According to the BBC, the independent think tank Demos has found that inflexible and stressful jobs are leaving parents racked with guilt and increasingly distant from their children. We think it’s great that this issue is finally getting the attention that it deserves, since we have always maintained that flexible working, where possible, can be invaluable for working parents.
We are even more encouraged by Nick Clegg’s decision to push for wider acceptance of flexible working, as well as reforms to parenting leave that will allow couples to share their paternity/maternity leave, thereby adding to the level of flexibility enjoyed by hard working parents. Flexibility has often been central to improving staff engagement and motivation.
However, truly flexible working can still be difficult to achieve in many jobs, which means that some parents will have to turn to other means of childcare. In this scenario, employers can help a great deal by giving parents a chance to save substantially on non-taxable income using childcare voucher schemes. After all, in this day and age, every little helps.