More than half of working parents fear being a parent is a strike against them in the workplace during Covid-19. According to the new Catalyst-CNBC survey, “The Impact of Covid-19 on Working Parents,” nearly 40% of working parents say that their employer does not have enough benefits for parents to support blended or virtual learning amidst the uncertainty of students of all ages returning to school.
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In the survey of 1,000 working parents in the US—which explores the perceptions and uncertainty among parents and caregivers about the impact of their children’s return to school on their careers, parenting, and emotional state—57% of parents fear they will be the first group to be negatively affected by employer decisions.
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They also see a risk associated with reaching out to access, or asking for, benefits, fearing they will be penalized or even terminated:
- Four in ten parents (41%) say they have less job security than they did pre-pandemic; and 38% say they fear being penalized for being a working parent;
- Forty-one percent of mothers and 36% of fathers say they have had to hide their caregiving struggles;
- Forty-two percent fear that it would be a risk to their employment to take advantage of childcare offerings or benefits available to them through their workplace;
- Thirty-nine percent worry that they’ll be terminated if they ask for help.
Additionally, more than a third of parents say they are not aware of the plans their employers have in place for parents, or whether these plans simply do not exist at their company. Nearly half (49%) of working mothers and 39% of working fathers say they are not aware of any employer plans to help with childcare.
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