Much of the discussion around working parents focuses on the needs of new mothers. It is as if the challenges of integrating work and parenthood evaporate once a child enters school. NOT! Children need continuing care and parental support as they move from grade school to middle school and into high school. As their independence grows, they may need less supervision, but their lives get much busier requiring being shuttled between activities, after-school jobs, and social engagements.
Source: Harvard Business Review, September 26, 2019. Link.
Without effective supports, later-stage working parents are just as vulnerable as new parents to feeling pulled between career and family.
INSIGHTS: The most important takeaway from this article is that supporting both men and women in their childcare roles is critical to successes on the job and at home.