Some parents would prefer to go back to work — if they could just get some flexibility and childcare

• Stay-at-home parents face challenges in returning to the workforce while balancing family duties.
• Parents looking to join the workforce often need extra flexibility in a job.

As stay-at-home parents who have been caring for their children look to rejoin the workforce, benefits like better pay and flexiblity would make the transition smoother.

During the pandemic, many people began working from home, and now the majority say they don't want to return to the workplace, because they've gotten a taste of the work-life balance and other positives of remote work. But for those who do want to return to work, unnecessary obstacles need to be minimized.

C. Nicole Mason, the president and CEO of Institute for Women's Policy Research, told Insider it's an "employee's market" right now, and workers have leverage to negotiate for better pay and benefits.

Those benefits can be especially important for stay-at-home parents, who may be attracted to jobs that offer flexibility, enough money to pay for childcare, and programs to help them rejoin the workforce after a gap.

Affordable childcare would help

Decent pay that covers childcare and other expenses is one benefit that Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said parents look for when rejoining the labor force. Parents need to put their kids in day care as they head to work, and childcare is a major expense for most families. Child Care Aware of America found that the national average price for childcare was $10,174 a year in 2020.

"When compared to the national median income for married couples with children under 18, it would take more than 10% of household income to cover the childcare prices for one child," Child Care Aware of America said in a press release. "For a single parent, the average price of child care would be 35% of household income."

The federal government can also help support parents looking for employment. A report from the Century Foundation examined the universal prekindergarten and childcare policies that were part of the Build Back Better Act to see what they could mean for parents.

The report found that policies like those would allow around 1.1 million parents to join the labor force and 2 million to increase the number of hours they worked.

Sick days and flexible scheduling support working mothers

Paid sick days are crucial for parents to take care of family members or themselves, Gould said.

Melissa Wirt, founder of Latched Mama, an online clothing company for nursing and pregnant mothers, knows mothers can be both valuable employees and caretakers.

"I think with just a little bit of flexibility, there is an entire group of individuals that could offer companies a whole lot more than they currently are," Wirt said.

Part-time work may be of interest for parents looking to balance family responsibilities with making their way back to the labor force.

"Working part-time at a decent hourly wage is certainly one way that parents can manage and get the flexibility they need to manage the competing demands that they have on their time," Gould said.

Returnship and internship programs can help parents make the transition

For parents who may not be ready to take on a full-time job, companies that offer returnships, or internships for adults returning to work, may be a key benefit for them.

"It's essentially a back-to-work program where people can return to their careers without having to start from the bottom of the career ladder," the Indeed editorial team wrote in a recent post.

This type of program is offered at companies like Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and IBM.

"Returnships are really opportunities that help people step back in a more supportive environment," Amanda Livingood, the senior director of corporate communications at Glassdoor, said.

Ruchika Sah, a former stay-at-home mom, told Insider that she took an internship as a transitional step.

"It wasn't quite suited to what I wanted to do, but since it was a foot in the door, I did it," Sah said. "And it was a very, very good learning experience."

Sah recommends stay-at-home parents looking to join the workforce try an internship or returnship to learn new skills and fill résumé gaps. Eventually, a returnship can help you get the position you want, Sah said.

"Parenthood in general is so full of challenges, and the best employers are the ones who are ensuring that being part of the workforce isn't yet another one," Livingood said.