Work-Life Feed

Click to read: Bring-Your-Child-To-Work-Day Is Every Day In A Pandemic

Source: Daily Herald

Snippet: Years before “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” became a thing, my dad occasionally brought me to his office as the need arose. There was something a bit thrilling about gaining entry into this adult world of cubicles, dry-erase boards and name badges.

It was a novelty to see Dad in this grown-up space. But today, when so many parents are working from home alongside kids who are schooling from home, every day is bring-your-child-to-work-day. And “novelty” no longer describes it.

“Work-from-home and school-from-home means that people are bringing their kids to work but leaving them to play in the parking lot.”

Children aren’t getting an especially exciting view of what their moms and dads do for work. Parents who are capable of working remotely tend to be knowledge workers. And their work mostly happens inside the brain. There’s not a lot to see. Nor are kids getting to see the fun parts of work, like business travel or professional conferences.

Leaving Them To Play In The Parking Lot

Many parents trying to work from home may be interacting less with their children, not more. “In counties where people are staying home the most, we’re seeing more neglect,” says Kerri Raissian, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut, citing preliminary data from Indiana and Georgia. That’s a first.

Before the pandemic, increased time at home wasn’t associated with child maltreatment. But now, calls to poison control are up. So also are acute pediatric injuries, such as bicycle accidents. This is presumably because kids are getting into trouble while their parents are trying to work. Basically, Raissian says, work-from-home and school-from-home means that “people are bringing their kids to work but leaving them to play in the parking lot.”

“It’s important to remember as parents that we’re modeling how you get the things you want, how you self-advocate and set boundaries,” says Marisa Porges. When a parent explains to her boss that she can’t have a call at 7 p.m. because it’s dinner time, not only does she show her children that they come first, but she also shows them it’s OK for work to come second.

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• Working Moms And Dads Pick Your Slack
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• Working Moms Battles And The Mental Health Toll

Welcome to Worklife Feed articles and site-files indexing and adaptation series.

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Click to read: Working Moms Battles And The Mental Health Toll

Source: Washington Post

Snippet: When they met as students in Chicago, 20 years ago, Vondetta Taylor and Jennifer Anderson were all aspiration. Taylor was training to be a chef. Anderson was working toward a career in broadcasting. They also dreamed of starting families.

As the years passed, the two women traced over those youthful visions with the brushstrokes of real life. Anderson, now 41, got married, moved to Indiana, had a son and started a career in information-technology. Taylor, 38, gave birth to a son she was raising alone while selling insurance full-time.

“Moms are the ones who’ve been left holding the threads. And eventually they just can’t hold on any longer.”

Jessica McCrory Calarco

Taylor was supposed to make 100 sales calls a day while managing her kindergartner’s online education.

Anderson’s husband couldn’t do his custodial work from home, so it was on her to stay home with their 10-year-old son. His school announced it was going to be remote in the fall; Anderson’s employer said she had to come back to the office in late August.

“Working moms: a teacher, a disciplinarian, a mental health counselor, an extracurricular-activities director and working professional. And there was still only one of her.”

Just like that, these two friends became part of a legion of other women leaving the U.S. labor force. In September alone more than 860,000 women dropped out of the workforce, compared to just over 200,000 men. An analysis by the National Women’s Law Center found that women left the labor force at four times the rate of men in September, just as schools came back in session.

Selfless Love Battles Mental Health And Professional Loss

The mental health toll is visceral and immediate. But the pandemic could also have serious, long-term costs to the financial health of American women. Each day out of a job is a day not spent working toward financial independence or saving for the future. Women without jobs can’t earn raises. They can’t move into leadership roles or advocate for one another. The longer they spend out of the workforce, the harder it will be to get back in.

“The big ticket to inequality in the home is that the men can usually assume that because the mom loves the kids, she will not let the ball drop.”

Julie A. Nelson

However, despite all the battles that working moms face daily, none has been able to overcome their selfless love. That is a woman’s innate arsenal and strength, and she is always willing and able to deploy it effectively.

Sadly, a working woman who takes pride in her professional life, can work so “super hard” to get her dream job. But when life happens, like when pandemic struck, both the math and society’s expectations always gets stacked against her.

You may like this;

• Working Moms And Dads Pick Your Slack
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• Worklife Balance or Integration – What’s the difference?

Welcome to Worklife Feed articles and site-files indexing and adaptation series.

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Click to read: Kid Consolation When Parents Lose Their Jobs – When Parents Lose Their Jobs, Their Children Also Suffer. But Sometimes There’s A Consolation

Source: New York Times

Snippet: In six months without steady work, Gregory Pike, a single father in Las Vegas, has fallen behind on his rent and utilities. He borrowed money he cannot repay. Turned to food stamps and charity, and fretted that his setbacks may cloud his daughter’s future.

“We have benefited having more time together but not having money is not good. I’m being evicted.”

Michigan single mother

But despite the problems he has experienced since March, when the coronavirus eliminated his job, Mr. Pike has found an unexpected source of comfort, his kid consolation. That is time with his 6-year-old daughter, Makayla, whom he has raised alone for three years.

You may like this;

• Working Moms And Dads Pick Your Slack
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Is There Any Consolation In Being Temporarily Unemployed?

“You know, I’ve gotten to know my kids a lot more,” said Aileen Kelly, a single mother of five who lost her job as a casino housekeeper at the pandemic’s start. “When you’re working, you don’t get the real feeling of raising your kids. You’re providing for them but you’re not teaching them.” But such rewards do not reduce the risks that unemployment brings.

“No one’s saying that families would choose to be unemployed. But I think we forget how short of time, low-income families have. They are short of time, short of money and often short of sleep,” said Jane Waldfogel, a professor at the Columbia School of Social Work. “If people are telling us they don’t have enough time with their children, that’s worth listening to. It’s an odd silver lining, but it’s there.”

Welcome to Worklife Feed articles and site-files indexing and adaptation series.

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Click to read: Working Moms And Dads Pick Up Your Slack: Worker Resents Having To Pick Up Slack For Working Moms And Dads

Source: Washington Post

Snippet: Our federal workplace, under the Cares Act, permits parents to work 75 percent of their hours (30 hours/week, any days or times) for the same pay. I’m glad not to lose my teammates and work friends. And glad they can better balance their personal lives and work.

“Parents let’s be frank, moms are, like you. They are buried in additional unpaid work they can’t turn down.”

But this has translated to a heavy burden on those of us who are child-free. I’m overloaded, and the assignments just keep coming, with no legitimate-enough excuse to make my “no, thank you” stick. The constant narrative from leadership is what heroes parents are — and they are. But those of us without kids are doing so much heavy lifting, and we have families, too.

You may like this;

• Kid Consolation When Parents Lose Their Jobs
• Worklife Balance or Integration – What’s the difference?

Besides, I know that even though parenthood is a choice, having kids at home during a pandemic wasn’t. As an employed, teleworking, snugly housed and safe person, I know I’m privileged. That said, my workplace feels very unequal right now. Surely, it sounds ugly out loud. As a married woman without children, I’m losing my empathy and patience after months of being treated as though my time is therefore infinite. Therefore, working Moms and Dads need to pick up their slack!

Welcome to Worklife Feed articles and site-files indexing and adaptation series.

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