As if being a working parent didn't already include enough moving pieces to manage, even toddlers are now having standing teleconferences. For the two of us, our daughters' virtual morning preschool meeting is one more item to be juggled as we attempt to work full-time from home without childcare. Our own conference calls are scheduled for naptime and occasionally interrupted by a request for potty. We attempt to wedge the rest of the workday into the early mornings and post-bedtime.
The COVID-19 crisis has shoved work and home lives under the same roof for many families like ours, and the struggle to manage it all is now visible to peers and bosses. As people postulate how the country may be forever changed by the pandemic, we can hope that one major shift will be a move away from the harmful assumption that a 24/7 work culture is working well for anyone.…
The remainder of this commentary is available at hbr.org.
Bobbi Thomason is an assistant professor of applied behavioral science at Pepperdine Graziaidio Business School. Heather Williams is a senior policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.
This commentary originally appeared on Harvard Business Review on April 16, 2020. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
