Parents Poised to Quit Jobs if Boss Doesn’t Step Up
08 Mai 2024 - 10:05PM
Business Wire
New Research shows parents will leave jobs for
employers who offer family-friendly benefits as they continue to
prioritize family
The 10th annual edition of the Modern Family Index (MFI),
commissioned by Bright Horizons (NYSE:BFAM) and conducted by The
Harris Poll, sheds light on a newly emboldened generation of
working parents who are willing to stand up for what they need to
support their work/life balance. The research reveals their
willingness to pause family planning until they find a job at a
company that offers family-friendly benefits.
Since 2014, the MFI has explored the experiences and sentiments
of working parents as they’ve navigated balancing work with their
familial/life responsibilities. While worries from 2014 may have
ebbed somewhat in 2024, they haven’t disappeared, and parents are
emboldened in their expectations. Though fewer parents in 2024 than
in 2014 report fearing their family responsibilities will cost them
a raise (29% in 2024, 39% in 2014), a promotion (26%, 37%), or
their job (28%, 48%), tangible supports for working parents still
aren’t widely available.
While there are similarities between parents in 2024 and 2014
when it comes to prioritizing their families (77% report it is
among their top three priorities vs. 76% in 2014), parents today no
longer feel the need to hide their familial responsibilities and
are willing to demand what they need in the pursuit of work/life
balance, even if they have to find another job to get it.
2024 Key Findings
- 78% of respondents are more comfortable speaking up about
family-related responsibilities with their employer than they used
to be
- 78% say having benefits and support from their employer
specifically for working parents/caretakers is important to
them
- 70% agree that working for a company that has benefits to
support work/life balance is “non-negotiable”
- 66% of those who are planning to have more children in the
future would consider waiting to grow their families until they
have landed at a company that offers better familial/family
planning benefits
The data should sound alarm bells for employers as it
illustrates employees’ willingness to take a stand on what it will
take for their employers to retain them. At the top of their
benefits wish list is support with childcare – nearly half (46%) of
parents reported that assistance with childcare and access to an
onsite childcare (43%) would be helpful – even above unlimited
remote work (40%). Despite this clear call for support, less than a
third (29%) are getting assistance in childcare costs from their
employers.
“Over the last decade, the workplace has undergone tremendous
transformation, with perhaps the biggest change coming from
employees themselves. They are no longer afraid to speak up about
the support they need and want to be productive at home and work.
They have high expectations of themselves and are demanding the
same from their employers,” said Stephen Kramer CEO of Bright
Horizons.
Opportunity for Employers
It’s not all doom and gloom for employers. The data presents
clues to what would help. In contrast to their 2014 counterparts,
today’s parents seem more optimistic about the future of working
and parenting. Many working parents (44%) anticipate that the
workplace will get better over the next decade and hope for
specific improvements including:
- schedule flexibility (65%)
- better quality benefits (57%)
- a work environment sensitive to their work/life balance needs
(44%)
- more childcare supports (35%)
Kramer adds, “Employers who lean in and support employees with
meaningful benefits will cement workplace cultures as
family-friendly, positioning their organizations as the places that
the next generation will want to build their careers.”
The MFI research paints of a picture of a new generation of
parents – hard working, potential leaders, who are clear-eyed about
the tension between jobs and families, and willing to take a firm
stand on what it will take for employers to attract and retain
them.
To download the 10th Annual Bright Horizons Modern Family Index
report, click here.
About the Bright Horizons Modern Family Index
The research was conducted online in the U.S. by The Harris Poll
on behalf of Bright Horizons among 2,004 adults aged 18 and over
who are employed with children under 18. The survey was conducted
from January 25th – February 2nd, 2024. Data are weighted where
necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education,
marital status, household size, employment status, household
income, and smoking status to bring them in line with their actual
proportions in the population.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who
have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision
of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible
interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within
+ 3.1 percentage points using a 95%
confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among
subsets of the surveyed population of interest. All sample surveys
and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are
subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not
possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to
coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated
with question wording and response options, and post-survey
weighting and adjustments.
About Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.
Bright Horizons® is a leading global provider of high-quality
early education and childcare, back-up care, and workforce
education services. For more than 35 years, we have partnered with
employers to support workforces by providing services that help
working families and employees thrive personally and
professionally. Bright Horizons operates more than 1,000 early
education and childcare centers in the United States, the United
Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and India, and serves more
than 1,450 of the world’s leading employers. Bright Horizons’ early
education and childcare centers, back-up child and elder care, and
workforce education programs help employees succeed at each life
and career stage. For more information, go to
www.brighthorizons.com.
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Laura McDowell Laura.McDowell@brighthorizons.com
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