Supporting working parents and why it matters

What do working parents want? It seems like a simple enough question and there are many standard answers. Flexible working. Part time hours. A supportive employer.

The truth is, though, there isn’t one fixed answer. Every family is different, and the support needed for one isn’t the same for another.

At Ambition, we do our best to support the working parents in our midst but that’s not always easy. With such a wide range of circumstances it can be difficult to know what is most helpful, what we do know is that working parents are crying out for support.

Parenting in the modern world is tough, working and parenting…well at times that can feel impossible.

The struggle for working parents

Those who’ve experienced being a working parent understand there are many contradictions.

• School days are typically 9-3 vs a 9-5 working day.

• 13 weeks school holidays vs 25 days annual leave.

• £1000s on nursery fees vs capped salaries.

• Parenting like you don’t work vs working like you don’t have children.

The old-school way of working is to leave your family at the door (figuratively, not literally!) and focus on the job in hand, but what if you’re so stressed that it impacts your concentration at work?

The Modern Families Index 2025 found that for 80% of parents surveyed, that’s their reality.

Being a working parent can be like walking a constant tightrope. It’s the ultimate balancing act that can leave some feeling unsupported, lost and even struggling.

One in three employees don’t feel that their workplace supports their needs, and over half think their employer could do more. We talk about creating inclusive, psychologically safe workplaces where we can bring our whole selves to work, so what more can employers do to support working parents to enable them to be honest about their struggles and set them up for success at home and at work?

Working parents in numbers

When the topic of supporting parents comes up in conversation it’s easy to dismiss it as not impacting that many people, or being a personal issue not a work one.

Then you start reading statistics about how working parents comprise 43% of the UK’s workforce and you realise it's almost the majority of working people who are impacted.

The pandemic was touted as a milestone for employer understanding and support for working families. Suddenly there was flexibility and understanding for the uphill battle some face.

Since then, support has slowly been withdrawn, and now there’s an 11% drop in the perception of employers' support for families compared to 2023.

Yet 73% of working parents would consider how supportive a potential new employer would be before accepting or even applying for a job, illustrating how flexibility and support are key to retaining those 43% of working parents.

Championing working parents

At Ambition, we take allyship, belonging and inclusivity seriously - that’s not to say that we have it spot on, it’s always a work in progress. We’re always looking for opportunities to share and learn from one another to understand others' lived experiences, particularly around the realities of being a working parent.

We recently started hosting internal fireside chats, in which employees volunteer to talk about their lived experiences of a particular topic.

Here are some of the learnings from one of our most recent fireside chats about being a parent in the workplace.

Use of language

Words matter, but some phrases are ingrained in our working vocabulary - like ‘leaving early’. At Ambition we offer flexibility so that people can pick their kids up from school, they aren’t taking time off or ‘leaving early’, they’re simply managing their hours in a way that suits them.

Phrases such as ‘leaving early’ can be damaging and make people wary of leaving the office before the socially acceptable leaving time in case people think badly of them.

Little things matter

One of our Principal Consultants shared that after a sleepless night being kept awake by her young child, a colleague, without saying anything, left a cup of tea on her desk. On its own it’s a tiny gesture, but to someone trying to face the day on minimal disrupted sleep it made all the difference in helping her feel supported.

Small gestures have a big impact and we should be looking for opportunities to do this for those around us.

Parenting out loud

Parenting isn’t solely a woman’s issue, it’s so important in the workplace to hear men, particularly those in senior leadership roles talking about their kids, being transparent about doing the school run or going to watch sports day or cover an inset day.

When it becomes commonplace at senior levels to prioritise parenting, that will trickle down to other layers of the firm and reassure other working parents that it's ok to do the same.

Everyone’s different

The support people need and when they need it will be different, it’ll depend on their circumstances, the stage of their children’s lives and their children themselves. No two people’s experience is identical and as employers we need to understand that.

There’s a perception that only parents with young children need flexibility – in fact research is showing that parents with teens are increasingly taking periods of leave as they are needed even more at this age (as a parent of a 19 year old daughter and 21 year old son, I can attest that this is true!).

46% of working parents say they’re concerned about their child’s mental health, this impacts employers to the tune of £8bn annually due to reduced performance, time off or parents leaving the workforce altogether. It’s a growing concern for parents, so employers should be looking into how they support parents with older children too.

Sharing is encouraged

Our families make us who we are, if we want to create a safe workplace where people can be their true authentic selves then we should be allowing and encouraging people to share information about their kids and their family life.

We don’t want a divide between work and home, we want the two to work in harmony and that means encouraging working parents to share what they feel comfortable sharing.

Flexibility works both ways

Flexibility isn’t a perk that goes one way, it’s a two way street. The more flexibility you give your employees, the more autonomy they feel and the more engaged they are. 59% of employees state flexibility as the most important benefit to them, beating salary to the top spot.

When you give your team flexibility, you’re more likely to get loyalty back, but you’re also going to get a team that works outside of standard hours to get the job done. It’s a shift from presenteeism to an output way of thinking. Then when you need to hit a critical deadline or need an extra effort from the team, the employees who are engaged and loyal due to your flexibility, will be flexible when you most need it.

Almost every other person in the working world is a parent. For us to get the most from our teams and our colleagues we need to create working environments that support working parents, instead of penalising them. In doing so we need to remember that we don’t know what someone is going through or what their specific circumstances and needs are.

All we can do is lead with kindness, by example and authentically - focusing on creating workplaces where people feel safe to open up and work in the way that supports them best.

For some, a hot cup of tea gets them through the day, for others it might be more structured support around flexible working or access to private healthcare.

There’s no one answer, but if we keep the conversation going and actively listen to what we’re being told, we can try to create supportive workplaces where everyone thrives.​