PARENTS IN THE WORKPLACE: THE NEED TO EDUCATE ORGANIZATIONS ON HOW TO ASSIST PARENTS WITH WORK/FAMILY BALANCE

With today’s changing views of family and economic demands, dual working parents are the norm rather than the exception. Child rearing responsibilities are being split between parents. Even though today’s society has taken steps towards a more egalitarian way of life, women are still more likely to alter their work schedules for family demands. Thus our research is focused on how parenting impacts work performance and how organizations can manage with parenting demands. Our research shows that the vast majority of female spouses will miss work to take care of family responsibilities and males rely on their spouse for this responsibility. On average, they miss up to ten hours of work a month due to family obligations. Balancing work and family can prove to be difficult for many people. Sometimes the demands of the organization are too great, which ultimately strains families. The need to educate organizations and companies on how to meet the needs of working parents is evident. Organizations need to implement policies to assist employees with work/family balance in hopes of increased productivity and greater loyalty.