What working mothers at your company really need this Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day With the fragrant aroma of roses wafting through the air, let’s consider a different kind of bouquet. Hard working mothers. Picture this: a bouquet of flexible work options, wrapped in velvet petals of understanding and empathy. Now that’s a gift that keeps on giving!

The astonishing state of motherhood

The Latest Status of Motherhood report From Motherly, with nearly 10,000 mother respondents, paints an interesting picture. The number of stay-at-home mothers nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, from 15% to 25%. It appears that the motherhood pendulum has swung back to its norm, staying in the typical range of 24% to 28%. Last year was an outlier, a wonderful blip on the radar, with significantly fewer stay-at-home moms.

Why? Because mothers were equipped with the magic wand of work flexibility. Because more companies are herding their employees Back to the office, some mothers find themselves in a tight corner. With no other option, they take on full-time jobs caring for their children, which leads to an exit from the workforce.

According to Jill Koziol, CEO and cofounder of Motherly, “In 2022, mothers will be flexible or Hybrid work arrangements, Relics of the Epidemic Era. With a sudden return to office work, it looks like the invoice was sent directly to the mothers.”

That’s what I say my customers Those who are deciding whether to be flexible or rigid Return to Office Plan: If they don’t offer flexibility to mothers, large numbers will leave the workforce. It is an inevitable consequence of top-down command.

Related: You should let your team decide their approach to hybrid work. A behavioral economist explains why and how you should do it.

Who paid the price?

In our haste to return to “normal” we can overlook the cost of such transitions. A motherly survey tells the story of a quiet, yet effective departure from the workforce. And the numbers don’t lie. Fully 18% of mothers changed jobs or left the workforce altogether last year. Some may read these statistics and shudder, but let’s dig deeper into why.

For 28% of these mothers, the driving force was the desire to stay home with their children. On the surface, this seems like a personal choice, and indeed it is. But underneath, there is a complex network of factors, including lack of Flexible work options.

For 15% of mothers, the absence of childcare options was a deal breaker. This is no small inconvenience. It’s an obstacle that puts the brakes on a mother’s career, often with long-term consequences.

Related: Why Employers Are Forced to Return to the Office Leads to Greater Workforce and Unionization

flexibility factor

And yet, the solution is not as elusive as it seems. A Motherly survey found that 64% of stay-at-home mothers would return to the workforce if offered Flexible work schedule. The mere availability of flexible working is not a bonus or perk. It is a powerful lever that can significantly change the employment landscape for mothers.

Imagine the impact. Thousands of mothers are re-entering the workforce, contributing their skills, perspectives and ideas. Thousands of families get additional benefits Financial security. It’s a win-win situation, and it just requires a change in perspective, ours Rigid work structures.

An alternative approach is improving child care affordability. More than half, 52% of mothers surveyed, would return to work if affordable childcare was available – less than if flexibility were offered, but still a large share. Current system, where Child care costs Often eats up a significant portion of the paycheck, which is unaffordable for many families.

But this is not an issue that individual families should stand alone. Employers, policy makers and society at large have a role to play in creating solutions. This may include employer-sponsored childcare, subsidies or policies that help reduce childcare costs. Thus, individual employers who are not willing to be flexible must provide childcare assistance: they will not get the full benefit of flexibility, 12% of working mothers will miss out, but they will get most of the benefits.

conclusion

Of course, most companies won’t be able to afford that cost. So this is a radical idea for Mother’s Day. Instead of typical gifts, let’s consider giving moms something that will really make a difference: flexible work. It doesn’t cost the company more money—instead, Flexible working saves money, up to $11,000 per employee. This is not a gift that is given once and forgotten. It is a gift that keeps on giving day after day, month after month. It is a gift that acknowledges the realities of motherhood and the value of a mother’s contribution to the workforce. Let’s make this Mother’s Day the beginning of a new era. An era where we don’t just pay lip service to the importance of work-life balance, but actively create the conditions that make it possible. An era where flexible working is not the exception, but the norm.

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