Why working mothers are leaving the workforce and what can be done about it

Working Mothers and Their Needs

An in-depth examination of why working mothers are leaving their fields and what can be done about it

Flow of Information

Future Considerations

The 1960's saw an explosion with regard to the women's movement in America. Historically in the United States, women had stayed home to raise the children while men went out and climbed the career ladder. Only during times of war did women feel the need to go into the workforce and then it was only long enough to hold the job open until their men could come home from overseas and start working again.

It was during the 1960's that the women's movement took off and by the 1970's women were entering the workforce and colleges in record numbers throughout the nation.

For several decades, women declared they wanted it all. They spent time on education, entering the workforce and climbing the career ladders next to their male counterparts. The phenomena saw an increase in need for day care centers, and schools began after class programs designed to help children with their homework, then supervise them until mom got off of work and picked them up. For several decades, women have struggled with working and maintaining the lion's share of responsibilities for housework and child rearing (Witters, 2003).

For the past few years the nation has seen a shift in this trend and recently women have begun leaving the workforce to go home and care for children full time (Witters, 2003). The reasons for this occurrence are varied but often times have to do with the inflexible attitudes they encounter with regard to their need to balance work and life. Because women are still largely responsible for the child raising in the family it falls to the mothers to try and juggle a career, with daycare, child activities, school issues and getting children to and from doctor, dentist and other appointments.

Employers have historically taken issue with employees needing time off to handle these tasks and the consequence for the clash is mothers leaving jobs to go home full time.

This creates problems for the labor force as well as the female gender as the mother that goes home loses her place on the career ladder and by the time she is ready to return to work her skills are often outdated and she is considered outdated as well.

One of the largest problems with the trend for mothers to leave the job and go home is the fact that when women entered the workforce throughout the 60's and 70's they drove up the spend-able income of the average family which in turn drove up the prices of most things in life. Now that several decades have passed with two income families being the norm, prices are set and not easily attained on one income anymore. In addition, the women in the workforce report feeling a sense of accomplishment because they are contributing to the household income and society by their working. They report they feel they are valued in the world by those accomplishments however; problems that cause them to leave their jobs and take care of children full time are often tied to the very jobs that they loved so much.

Work schedules, not feeling supported as parents at the company, breastfeeding concerns and other issues all contribute to the exodus of mothers from the workforce, taking with them valuable training, experience and education.

If society is going to continue to provide equality between females and males in the workforce and enjoy the contribution women make to the labor force it is important to design solutions that will encourage mothers to remain on the job.

One recent study examined 423 prenatal clients to determine their attitudes about breastfeeding and their intentions (Witters, 2003). The study found that women planning to return to work didn't often entertain the idea of breastfeeding because they did not feel it was something their co-workers and company would support them in pursuing.

The average age of the women surveyed was twenty-five, with an age range of fourteen to forty-five years of age. More than half of the respondents were expecting their first child (Witters, 2003). Thirty-one percent of the multiparious women had breastfed previously for a mean of 4.29 months (amount of supplementation is not known (Witters, 2003).) "In addition to providing demographic information, respondents answered questions about their interest in breastfeeding, their intentions about returning to work, and the hospital at which they planned to deliver (Witters, 2003). Respondents were able to request a personal contact from the WIC breastfeeding support staff and were able to write in specific questions about breastfeeding on the survey form (Witters, 2003). Forms were coded so that they could be matched with the mother's breastfeeding status, once the baby was born (Witters, 2003)."

The study located and interviewed 14 local employers and ascertained their policies, attitudes and their beliefs when it came to the subject of employees breastfeeding after returning to their jobs (Witters, 2003). The employers were located through the local yellow pages and they were from different types of businesses including insurance offices, retail, grocery and restaurant establishments.

The study found that employers are not supportive of the idea of an employee returning to work and taking time to breast feed or pump milk for the purpose of breastfeeding (Witters, 2003).

This is not the only area that research has found to be contributory with regard to why working mothers leave their jobs to stay home full time with their families.

Another study examined the schedules of working mothers at a hospital employer and tried to determine the relationship they had between their employment and their home life (Morehead, 2003).

The participants of this study reported they often work part time so that they have time to be home and take care of the household responsibilities.

At a national level, most public hospitals are faced with the challenge of managing change in an era of budget constraint, cost cutting and a shift from a focus on inputs to outputs, and of coping with a national shortage of nurses (National Review of Nursing Education 2002). Managers have the task of achieving numerical flexibility at the same time as they must attract and retain occupational groups such as nurses that are in short supply. Flexible working time arrangements can be used as a strategy to meet both these objectives (Morehead, 2003)."

Women want and deserve to have fulfilling careers. They contribute many positive elements to the workforce and they also produce expendable income for the families as well as contribute valuable income tax revenue for the government to use in providing public services. Rather than take a passive approach to mothers leaving the work arena to stay home full time, it is important to develop programs of flexibility, support and encouragement for women with children to remain at their jobs (Bartlett, 2006).

Chapter Two

Work Life Programs

One of the recent initiatives being used today in the hopes of getting women to remain in the workforce is something called a work-life balance program.

Studies show work/life balance programs go a long way to help CPA firms of all sizes attract and retain high-quality professionals and are a key factor in employee satisfaction (Lewison, 2006).

Successful programs address elder-care as well as child-care needs. The growing demand for attending to parents is one of today's most significant trends (Lewison, 2006).

More than a decade has passed since businesses started to implement work/life-balance-friendly policies, but only a few firms are claiming success. If top managers of an organization don't support work/life programs, they are likely to fail (Lewison, 2006).

Ernst & Young rates its managers on how available they make work/life options and factors those ratings into reviews and bonuses (Lewison, 2006).

Deloitte & Touche's program helps employees tailor a partnership path through different phases of their lives (Lewison, 2006).

The business case for work/life balance programs grows stronger every day. Research shows that employers that don't consider how family and work responsibilities affect their employees are hindering their ability to operate more efficiently (Lewison, 2006)."

The ability to balance work life and family life has shown itself though research to be a successful and viable option for employees.

When women first began joining the workforce in significant numbers it was thought that overall hours worked would be able to be reduced as there were more people doing the jobs, however, it has actually worked in the exact opposite manner, and today people, both men and women are working longer hours than ever before.

While Europe has long recognized the importance of balancing work life and home life, America is only just beginning to see that it is something that can reduce turnover rates, absentees and other problems, especially with regard to employees who also have families.

Adapting to contemporary needs calls for more than a one-size-fits-all approach to work/life benefits programs, however (Lewison, 2006). Witness the growing demand for time to attend to one's parents, which is one of the most significant trends in the area of work/life balance (Lewison, 2006). Smart firms and corn panics are implementing programs that address employees' elder-care demands as well as single-parent staff members' emergency-day-care needs (Lewison, 2006).

The challenge of effectively meeting workplace and personal needs continues to fall more heavily on women than men. More than 65% of families with preschool children had mothers working outside the home, according to HR Review, and if a child is sick, most often it's the mother who's called (Lewison, 2006)."

According to research CPA firms have been leaders in the labor force with regard to recognizing the need to provide a work-life balance program and implementing them throughout the field of accounting.

A landmark study by Xerox and the Ford Foundation, "Rethinking Life and Work," found employers that don't consider how employees' family and work responsibilities affect each other hinder an organization's ability to be fully productive. Solutions to both work and life issues evolve if employers analyze the way work is done and the interrelationship between the demands of the job and the demands of employees' home lives (Lewison, 2006)." research study conducted among national CPA firms examined the work life balance programs that are being offered at some of them to determine the success such programs garner when it comes to productivity, absentee issues and rates of employee turnover (Lewison, 2006).

Ernst & Young (E&Y) changed its culture and shed any stigma about work/life options, notes Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president of the Center for Work/Life Policy in New York (www. worklifepolicy.org). The firm adopted a policy of having its employees rate their managers on how available they made work/life options, and using those ratings in yearend performance reviews and bonuses. Today about 27% of E&Y's workforce uses some form of flexible work arrangement (Lewison, 2006)."

Another company, Deloitte and Touche implemented a corporate wide program that deals with career customization needs.

Studies located some of the most successful aspects of work life balance programs with regard to CPA firms and found that offering on site daycare was one of the most highly rated elements of the programs with regard to reducing employee absences and turnover (Lewison, 2006).

Six-person Deborah Bailey Browne and Associates in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., gets better staff productivity because it chooses to accommodate emergency child care. Boston firm Vitale Caturano, which now employs about 280 people and 29 partners, was a 55-person, 10-partner enterprise when it began its well-known multifaceted program of work/life incentives in 1996. The firm says its generous programs are highly cost-effective; if it costs $200,000 a year to hire a caregiver to provide child care for 20 employees on busy season Saturdays, the firm calculates you will save money if you retain just four $75,000-a-year employees who otherwise would have left (Lewison, 2006)."

One firm conducted research to determine how much money it was saving with its formal flexible work program that it began to offer about a decade ago and found that it saved $41.5 million over the 10-year period through the application standard 150% replacement multiplier, to the annual salary average of the workers that reported they would have left the firm had they not been offered flexible work scheduling (Lewison, 2006).

The firm then multiplied those figures by the number of respondents to an internal survey who said they would have quit the firm for that reason (Lewison, 2006)."

One of the things that the study found was that a key element of success in employee retention was communication with regard to the available programs.

Lisa Gardner, a diversity and organizational effectiveness consultant based in Silver Spring, Md., suggests training managers in methods for handling the challenges resulting from work/life balance policies. Employees on flexible work schedules or working outside the office can require special supervision, for instance (Lewison, 2006). "

One expert recently noted that flexibility is the main missing ingredient when it came to employee retention and that more employees leave their positions because of the real or perceived lack of flexibility with regard to their ability to balance their work and family life satisfactorily (Lewison, 2006).

Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute in New York, says in many workplaces flexibility "is the missing ingredient." Employees who need to work outside of the main office so they can pick up their kids after work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or those who really need to work a reduced schedule for two years to be able to take care of a parent, will get new jobs (Lewison, 2006)."

One case study found that an employee in Minneapolis was able to balance work and life through a flexible workload scheduling program and it allowed her to have time with her son during the afternoon and then come into work later in the evening. She then works from home on a laptop from 6 p.m. To about 10 p.m. each evening while he is eating and in bed (Lewison, 2006).

A recent survey revealed the importance of a work life balance program in retention of employee, particularly working mothers. The results of that survey indicated:

More than 25% of workers said a work/family balance was more important to them than competitive wages or job security (Lewison, 2006).

More than 25% of employee absences were caused by family issues -- up from just 11.5% six years ago (Lewison, 2006).

When examining work life programs there were six key elements identified that were often included in the lineup.

They included:

Flextime. Employees choose starting and ending hours, but typically must be present in the office during "core" periods, such as 10 a.m. To 3 p.m.

Flexible week. Sometimes called a "compressed workweek," this approach allows employees to work longer hours over a smaller number of days. That could be 10 hours a day for four days a week or, alternatively, fewer hours in a given day over a six-day workweek (Lewison, 2006)."

Work-at-home, flexplace or telecommuting. Some or all of the work is done off-site at the employee's home or at local satellite offices set up near where clusters of employees live (Lewison, 2006). Typically the employee is connected to the office by computer and virtual private network (VPN). Be mindful of the need for insurance protection in establishing a telecommuting arrangement (Lewison, 2006).

Part-time. Most familiar to employers, this option offers employees a reduced work schedule (such as post-family leave for childcare reasons) (Lewison, 2006).

Job sharing. Two employees share or divide the workload of a single job (Lewison, 2006).

Part-time telecommuting. A combination of part-time or reduced hours coupled with an off-site working location (Lewison, 2006).

Studies show several positive benefits from companies installing a work life program. One study found that there was a reduced rate of absenteeism. Research has shown that the most cited reason for absences from work revolve around family issues, including a sick child, or day care problems. The same research indicates that providing flexible working hours or on site day care in a work life balancing program at the job site can have a significant impact on the reduction of absent workers.

One firm estimated that it saves almost $100,000 a year by providing back up day care and flexible work shifts for its working mothers (Lewison, 2006).

The same study found that companies offering a work life balance program have a much lower turnover rate as compared to similar companies that do not offer such a program.

Aetna the insurance company reported a reduction of more than 50% in turn over of employees once it began offering a work life balance program to its nationwide employees (Lewison, 2006).

One of the program's benefits includes the ability to come back to work part time after the birth or adoption of a child. "The result was a 90% retention rate for leave-takers after five years, and an annual savings of more than $1 million in recruiting and hiring costs (Lewison, 2006). "

Increased productivity was cited as a benefit to having a work life balance program in another report. According to the report stress relief reduces problems with productivity and when Hewlett Packard changed its work week options from five days to four days and 10 hours each day it found that the employee productivity skyrocketed (Lewison, 2006).

Over the last several years, much has been written about the importance for busy U.S. residents to balance their work and life activities (Maas, 1998; McDonald & Hutcheson, 1998; Souroujon, 1999). Proponents of balance argue that serious personal and work-related problems invariably arise when individuals fail to effectively fulfill fundamental life or family responsibilities (Lewison, 2006)."

Excessive job demands are among the most often cited issues when it comes to the balance that Americans fail to achieve between work and family life each year.

Results from the Hobson et al. (1998) study provide a compelling rationale for the development, continuation, and expansion of corporate work/life balance programs (Lewison, 2006). Such initiatives clearly support employee efforts to effectively fulfill their primary life and family responsibilities (Lewison, 2006). The survey results can be very helpful in the initial development of work/life programs, as well as the expansion of existing ones (Lewison, 2006). The fundamental question is what can organizations do to assist and support their employees in effectively facing life's most stressful events (Lewison, 2006)."

An in-depth study into the differences between working mothers and working fathers revealed that working mothers are more inclined to cite family issues as a reason for work stress, or absenteeism. Overall the study found that 34% of fathers cited family as a reason for work issues as opposed to 58% of the mothers reporting the family issues as a reason for work stress or absenteeism (Lewison, 2006).

Fathers also reported by a large majority that their spouses were the primary care givers in their families. This and other similar research yields evidence that women are leaving the workforce due to family obligations which is removing valuable training, education and income tax revenue from society (Lewison, 2006).

A supportive work life balance program has been shown in multiple studies to be effective in combating the working mothers plight and their exit from their jobs.

Telecommuting

Another area of study with regard to reducing the numbers of working mothers leaving the workforce includes telecommuting.

Today, with the advent of technology and the Internet it is possible for many positions to transfer to a remote location in which the employee telecommutes on the job.

A study conducted in 1999 looked at the benefits and issues with allowing working mothers to telecommute on their positions for the company and found that allowing a telecommute position when possible reduced the rate of problems that arose from employing working mothers. It also found that the working mothers had a reduced rate or job termination when they were allowed to telecommute (Edley, 2001).

As employers allow employees to telecommute and work flexible schedules, they create a gendered paradox of simultaneously increasing the productivity of employed mothers while also making the women's lives easier and less frustrating by allowing them to choose when and where they work (Edley, 2001). Space and time are extended via communication technology that allows organizations to control workers in such a way that employees are accountable to work responsibilities 24 hours a day (Edley, 2001). On the other hand, employed mothers consider technology a boon to balancing work and family responsibilities (Edley, 2001)."

One study examined the work and home life balance of ten employed mothers and three full time undergraduate student mothers. The age range for the study participants was between 33 and 42 years old and all were from a middle class background (Edley, 2001). Each of them had at least one child and up to three children that ranged from two to eleven years old. Educationally six of the study participants had bachelor's degrees, two had master's degrees and one had her law degree in place at the time of the study.

Their occupations varied from interior design, to attorney, to college professors. One of the participants was a single mother who lived with her mother and her nine-year-old son.

The study was conducted through interviews and the participants reported similar issues with balancing work and family life.

All of the respondents reported they often felt there is not enough time in the day to attend to both their work duties and their family duties and they believed that each element suffered as a consequence (Edley, 2001).

When asked about the balance between family and work, Tanya described her four-day work week in which she is able to telecommute (Edley, 2001):

I've managed to come up with a four-day work week. If I worked a five-day work week, I don't think I could handle it. but... my management, has been really supportive.... When I first started back after [my son] was born, I said I actually wanted to work a three-day work week... But I found that three days was harder than four days, because I was too guilty when I was home. The two days I was home I was calling in all the time and I really didn't have a base myself. So, I decided to do a four-day week and then the day I was home I would forget it. I wouldn't call in and um that has worked out for me (Edley, 2001)."

The trade off for the company when it came to allowing her to have the flexibility in her schedule is that she was more willing to meet clients at odd hours than other employees were willing to do which helped raise the availability of the company services and products (Edley, 2001).

Deming (1994) reports that 23.7 million "homeworkers" are categorized as "corporate after-hours homeworkers" while 14.2 million are self-employed home workers and only 9.1 million are telecommuters. Of these totals, 53% are white-collar workers, while 22% of salaried homeworkers are classified as doing manual labor and traditional blue-collar work (Deming, 1994)."

One issue reported with regard to telecommuting however, is the balancing act of the mother who tries to work while her children are in the room (Edley, 2001). This is easily remedied reports participants by working around the children's hours. Working when children are in bed, in school or otherwise occupied helps to alleviate the problem for many working mothers who choose to telecommute.

Research also indicates that many companies offering the telecommute ability to employees find that their work at home employees have a higher productivity rate than those who are in the office because the work at home employees can work at all hours of the day or night instead of only working between 8 and 5.

Because of the increasing numbers of people trying to raise a family and work outside the home, the need for continued research in this area is imperative. Many employed mothers are starting their own businesses located in their homes in order to spend more time with their children and maintain employment (Edley, 2001)."

Because this option is now available to working mothers it becomes more important than ever for employers to consider including a work at home program for their working staff.

Another study conducted using telecommuters as the participants of the study concluded that the employees got a greater sense of being able to handle work and family life as a telecommuter therefore provided a higher rating of job satisfaction on the research survey (Barnard, 1993).

The reported it gave them more time to meet the demands of family and work and allowed them to self schedule which gave them flexibility.

The participants did cite family interruptions and overworking because it was at their home as two issues they encountered with telecommuting.

The study included employees from the NPD Group in New York and was chosen because of the ongoing telecommute program that it offered its workers.

The survey collected data that would rate the job satisfaction of the employees who were telecommuting for the company from their homes.

There were 50 surveys mailed to the company telecommuters, with 34 of those participants being working mothers with children in the home. The response was overwhelmingly positive for the case of telecommuting (Barnard, 1993).

However the telecommuters did cite that they wished they could work more than the 20 hours a week they wee being scheduled as a telecommuter.

The work-at-home group was more satisfied with (a) the general working conditions, (b) the opportunity to schedule their own work, and - the opportunity to take care of family and personal responsibilities (Barnard, 1993)."

In addition there was a study conducted from the data that measured productivity by the work at home group as compared the same group before they began working at home and instead worked in the office and found there was a 29% increase in overall productivity with the group once it was allowed to perform job duties from the home.

The advantages of working from home according to this particular study had nine components.

Cited among the advantages was the ability to self schedule, spend more quality time with family, be more productive because they could work when family was in bed or otherwise occupied, savings in gas, clothing and other expenses, reduced stress level in trying to balance family and work demands (Barnard, 1993).

Among the other types of satisfaction cited by the telecommuters was autonomy in planning tasks, convenience in avoiding commuting, and economy in saving work-related expenses. There are several major groups of potential employees for whom these factors are particularly important. One of these groups is caretakers, people with the responsibility of caring for children or other family members. A typical comment made by the participants was, "I need to earn money. But it doesn't pay to hire somebody else to take care of my family. I want to be at home (Barnard, 1993)."

Child Care Solutions

For many years working mothers have lamented about the problems involved with finding quality child care while they worked.

A recent study conducted to test the advantages of providing on site child care was done with results that make an argument for the practice (Connelly, 2003).

The study examined the benefits of employer provided day care settings and found that it increased productivity of their working mothers as well as reduced the rate of absenteeism and turn over (Connelly, 2003).

Job Sharing

In addition to the ability to bring children to on site day care facilities another possibility for working mothers is the job share. About two decades ago job sharing became an option for people who wanted toe benefits of working on as particular job without having to work full time to fulfill the job duties. Job sharing is commonly used when two employees split a full time job in half with one performing certain hours and duties and the other person performing the remaining job duties during the remaining hours (Wright, 2001).

When a recent study examined the success of job sharing using 22 tenure track mothers employed at universities it found that it is a viable option.

The participants of the study responded to a survey that was mailed to them and found that when the workers tried working from home they had too many distractions to be as effective as they wanted to be.

In addition their particular positions called for them to provide office hours in which their students could come and discuss issues with them (Wright, 2001).

The participants were asked to report what strategies they found most successful when they balanced work and home life and many of them discussed the benefits of job sharing.

Job sharing provides the ability to have someone to share the job with and it allows the two to work out a schedule that is conducive to both of their needs (Wright, 2001).

Job sharing can provide the flexibility needed for working mothers to be able to juggle work demands and demands of family life at the same time.

Chapter Three

Discussion

Today's workforce is comprised of an almost equal number of men and women, with many of the working women also being working mothers. Research has evidenced the fact that working mothers are responsible for most of the child care and family responsibilities in addition to their work responsibilities. When the women's movement of the 1960's took off women began entering the workforce in record numbers, and at the time there was some idea that men would share equally in the family responsibilities however, that has not shown itself to be the case.

As working mothers continued to contribute to the national expendable income levels the prices of things for sale was driven up due to the fact that the market value was increased. In addition working mothers began to contribute significant amounts of money to the income tax coffers for government use for public services. At this point, if working mothers were to exit the workforce it would have devastating financial and social consequences in America.

Unfortunately recent years have seen an increase in the number of working mothers who are choosing to leave jobs and careers to care for their families full time.

Trying to balance work and family life at the same time has proven to be difficult for mothers as they juggle careers, children's scheduling, doctor and dentist appointments. When a child becomes ill and must remain home it becomes even more stressful for the working mother.

Researchers have recognized this growing problem and studies have been conducted to try and determine the best and most viable solutions for working mothers that will allow them to balance family and work life more successfully while at the same time not interrupting or reducing the productivity and success of the companies that they work for.

The results of the research point to the need for companies nationwide to develop and implement work life balance programs that will include telecommuting, day care options, job sharing and other avenues that working mothers can use to maintain their jobs as well as fulfill their family responsibilities.

Chapter Four

Future Considerations

Future considerations for the topic of working mothers and how to reduce the turnover rate as they leave their careers to stay home should include further study into options that can be made available to them.

Working mothers not only contribute their services, talents, education and time to their positions but they also set a valuable example to their children about having a strong work ethic and doing things in life that are personally fulfilling.

It is important to encourage and accommodate working mothers in their efforts so that that the future generations carry on the tradition of women contributing to the labor force and being able to have it all as was desired when the women's movement exploded during the 1960's.

Future considerations when it comes to the value of providing work life balance programs for working mothers should include studies as to exactly how much revenue the working mothers of America contribute to the national economy. In addition studies need to be completed that measure the working mother's self-esteem and depression scales against women who do not work so that conclusions can be drawn with regard to the importance of mothers continuing to have the option of working.

Chapter Five

Conclusion

For the past four decades working mothers have become a common place event. The value that they add to the national economy, the workplace environment, and the overall picture with regard to employers can be measured through the study of past research. Working mothers have recently begun to give up on trying to handle work stress and family stress and have begun abandoning professions and jobs to stay home with their children. Indicators of increased depression and other issues are beginning to surface through this occurrence and it is important to design and implement solutions that will allow working mothers to continue in their jobs while at the same time be able to address family needs.

Research on various ideas and programs have concluded that work life balance programs, telecommuting, job sharing and day care solutions are all viable options when it comes to the retention of the working mother.