Care vs career: Brands and agencies need to stop the childcare brain drain
Opinion
Carers are leaving our industry in droves. We must take action now: let’s start with understanding the contribution that carers bring to the workplace, while increasing representation and giving proper support to employees.
Recent comments by Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch, suggesting that maternity pay has “gone too far”, have highlighted a broader societal trend that devalues both childcare and carers themselves. Not only does this have a profound impact on our workforce, it is bad for business.
This impact has been starkly revealed by recent research UM conducted in partnership with UN Women UK showing that 25% of working mothers have been forced to leave their jobs, while a further quarter have had to reduce their hours. This adds up to a “childcare brain drain” that is sucking much-needed talent away from industries across the board, including our own.
As well as the day job, I am also a mother (to a primary-age stepdaughter and a three-year-old pre-schooler), so I am very familiar with the challenges of balancing a demanding job with caring responsibilities.
I recognise that my own situation pales in comparison to those caring for children with complex needs. However, my husband and I are also primary caregivers for his parents, who are in their eighties. This places us squarely in the category of “sandwich carers”: those who are responsible for both children and elderly relatives.
Sandwich care is set to become an ever-greater workplace — and societal — challenge in the face of an ageing UK population with limited public care provision. It is an issue that requires urgent attention, not just from the government, businesses or employers; it will become a cultural issue in which everyone has a stake.
The invisible group
The media and marketing sectors have a significant role to play. Carers remain broadly under-represented in the media and there’s little doubt that this is a contributing factor to the devaluation of care we see manifested in the likes of the Badenoch interview.
In our survey, half of those with caring responsibilities in the UK feel they are not very or not at all visible in society, while nearly a third feel negatively about their representation in popular culture, including ads and media. This disconnect between the reality of caring and its portrayal is felt most keenly by single parents and older male carers.
The media industry has, in recent years, made strides towards championing diversity and representation for many marginalised groups, and it has certainly become a major topic in The Media Leader and beyond. Yet, when it comes to carers, the data shows that there is still much work to be done.
We have a responsibility to accurately and sensitively portray the experiences of these audiences. It is by working closely with organisations like UN Women UK that we can fully understand the very specific pressures they face day to day. We are proud to support its work and host its team at our offices.
Businesses must play their part
However, as an industry, we must look both ways here.
Brands and media owners cannot hope to portray carers accurately or empathetically (when they do at all) if they are not employing carers themselves or giving them the support they need at work. This means media businesses need to pay close attention to the nuanced situations facing carers and managers should be sensitive to their needs and concerns.
For example, the most recent All In Census, which surveyed 19,000 people across the ad industry, revealed that more than half of women believe taking time off to care for children has hindered their career development. Let’s also not forget that childcare is disproportionately expensive in the UK, so it’s hardly surprising our sector loses so many talented women — particularly in middle-management roles — each year.
If media and marketing companies — every one of which is experiencing market disruption and the requirement for new skills — want to avoid being further impacted by the childcare brain drain, we need to take immediate action.
Resetting attitudes
A good start would be to recognise the value of care work and the contribution that carers bring to the workplace; or, alternatively, put a value on the cost of people leaving the sector. By making this calculation, the case for supporting carers becomes more immediately tangible.
Tabitha Morton, executive director at UN Women UK, with whom we partnered to understand these issues, has noted that investing in care infrastructure would not only help millions of women return to work, but it would also unlock significant opportunities for economic growth.
Women are a vital part of the UK workforce and excluding them due to caregiving responsibilities is not just a loss for individual businesses, but for the economy as a whole.
We are already halfway to finding a solution — most businesses in our industry now offer flexible and hybrid working arrangements built around core hours that would allow carers to manage their responsibilities without sacrificing their careers.
At UM, we offer unlimited leave that allows carers to make time for commitments outside work, whether that’s a child’s sports day or an elderly relative’s medical appointment.
Perhaps the greater challenge is resetting attitudes to create working cultures in which caring responsibilities are not seen as a barrier to career progression, but rather as a reality of life that employers are willing to accommodate.
Only then can businesses retain the knowledge, skills and life experience that carers bring to the table.
Kara Osborne is UK and Ireland CEO of UM
