents are left to fend for themselves. Koru Kids nannies are vetted and supported, DBS-checked, referenced and, crucially, trained. Koru Kids training covers COVID-19, first aid and homework. We've also created a raft of support to help parents with home-schooling during the pandemic. Our in-house teachers coach nannies one to one with any issues they face, including home-schooling questions and behaviour management, our app supports with personalised onboarding tools, regular feedback and ongoing training, while a thriving nanny community provides emotional and practical support.

It's worth dwelling on compliance for a few moments, as it's critical. Koru Kids has extremely high compliance standards. As you may know, legally nannies must be employed, otherwise parents are at legal risk. Koru Kids removes both the burden and the worry. We handle all the admin, so parents don't have to. We set up the contract between parent and nanny, our app lets parents review and approve shifts with helpful reminders. We make sure the nanny is paid accurately each month. And we handle all the paperwork related to parents' obligations as an employer of the nanny. We're fully HMRC and Home Office compliant, administering sick pay, holiday pay, maternity, furlough, and much more. Because Koru Kids is both fully compliant and seamless, our solution is both safe and hassle free for your staff. That's the combination we're know that businesses are looking for.

We have a flexible corporate solution to help you support your staff during the time their time of need. We'd love to tell you more about what it includes. To discuss your needs in more detail, get in touch by emailing us at [email protected] .

And now, if you've got kids, go and give them a kiss. They won't be home forever :)