Knowledge Center

• In 2011, the overall labor force participation rate of all mothers with children under 18 was 70.6%, compared to 93.5% of all fathers with children under 18. For married mothers with children under 18, the rate was 68.7%.1

• The labor force participation rate of married mothers with children under 3 years old increased from 32.7% in 1975 to 60.3% in 2009.2

Mothers

• According to the 2010 Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management:3
  • 17% of organizations offered paid maternity leave (other than what is covered by short-term disability)
  • 28% offer a lactation program or designated area.
• In Fiscal Year 2011, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 5,797 charges of pregnancy-based discrimination. 4
• The proportion of mothers with newborns in the workforce increased from 57% in 2006 to 61% in 2008.5
• In 2008, 25% of mothers with newborns were in poverty (only 6% received public assistance).6
  • In 2008, 6% of mothers with newborns were looking for work.

Fathers

• According to the 2010 Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, 17% of organizations offered paid paternity leave.7
• A Families and Work Institute survey found that the average maximum job-guaranteed leave for men following the birth of their child decreased from 13.1 weeks in 1998 to 12.6 weeks in 2008.8
• A 2003 study found that men who took leave for birth or eldercare were rated more negatively than their male counterparts who did not take leave. The study also indicated that male evaluators were more judgmental of male leave-takers than were female evaluators.9

Family Responsibility Discrimination

• Family Responsibility Discrimination, or FRD, is a form of sex discrimination against employees due to their family-caring responsibilities for children (including during pregnancy), elderly parents, or ill relatives. Despite good performance, employees who are victims of FRD might be:10
  • Passed over for a promotion or a position; 
  • Questioned about their intentions to have children; 
  • Victims of pay discrimination; 
  • Harassed; 
  • Fired; 
  • Experiencing a hostile work environment;
  • Failing to promote qualified employees with children in lieu of promotions to women without children or to fathers 
  • Or otherwise penalized or retaliated against. 11
•  FRD cases have risen over 400% between 1995 and 2005. 12

Canada

• In 2006, 69.6% of Canadian households consisted of increasingly diverse families, with fewer children living at home. 13
  • In 2006, Single-parent households were 24.6% of all households with children. 14

Working Mothers in Canada

• The labor force participation rate for mothers has increased from 39.1% in 1976 to 72.9% in 2009. 15
  • The rate for working women with children under three has increased from 27.6% in 1976 to 64.4% in 2009.16
  • Single mothers are less likely to be employed than mothers living in a two-parent household. 17

Working Fathers in Canada

• The percentage of fathers living in an intact family has dropped from 76.0% in 1995 to 74.3% in 2006. 18
  • Between 2001 and 2006 the number of common law unions increased more than five times the rate of married couples. 19
• In 2006, 80% of fathers lived full time with their children. 20
• The Parental Benefits Program allows 10 weeks of shared paid parental leave by qualifying parents. 21

Europe

In this table BOLD indicates those countries with highest incidence and ITALICS indicates countries with lowest incidence of each situation

Global

• In Australia between 2004-2006, 22% of all households with children under 15 are single family. 22
  • In 1973 the Supporting Mother’s Benefit legislation was introduced specifically targeted to single mothers and in 1977, it expanded to cover single fathers.23
• In China, the employment rate of mothers (age 25-34) with children under the age of 6 is 72.0% which is10.9% lower than women in the same age group with no children.24
• In India, 792,950 children benefited from Creches in 2009: (preschool education, supplementary nutrition and recreation that benefits children of working mothers).25
  • India has the lowest divorce rate in the world which makes single parenting not a large problem. But the divorce rate is expected to increase significantly.26
• In 2006, 82.7% of all children in India lived with both parents. 8.5% lived only with the mother (but the father still alive).27
• In Japan, .2% of fathers and 44.5% of mothers take advantage of the Child Care Leave Policy.28
  • 87.7% of children under 14 live with both parents.29

PERCENTAGE OF COMPANIES OFFERING EMPLOYER PROVIDED CHILDCARE/OTHER DOMESTIC SUPPORT30

CHILDREN IN COUPLE HOUSEHOLD BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, 200831

How to cite this product: Catalyst. Catalyst Quick Take: Working Parents. New York: Catalyst, 2012.

• 1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, "Table 5: Employment status of the population by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18, 2010-2011 annual averages" (2012).
• 2. U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract, "Table 600: Labor Force Participation Rates for Wives, Husband Present, by Age of Own Youngest Child" (2011).
• 3. Society for Human Resource Management, "Table E-1, Table F-1," 2010 Benefits Survey Report (2010).
• 4. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Pregnancy Discrimination Charges EEOC & FEPAs Combined: FY 1997 - FY 2010" (2010).
• 5. Jane Lawler Dye, "[url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-563.pdf]Fertility of American Women: 2008," U.S. Census Current Population Reports (2010).
• 6. Jane Lawler Dye, "Fertility of American Women: 2008," U.S. Census Current Population Reports (2010).
• 7. Society for Human Resource Management, "Table E-1, Table F-1," 2010 Benefits Survey Report (2010).
• 8. Families and Work Institute, "Table 6: Caregiving Leaves from 1998 to 2008," 2008 National Study of Employers (2008).
• 9. Julie Holliday Wayne and Bryanne L. Cordeiro, "Who is a Good Organizational Citizen? Social Perception of Male and Female Employees Who Use Family Leave," Sex Roles, vol. 49 (5,6) September 2003.
• 10. Sloan Work and Family Research Network and Work Life Law, "Addressing Family Responsibilities Discrimination," Work-family Information for State Legislators (2008): vol. 16.
• 11. Work Life Law, "Issue Brief: Current Law Prohibits Discrimination Based on Family Responsibilities & Gender Stereotyping" (Summer 2006).; Sloan Work and Family Research Network and Work Life Law, "Addressing Family Responsibilities Discrimination," Work-family Information for State Legislators (2008): vol. 16.
• 12. Sloan Work and Family Research Network and Work Life Law, "Addressing Family Responsibilities Discrimination," Work-family Information for State Legislators (2008): vol. 16.
• 13. Statistics Canada, Human Resource and Skills Development, Canada, Canadians in Context—Households and Families (2012).
• 14. US Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2011, Single Parent Households.
• 15. Statistics Canada, Women in Canada: Paid Work 1976-2009 (2011).
• 16. Statistics Canada, Women in Canada: Paid Work 1976-2009 (2011).
• 17. Statistics Canada, Women in Canada: Paid Work 1976-2009 (2011).
• 18. Statistics Canada, Distribution of Fathers by Family Type, Canada, 1995 and 2006 (2010).
• 19. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census, Families and Households (2007).
• 20. Statistics Canada, Making Fathers "Count" (2010).
• 21. Statistics Canada, Making Fathers "Count" (2010).
• 22. Australian Bureau of Statistics, ]"4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2007" One-Parent Families (2008).
• 23. Australian Bureau of Statistics, "4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2007," One-Parent Families (2008).
• 24. Editor: Wang Yanqiu, [url=http://www.womenofchina.cn/html/report/134773-1.htm]Women’s Rights Protected and Gender Awareness Enhanced (All –China Women’s Federation, 2011).
• 25. National Institue of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Statistics on Women in India 2010, Table 129: Creches Sanctioned and Number of Beneficiaries Under Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme as on 31.3.2009.
• 26. Akshay Manwani, SHRM, "Helping Single Parents Succeed" (2010).
• 27. National Institue of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Statistics on Women in India 2010, Table 129: Creches Sanctioned and Number of Beneficiaries Under Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme as on 31.3.2009.
• 28. Masako Ishii-Kuntz, Ph.D., Japanese Father’s Involvement in Childcare, (2003).
• 29. OECD Family Database, SF1.2: Children in Families (2010).
• 30. OECD Family Database, PF3.1: Public Spending on Childcare and Early Education (2011).
• 31. OECD Family Database, Children in Families by Employment Status Table LMF1.1.B (2010).