When it comes to what to do about burnout in the workplace, much of the advice in the popular press can be reduced to superficial advice: go to the spa, take a nap, do something nice for yourself. Burnout is often portrayed as an individual problem and taking self-care to relieve stress is the only antidote to managing it. However, burnout in the workplace is an organizational problem that requires systemic solutions, especially for one group: single parents.

The United States has one of the highest rates of single-parent households in the world, with nearly one in four children – approximately 22 million – living with a single parent, regardless of whether that parent is divorced, separated, or widowed; never married; or has an absent spouse. 42% of single parents are white and 28% are black. Approximately 80% of children live with single mothers, and most of these mothers work: 81% of single mothers were employed prior to the January 2020 pandemic, although their labor force participation fell more during the pandemic than other parenting groups and was the slowest recover.

“Businesses need to recognize that there are single parents,” said Tanzina Vega, a single mother, journalist and host of the public radio show The Takeaway on WNYC. “Many organizations still assume that all parents are in pairs, so the assumption that your partner is home when you can’t. Businesses need to recognize that there are unique problems that single parents will encounter. “

When companies assume that all employees have a support system, they have time requirements that single parents in particular cannot meet. Single parents are drawn in all directions – they have to juggle responsibilities at home and with their children while doing their job duties around the clock. All of this puts a strain on emotional and physical well-being. And when it comes to burnout – feeling exhausted, cynical, and ineffective – research shows that organizations and work cultures, not individuals, are the root of the problem. Systemic change is the only real solution.

To counteract this burnout, companies must consider the following:

Make an effort to hire and promote single parents.

During the pandemic, many women and single mothers were forced out of work or had to cut their working hours. Businesses need to make an effort to get these people back on track and find a way to measure their work and career prospects without penalizing them for the care they had to provide during the pandemic. For example, most workplace standards are based on an outdated “ideal worker” standard of someone who is always available. Employees with care responsibilities (especially single parents) are considered to be fewer employees with “need for accommodation”. Instead, companies should design work systems and processes from the outset in such a way that all employees have a duty of care and live outside of work. Use structured interviews with questions related to job requirements to remove confirmation bias. When companies use artificial intelligence to sort resumes based on an “ideal worker” who is always available, those algorithms need to be reprogrammed to account for childcare interruptions, especially for single parents.

Create an integrative corporate culture.

Language matters. Don’t hold promotional events like “couples” or urge people to “bring spouses”. “Plus-Welcome” will do. Additionally, managers shouldn’t assume that single parents don’t want stretching chores or travel (once pandemic restrictions wear off) just because they are single parents. Ask them directly. Also, consider lone parent compensation if they are expected to attend work events outside of business hours, as this will require additional work organization supervision on their part.

Asking what opportunities single parents want in their role or career could lead to more honest conversations, said Marika Lindholm, founder of ESME, an online community for single mothers recognizing the contributions and skills of single parents. Make it a management practice to reach out to single parents and make it okay for single parents to ask for help. “It’s really about being sensitive to the act of juggling and not pretending it doesn’t exist,” she said. “This is an opportunity for single parents to share their challenges and for their managers to speak openly about solutions that would help them.”

Design and organize the work creatively and flexibly.

It is imperative that businesses rely on support for employee wellbeing, stress relief and especially mental health as the pandemic has taken its toll on everyone. But one of the most important things to fight burnout? “Stop normalizing overwork,” said Dr. Stephanie Lee, Senior Director at the Child Mind Institute.

Before Covid-19, many companies were driven by always-on, always-available standards and rewarded long hours in the office – standards that put single parents at a particular disadvantage. But the pandemic has broken those norms. Now as companies prepare for a post-pandemic world, they can lead the way in redesigning work in terms of mission and purpose – rather than place and time – and giving workers more control and autonomy in terms of time, type and time Give way and place of work. This can apply not only to employees managing remote, flexible or hybrid schedules, but also to hourly and service workers by moving away from disruptive just-in-time and unpredictable algorithmic planning. Both would make a big contribution to alleviating the stresses in working life and the burnout of single parents.

Cali Yost, founder of the Flex + Strategy Group and daughter of a single mother, said prior to the pandemic, many organizations resisted flexible work or offered it on a mixed, ad hoc basis with little to no training on how it worked. But the pandemic has forced everyone to be creative. “Now is the time for organizations to share best practices and ask, ‘How can we draw from some of the really creative lessons we had to learn during the pandemic?” She said. “Companies have to find out how to work and plan creatively, dynamically and flexibly with one another. When that happens, it will really help, not just single parents, but everyone. “

Workplace experts, including Jennifer Moss, author of the forthcoming book The Burnout Epidemic, say the solutions to workplace burnout for any worker lie in management, which is focused on worker motivation, challenges and the opportunity to do meaningful work. In addition, companies must also ensure good “industrial hygiene” and deal with whether salaries, social benefits, company guidelines and working conditions are fair and working relationships are healthy.

Create opportunities Set limits, take breaks and rest.

Instead of baking bread or developing a hobby during the pandemic, many people, including single parents, simply worked more and put them on a collision course towards burnout. Organizations can strengthen paid time off policies to ensure employees have time off work, or support public efforts for universal family and sick leave, paid sick leave, and vacation leave. Now, think about the guidelines on how to manage all of the unused paid vacation time employees accumulated during the pandemic and make sure they take breaks with impunity in 2021.

Help with childcare.

The pandemic has clearly shown what working parents, especially single parents, have known for years: childcare is not voluntary. Bipartisan support for public investment in a quality, universal childcare system for the needy is growing, as is common in other advanced economies. The Biden government has proposed large investments in paid family vacations and the recognition of childcare as essential infrastructure. However, companies play an important role in developing their own supportive workplace policies and practices.

Business has a long way to go. In a nationwide representative survey by the Society for Human Resources Management in September 2020, 87% of employees said that helping the company to reimburse childcare or educational services would be most helpful. But only 8% of the organizations offer it. The same applies to on-site childcare and partnerships with external childcare providers. “The results suggest that many of the options that most employees find helpful are the least likely to be offered by companies,” SHRM spokeswoman Julie Hirschhorn said in an email. Organizations need to strive to understand the care needs of their employees and commit to doing more.

Support public policies for working parents.

Corporations can also support efforts to redesign public policies to recognize the unique restrictions on single parents, something that California Democratic MP Katie Porter, herself a single parent, made a mission in Congress and against what she called her “Single Parent Penalties” takes precedence. in the tax code and other guidelines. For example, a study of single mothers in the pandemic in Australia found that single mothers actually experienced less stress and anxiety than partner mothers “perhaps because of government support to keep childcare and schools open and provide direct assistance,” Liana said. Sayer, a sociologist who studies gender-specific time-use patterns at the University of Maryland. “Corporations can’t do that, but they might consider supporting it.”

In the United States, the Family Medical Leave Act gives workers 12 weeks of unpaid care leave annually, regardless of parenting status. But elsewhere, countries are seeing the challenges single parents face and providing services to match. In Norway, partner parents have 10 to 15 paid days off each year to look after sick children under the age of 12; Single parents have 20-30. Finland’s new paid family leave policy gives each parent 164 days, roughly seven months, and every 328 days for single parents. During the pandemic, Germany granted partner parents 10 additional days of paid vacation to care for their children and 20 days for single parents. Belgium, South Korea and other countries pay single parents even a higher level of performance than partner parents, as single parents are often solely responsible for bringing up their children. A look at the services available to single parents around the world can help organizations advocate and support policies that make change.

As the radio presenter and single mother Tanzina Vega put it: “The more organizations appear for employees, the more employees are guaranteed to appear for organizations.” And that applies twice to single parents.