abstract: 'The competing interests of employers, working parents, and very young

  children collide in decisions over work schedules, child care

  arrangements, promotions, children''s sicknesses, and overtime hours.

  With the rising number of women in the labor force, more and more

  employers are concerned about how their workers balance work and family

  priorities. This article examines the supports that employers provide to

  help parents with young children juggle demands on their time and

  attention. It reviews the availability of traditional benefits, such as

  vacation and health insurance, and describes family-friendly

  initiatives. Exciting progress is being made in this arena by,leading

  employers, but coverage remains uneven:

  . Employers say they provide family-friendly policies and programs to

  improve, staff recruitment and retention, reduce absenteeism, and

  increase job satisfaction and company loyalty. Evaluations demonstrate

  positive impacts on each of these valued outcomes.

  . Employee benefits and work/family supports seldom reach all layers of

  the work force, and low-income workers who need assistance the most are

  the least likely to receive or take advantage of it.

  . Understandably, employer policies seek to maximize productive work

  time. However, it is often in the best interests of children for a

  parent to be able to set work aside to address urgent family concerns.

  The author concludes that concrete work/family supports like on-site

  child care, paid leave, and flextime are important innovations.

  Ultimately, the most valuable aid to employees would be a

  family-friendly workplace culture, with supportive supervision and

  management practices.'
affiliation: 'Friedman, DE (Corresponding Author), Bright Horizons Family Solut, Watertown,
  MA USA.

  Bright Horizons Family Solut, Watertown, MA USA.'
author: Friedman, DE
author_list:
- family: Friedman
  given: DE
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.2307/1602810
files: []
issn: 1054-8289
journal: FUTURE OF CHILDREN
language: English
month: SPR-SUM
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '35'
pages: 63-77
papis_id: eb6d3c592683108b4f280b2e01c65343
ref: Friedman2001employersupports
times-cited: '28'
title: Employer supports for parents with young children
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000181113500006
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '10'
volume: '11'
web-of-science-categories: 'Family Studies; Health Policy \& Services; Social Sciences,

  Interdisciplinary'
year: '2001'