WalletHub: Marick Masters on the best states for working moms

Marick Masters, director of Labor@Wayne and professor of management in the Mike Ilitch School of Business, recently contributed to WalletHub's 2019 study of the best and worst states for working moms. An excerpt can be found below along with a link to the full article. 

What can companies do to help working parents balance home and work life?

There are three legs to this stool. First, companies should adopt various working-mother/family-friendly policies for their salaried and hourly employees to the greatest extent practicable. Such policies include paid parental leave (for both mothers and fathers or partners), flexible working arrangements, paid sick and personal-obligation time to care for parental or family related business, telecommuting options, and on-site childcare facilities. Second, companies to providing decent wages and benefits so that parents have the means of adequately caring for themselves and their children. Finally, companies need to establish a supportive organizational culture that does not stigmatize or punish working mothers and parents for time missed due to fulfilling familial obligations. Broader policies promoting diversity, inclusion, and mentorship are part of this equation.

What careers are most difficult to balance work and family? Easiest?

There are no easy jobs or careers when it comes to balancing work and family, particularly when children are dependent. On the surface, jobs that have flexible hours by nature would offer an advantage. But flexible hours do not connote easiness. Some jobs with inherently flexible schedules may be very demanding and require continual work, on and off site. Therefore, there needs to be a cultural allowance for taking time off to meet family obligations without their being negative repercussions, even if they are implicit. Jobs and careers that by nature require people to work long shifts – at a nursing station or on an assembly line – can prove difficult, even under the best of circumstances. That is why paid parental leave of significant duration is a must factor.

Read the full article in WalletHub

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