Coronavirus: Working parents need more employer support
Businesses are failing to offer enough support to working parents during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.
There is a “a notable gap between how businesses are supporting working parents, and what these parents need during this challenging time,” according to the Working Parent Survey Report by employer-led childcare funding solution Catapillr.
School closures have pushed many working parents to breaking point as they struggle to provide homeschooling lessons to their children while still delivering the same level of productivity at work.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of working parents said that they are finding it much more challenging to raise their children due to the financial impact of COVID-19.
More than three quarters of parents said that they feel their employer could be doing more to support them with childcare costs during this time, according to the survey.
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Nearly half (44%) said that their employer does not offer any sort of benefits package for employees, in the survey of 497 working parents.
Many businesses across a wide number of industries have brought in salary reductions due to COVID-19-related uncertainty, despite many working parents facing additional outgoings.
Despite lower commuting costs due to working from home, parents are facing additional costs such as school supplies and technologies to support at-home distance learning.
Some 86% of respondents felt that a new initiative within their company to help with childcare costs would help them, while 80% said a benefit similar to an interest-free season ticket loan would be their preferred mode of support.
Laura Robinson, head of Research and Insight at Catapillr said: “As a parent and a teacher who is battling through remote teaching while also trying to support my husband who’s homeschooling our three children — I feel this survey really highlights the issues that us working parents are facing.
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“Certainly, it is clear that a greater level of employer support is needed now more than ever.
“The organisations that are thriving at this time are those that are taking a people-centric approach, listening to what their valuable human resources need at this time, and implementing positive change for the workforce.”
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