Working parents, the child is still an obstacle to career, especially if newborn

The pandemic has profoundly changed the world of work: for working parents, the two years of Covid – with the introduction of smartworking – have raised the need to find a work-life balance, due to the overlap between professional and parental needs. And, from this point of view, they have also produced some positive consequences: they have prompted companies to define flexible employment contracts, to offer greater flexibility to workers. This is explained by the results of a study by ADP extension (American multinational leader in human capital management) Research Institutewhich provided an overview of today’s sentiment among workers with children in Italy.

In mid-August, the “work-life balance” decree, which is now being applied to employees, and which provides for measures to improve the reconciliation between work and private life for parents, with the aim of a more equal sharing of care responsibilities between men and women. This provision also regulates the mandatory paternity leavewhich can be used from the two months preceding the expected date of birth up to the following five months, for a period of ten working days, not divisible by the hour, to be used even on a non-continuous basis.

The study shows that 80% of Italian working parents are satisfied current workplace (more than non-parents, with 75%). Of the 20 out of 100 who declared themselves dissatisfied, 46 do not see any prospects for growth and 40 complain that they have not had any increase in their payroll due to the increased workload (but the number rises to 50 for those with children between 0 and 5 years).

41% of working parents expect an increase in their paychecks in the coming year, also because 46% said they work unpaid overtime for 6 to 10 hours a week. But money is not everything, on the contrary: 28% would be willing to accept a pay cut in favor of greater flexibility of hours and spaces, while 43% (55% of those with children up to one year and 53% of those with children aged 1 to 5) would look for another job if forced to return to full-time work.

These data clearly indicate that flexibility is key for parents. According to 42% of them, the perfect combination is working from both home and office, 34% only from the office and 17% only from home. To the question: «Do you think that working from home has made work easier or more difficult for those who are parents?», 38% of the interviewees answered «easier» (the percentage rises to 48% for those with infant children aged less than a year), “more difficult” for 31%, while for 17% nothing has changed.

Finally, 36% said that being a parent is still a career barrier (the percentage rises to 45% among those with children under one year old and 42% among those with children between 1 and 5 years of age). But only 25% of those with adult children continue to think so.

Although the picture defined by the study is overall positive as regards flexibility at work, it appears that as many as 5% of parents with children aged between 1 and 10 have voluntarily left their jobs during the pandemic.

So companies can be attentive to parenting