Summary

Looking after a home and children is essential to work and, when combined with paid work, can cause stress. However, many parents want and need to work. Because of COVID, many workers also have to balance paid work and domestic work, including homeschooling. Therefore it might be helpful if managers ensured that they have policies and processes to help workers adapt to the new requirements of the workplace.

Paternity leave is one strategy to support parents, but a holistic view of paternity should include:

• Care of ageing parents.

• Someone that you love and care about needing help.

Other strategies to support people includes: 

• Taking an interest in how things are going at home.

• Recognising that the hours between 5 – 8 pm are particularly critical for parents.

• Focussing on what is being produced rather than measuring time spent at work.

• Communication to determine what workers need and when do they need it.

You might also find the following references useful:

• Feb 2020 SMH. Emploers can help working parents beyond the obvious ways

• Nov 2020 BBC. The corporate ideals driving ‘secret parenting’

• Apr 2021 Forbes. Struggles for Working Families Are Likely to Remain Post-Pandemic 

• May 2021 UNICEF. Australia now has a work + family policy blueprint and big business is on board

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