I'm hoping to create some phrases that reflect the childless experience in the workplace. They may be used in social media etc so need to be fairly short.
I've had a go with these - what do you think, could we reword any? Do they reflect your experience in the workplace? Are there any other experiences that we should add? Thanks for all your help!
1. 1 in 5 women and 1 in 4 men in the UK are permanently childless, 90% not by choice. It’s highly likely this impacts staff in your workplace.
2. There are many reasons why people are permanently childless. For 80% it’s due to circumstance, such as not meeting a partner at the ‘right’ age.
3. The CIPD agrees that ‘fertility is an important workplace wellbeing issue’ and recently published a guide for people professionals. They found only 7% of employers have a standalone fertility policy.
4. Over 70% of IVF treatment fails and the most likely outcome is childlessness, yet workplace fertility policies don’t support those whose fertility journey ends without a child.
5. “Being told by a manager ‘couldn’t you adopt’ when you’ve finished fertility treatment is so insensitive. Do they know about your situation or how impossible the adoption process really is?”
6. When childless people speak about their experience, colleagues brush it off, suggesting ‘have one of mine’. This shuts down the conversation. Let people speak. You only need to listen.
7. Receiving a sonogram email from a work colleague is incredibly painful for those who wanted children, or who learnt they had lost their baby when they had their own sonogram.
8, The maternity focused celebrations in the office can mean those who couldn’t have children have to manage their distress through absence, sick leave or seeking support outside the workplace.
9. When workplaces encourage staff to bring their ‘whole selves to work’, people share more about their children and family life. But this perpetuates excluding the childless in the workplace.
10. Workplace openness means viewing people’s family lives, such as children on laps in remote meetings. This is distracting, but for the childless, the workplace is no longer a child free respite.
11. The CIPD found employer support can impact whether an employee stays at work. Almost 1 in 5 with fertility challenges considered leaving their job due to their experience at work.
12. The childless story isn’t included in the workplace. We can’t bring our ‘whole selves’ to work. Workplaces can make space for the childless by promoting events like World Childless Week.
13. “Our team event started with everyone talking about their biggest life achievement. My colleagues spoke about their children. I’m childless. Asking us to talk about work achievements would have been more inclusive”.
14. We can have unconscious bias around what a family is and assume that everyone has children. Focusing on this in the workplace excludes the many who don’t.
15. Provide training for managers on childlessness in the workplace and help them offer the right environment. For example, holding maternity showers in break-out rooms gives staff the choice to attend.
16. Workplaces are talking more about menopause and mental health, but childlessness still carries shame and taboo. To provide a more inclusive culture, have more conversations about the childless experience.
17. The CIPD found that showing positive support for employees’ fertility challenges and mental wellbeing ‘will form part of an attractive employer value proposition to recruit and retain talented people’.
18. “As a childless person I’m relied on and expected to provide vital support and cover for parental absences at work, but don’t receive any recognition of this”.
19. “As a childless person, I wasn’t able to take time off to manage a significant personal event, but was expected to cover colleagues during their maternity absences, without additional pay”.
20. People professionals can ensure childless people are treated fairly. Check workplace communications and policies. Can they be read by someone who is not a parent? Will they still feel included?
