Single Parents in the Workforce
There are more single-parent headed households today than ever before, equating to roughly 1 in 4 children under the age of 18 living with a single parent. A majority of these children live with a single mom and less than 20% live with single fathers. These numbers are as much as 3x higher than they were in 1960.
Statistics show no signs of these trends slowing down and in fact, they show the opposite. While divorce rates are dropping, they are still notably high. Additionally, “non-traditional” arrangements are becoming more accepted and prominent in our society. 46% of millennials and 44% of Gen Xers say marriage is becoming obsolete. Cohabiting is a rising trend, where parents live together without marriage, and these couples are less likely to stay together than married couples.
Employing Single Parents
As employers, what does this mean? Well, it means that you most likely employ or will eventually employ a single parent. That means being in tune with their unique challenges and needs will establish your business as inclusive, balanced, and supportive, leading to better talent attraction and employee retention.
We spoke with Daley Formby, a Senior Recruiter at Who Staffing, to understand some of the challenges and motivations that come with being a working single parent. While we understand this is an anecdotal snapshot, it provided us with some helpful insights that we believe can be indicative of many other single parents as well.
Challenges
Daley finds her biggest challenge to be time. Finding enough time to focus on work and while having enough quality time to spend with her son is something she’s constantly trying to balance. Understandably so, considering we all have those days where we feel like 24 hours in a day just isn’t enough. She embraces the importance of high performance at work but also how imperative it is to be a stable and loving presence for her 5-year-old son, James.
Marriage.com carried out a study that identified additional challenges for single parents that employers should be aware of, including loneliness and feelings of guilt. Offer yourself as more than just an employer. Showing you care goes a long way for employees, especially those who are balancing two full-time jobs: working for you and being a single parent.
Motivations
When becoming a parent, your child most likely becomes your sole motivator. When becoming a single parent, your child most likely becomes your sole motivator and second full-time job. Single parents are driven to take on the responsibility of being the sole financial and emotional provider in order to provide them with a stable and loving home while setting a great example.
On top of their children, certain factors may motivate a single parent to accept an offer with one company over another. Some studies have shown that many single parents pass up a job offer due to lack of transportation or childcare. Daley noted her most important factors to be company reputation, company stability, employee tenure, and a healthy work-life balance. Making work-life balance an important piece of your culture is imperative if you want to retain single parents (and most employees for that matter).
Advice for Other Single Parents
Daley’s biggest piece of advice for other single parents is to stay away from devices when with your child and be as present as you can be with the special time you have together. Definitely take lots of pictures though, she adds!
If you also prioritize a work-life balance when considering an employer, Daley explained the power of learning how to say no. When you feel like things are growing to be unmanageable and unhealthy, saying no is a great way to scale back to a balanced level.
Conclusion
If Who Staffing can help you in any way with building a process that allows you to win the war on talent, please feel free to reach out to start a conversation or go here for more information about us. If you’re interested in learning about our different hiring arrangements and levels of service, you can read about them here.
