Families Have Changed.
But family-friendly policies have lagged behind. In the US, public and private policies that affect working parents are based on an outdated model: a two-parent household, with one parent who works outside the home for pay. Today, only 65 percent of households include two parentsFootnote # 1
That means the vast majority of families must work in a system that was created for a bygone era. Here’s what that looks like for working parents and employers across the country.
As parents struggle to balance work and family obligations, employers are losing out.
Two-thirds of mothers in the US considered leaving the workforce due to the stress and cost of child care. Footnote # 2
Sixty-seven percent of NC parents say they have missed work or school at least once in the last three months due to child care issues. Footnote # 3
25% of North Carolina parents have quit their jobs, passed up work opportunities, or switched jobs due to child care challenges. Low-income parents are even more impacted (31%) by the lack of available and affordable child care in the state.Footnote # 4
The struggle is real, and working parents are in a bind.
Less than 1 in 4 North Carolina employees have access to paid family leave.Footnote # 5
On average, families in North Carolina pay more for a year of child care for one baby than a year of public college tuition.Footnote # 6 Forty percent of North Carolina parents say they’ve left a job because it lacked flexibility.Footnote # 7
Up to 5 million more workers would join the labor force if US businesses offered more family-friendly benefits like paid parental leave. And access to adequate child care for all NC families would add $5.65 billion each year to our state economy. Footnote # 8
Hourly and low-wage workers are impacted the most.
Hourly workers make up 55 percent of the workforceFootnote # 9 and nearly one in four children live in low-income families.Footnote # 10
Low-income workers are:
- less likely to have access to family-friendly benefits,
- less likely to be able to afford unpaid leave or child care, and
- more likely to drop out of the labor force after giving birth.
Workers who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color face less access to family-friendly benefits.
- Hispanic workers have significantly less accessFootnote # 11 to paid leave, and Black and Hispanic workers are significantly less likely to have the ability to telework.Footnote # 12
- The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and hotels, employs the highest percentage of low-wage workers.Footnote # 13 Twenty-five percent of all leisure and hospitality employees are Hispanic or Latino.Footnote # 14
- More than 80% of Black mothers are the sole, primary, or co-breadwinner for their households, but 55% of parental leaves taken by Black women are unpaid. Footnote # 15
These disparities for low-wage employees and Black, Indigenous and People of Color significantly and disproportionately affect their health, economic security and economic mobility.
Working families struggle → declining birth rate → smaller future labor force
- The US fertility rate has steadily declined since 2008, reaching a historic low in 2023. Footnote # 16
- Nearly one-quarter of Americans who don’t have children say they don’t plan to have them because the cost of child care is too high. For people who are parents, 20 percent say the cost of child care is their biggest financial stressor.Footnote # 17
- When the fertility rate falls below replacement level, the population grows older and shrinks Footnote # 18, which can slow economic growth.Footnote # 19