Idea in Brief
The Problem
To succeed, at some point almost every worker needs work/life support, and the data suggests that women and people of color need it most. But they don’t receive it—or even learn about company benefits—nearly as often as they should.
The Context
For many companies, the ideal worker remains somebody unencumbered by family obligations, who can adhere to the kind of demanding daily schedules and career trajectories that were standard for white men in the 1950s and have intensified since.
The Way Forward
Companies need to spell out and uniformly offer policies in three areas: flexibility, time off, and childcare. Doing so, studies show, helps workers and managers alike by lowering stress, improving productivity, boosting retention, and increasing diversity.