Currently many regions and industries in the country are nearing full employment. The competition for workers has increased greatly over the past decade. That’s why the results of a new study are so newsworthy. The study, produced by Bright Horizons, finds that 49 percent of new parents say they have taken a job for less money because their new employer offered better benefits for families.
This is great news for nonprofits. Historically, nonprofits have subsidized their lack of high salary offerings with healthy benefits and friendly workplaces. The data suggests parents, especially new parents, should be prime targets for nonprofit recruiters.
The Bright Horizons study addressed how employment and jobs influence the decisions of new or expectant parents. The complete study finds that many parents consider their employment as a large part of their family planning. It also reports that many workers feel that their employers judge them negatively for becoming a parent.
Key reported findings show:
- Virtually all women surveyed are excited to return to work after a maternity leave
- More than one in three new parents report feeling that their boss presumes they are now less committed to work and would prefer if they left
- Women aren’t the only ones facing workplace bias; new fathers reported being judged negatively by their peers and bosses and say that becoming a parent will cause them to look for a new workplace
Source: Bright Horizons
Bright Horizons seems to have confirmed a possible bias in the workplace towards working parents. They reported the following:
Each of the three reports in the Modern Family Index series has demonstrated examples of workplace bias. The first report revealed that working moms and dads feel they can’t be honest with their supervisors about family responsibilities, and worry that family responsibilities could even get them fired. The second survey showed that working parents are experiencing burnout due to the stress of managing their work and family responsibilities, and feel their employers do not care about them.
However, the fact that nearly two in five (38 percent) first-time parents felt they needed a family-friendly job before having their first child, according to this year’s MFI, shows that working moms and dads are willing to stay in the workforce with the right combination of job, pay, and work/family life balance.
Nonprofits should take note of these findings. They may confirm what many sector executives have long suspected – creating a family friendly workplace is a competitive advantage for the nonprofit sector when competing for talent.
