Why This Matters

Families Have Changed.

But family-friendly policies have lagged behind. Many US and employer policies are based on an outdated model: a two-parent household, with one parent who works outside the home for pay. Today, only 68.9 percent of households include two parents^{Footnote # 1}, and only nine percent of all families—single-parent and two-parent—have one parent who cares for children full time.

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.

Seventy-five percent of US mothers say they’ve passed up work opportunities, switched jobs, or quit to care for their children.^{Footnote # 2}

Fifty percent of US fathers say they’ve passed up work opportunities, switched jobs, or quit to care for their children.^{Footnote # 3}

Nearly 40% of parents nationwide say they've

left a job because it lacked flexibility.^{Footnote # 4}

The struggle is real and includes working parents in North Carolina.

13%
Only 13 percent of private industry workers nationwide have access to paid parental leave,^{Footnote # 5} and nearly a quarter of moms return to work just two weeks after having a baby.
11%
Only 11 percent of private sector workers in the South Atlantic region, which encompasses North Carolina, have access to paid family leave.^{Footnote # 6}
33%
1 in 3 families nationwide spend 20% or more of their annual household income on child care^{Footnote # 7} and North Carolina is the 11th least affordable state in the country for preschool-age child care.^{Footnote # 8}

Up to 5 million more workers would join the labor force if US businesses offered more family-friendly benefits like paid parental leave.^{Footnote # 9}

Hourly and low-wage workers are impacted the most.

Hourly workers make up 59% of the workforce^{Footnote # 10} but are

less likely to have access to family-friendly benefits
less likely to be able to afford unpaid leave or child care
more likely to drop out of the labor force after giving birth.^{Footnote # 11}

Roughly 6 million American parents work in jobs that pay $10.50 or less per hour.

Low-wage employees have the least access to family-friendly policies, which has significantly and disproportionately affected their health and economic security.^{Footnote # 12}^,^{Footnote # 13}

Working families struggle → declining birth rate → smaller future labor force

The US birth rate has dropped to an all-time low, which economists warn will affect long-term economic growth.^{Footnote # 14}

Why are Americans having fewer babies?^{Footnote # 15}

64% of adults say it’s because child care is too expensive.

77% say it’s because they have no access to or not enough paid leave.

Show 15 footnotes