Work: A bias in office flexibility

Is being single a curse at work? asked Ayana Byrd in MarieClaire.com. More and more single women say they carry “an undue burden at the office, batting cleanup for their married-with-kids co-workers.” That’s a reflection, according to social scientist Bella DePaulo, of our culture favoring married couples and families over singles on everything “from discounts on car insurance to preferential treatment in the housing market.” A 2011 survey found that 61 percent of childless women aged 33 to 47 believed their colleagues with children enjoyed more flexibility from employers. Many companies aim to be sensitive to workers’ needs beyond the office, but an ugly double standard arises when managers assume that “single people don’t have lives.” Companies are supposed to offer the same flexibility to all of their workers, but single employees might need to demand it by talking with their boss or human resources department.

Hear, hear, said Kat Stoeffel in NYMag.com. Too many employers seem to think that “children are the only extra-professional pursuit moral enough to justify working a flexible 40-hour week.” God forbid a working woman wants to leave work on time because she has “a really expensive, non-refundable spin class” to take instead of diapers to change. And “it is still totally taboo, it seems, for workers to want to leave the office because they need to know what happens at the end of Gone Girl, or they’d like to have a drink outside while it’s still light out.” But what about single men? Do they “similarly sacrifice their free time for office moms and dads?”

They do, said Tara Siegel Bernard in The New York Times. In fact, men who seek flexibility at work might even “be penalized more severely than women, because they’re viewed as more feminine, deviating from their traditional role of fully committed breadwinners.” Studies have shown that while more employers are offering flexible work options such as telecommuting and shortened workweeks, many workers fear that taking advantage of these benefits will harm their positions at work in the long term. That fear is not all in their heads, either. One recent study found that men who take paternity leave are less likely to get promoted or receive raises, while women often stop working altogether after having children because they end up with reduced hours and less meaningful assignments. Fortunately, some places—Vermont, for instance—have taken action to protect workers who want more flexible work arrangements. But “inside many companies and at the national level,” workers still seek flexibility at their own peril.

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