Your childless employees are probably a valuable part of your organization.  They generally have more flexible schedules and more free time.  In current, pro-family, American culture, these facts probably result in childless workers picking up the slack during holidays, at night when their co-workers are at recitals, or during an employee’s absence on maternity leave.  Whether or no you agree that the concerns of parents make these sacrifices fair, at the very least they deserve to be paid equally for their extra effort.  Start talking to those with decision-making abilities about adopting a plan like Xerox’s.

With such a plan in place, you might even attract more hardworking childless employees to your company.

As a human resources manager:

As a member of the community:

Take the time to call in radio programs, write letters to the editor, and post on discussion boards. The more people are aware of the situation, the greater the chance that they’ll consider both sides.

But I’m Not Childless!

That doesn’t matter!

If you agree in equal pay for equal work, or would enjoy the flexibility of a cafeteria plan,  you can still do any of the above. After all, one of the most prominent books on childlessness, The Childless Revolution, was written by a mother who remembered what it was like to be childless.

Do it for your children—who may choose not to be parents. Do it for the coworkers who have stayed late while you attended soccer practice.  Most of all, do it because you believe in basic fairness and equal treatment, no matter who you are.

If you have written a letter to a newspaper or employer, please send it here so we can post it as a template.  Take out identifying information if you wish. We’re also happy to link to or host articles, audio files, or other examples.

Childfree Issues : Cafeteria Plans

Equal Pay  for Equal Work

What Can I Do?

Your employer may not have considered the impact of their compensation plan on childless workers.  You owe it to yourself to at least make human resources aware of the disparity.  It is probably nothing to risk your job over, but what if they are just unaware of the situation?

As an employee:

The goal of this project is simple.  All we want is for employers to consider the needs of their childless workers when designing compensation plans.  For this to happen, the fact that people without children have unique interest needs to enter the public discourse. Below we outline specific ways to enact direct change, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.